We all spend a lot of time focused on recent releases: today, I want to look at SF that has been on the shelf a little longer and – horrifyingly – is disappearing from it as backlist books get so little love in bookshops.
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We’ve just passed the halfway point on our journey, and the reports are coming in thick and fast from the ground crews and the wider Fleet. Adventure has been found in deep space, on other planets, in other times and dimensions and (of course) in a galaxy far, far away. Let’s take a look…
In the Exodan Fleet, everyone is guaranteed a home and food on their table, and everyone works to make a contribution to the Fleet in return. But life isn’t without difficulties. This week focuses on the challenges faced by those who make the Fleet their home…
Time for one of my intermittent efforts to catch up on the greats of science fiction. For SciFiMonth (ahem, and the Hive prompt for Dancing with Fantasy and SciFi) I chose Arthur C Clarke’s first novel – one of his earliest and apparently one of his best.
Blessed with impressive funding and free from the concerns of global politics or corporate profit, a mission to another planet becomes far more feasible. But the Jesuits believe they have another advantage in their corner: Deus vult.
We’re all settled in for the journey now. The TBRs are stashed, the reading has begun in earnest, and there’s a media catalogue big enough to keep Murderbot happy. Maybe. Let’s look back at the last week’s activity…
You know the saying: no two people in the world (uncontacted peoples excepted) are more than six social connections apart. But what interesting reading journeys can we find if we apply it to thematic connections between books?
When Teixcalaan requests a new ambassador from Lsel Station and refuses to say why, the Council assume the worst. But it’s far worse than that…
From the ground, we stand; From our ships, we live; By the stars, we hope
Welcome to the Exodan Fleet.
30 years ago, the Society of Jesus sent a ship to Alpha Centauri to make first contact with alien singers. Only one man survived, rescued and returned to Earth a physical and emotional wreck amidst rumours of murder and sin. But what really happened to Father Emilio Sandoz on Rakhat?
Welcome to our biggest SciFiMonth yet! Our mentions exploded on November 1st, and the comm hasn’t stopped pinging since – we love you people ❤️
Nobody expected a meteorite to wipe out the Eastern Seaboard, but we had as little chance as the dinosaurs of surviving the ensuing climate catastrophe. There was only one way out: the space program.
The mercury is dropping. The clocks are going back (that counts as time travel, right?). And aboard the good ship SciFiMonth, the engines are roaring for lift off. Winter starts here: time for your favourite month-long geek-out over all things science fictional!
When SETI decode a mysterious signal to hear gorgeous singing, the world’s governments bicker over how to respond. The Jesuits don’t hesitate. They have the means and the will to build a spacecraft and send a team to make contact. After all, surely only children of God could make such beautiful music… right?
We’re nearly there: the countdown to SciFiMonth will start any day! Time to plot our course to far-flung star systems, parallel universes, possible futures and poorly-designed research labs full of dubious experiments (what can possibly go wrong?)
