Category Archives: science fiction

Dune

Posted on June 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

For as long as I’ve been online, I’ve heard of Dune, have heard expressions like “The spice must flow” and seen the “I must not fear / fear is the mind-killer / fear is the little death (etc)” recitation embedded … Continue reading →

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The spice must flow: Dune, the Graphic Novel(s)

Posted on June 12, 2024 by smellincoffee

Purists may give me the stink-eye, but when I spotted these in our new acquisitions in the children’s department, I snatched them right up. I aim to read Dune this year, and I figured a graphic novel version might break … Continue reading →

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Tiger Chair

Posted on June 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

War. War never changes. Oh, the execution of it changes — spears become rifles, scouts on fast horses are replaced by drones and mining photos for GPS data — but the horror of it remains, as does certain truths like … Continue reading →

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A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Posted on June 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Last week I finished A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, the second in the Monk and Robot duology. In the first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, we were introduced to the Monk, Dex, who journeyed into the wilderness looking for … Continue reading →

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A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Posted on June 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

What do people need? Dex is a garden monk who should, by all accounts, enjoy a perfectly happy life. Health, a meaningful job, people who love them — what’s missing? Dex doesn’t know. After departing from the monastery to pursue … Continue reading →

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Solarpunk stories: a novella and short stories

Posted on May 29, 2024 by smellincoffee

Recently I encountered the word ‘solarpunk’, and learned that it was a subgenre of science fiction that attacks the pessimism of cyberpunk by creating futures that are its opposite. In solarpunk settings, humanity has learned to grow with nature — … Continue reading →

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Plan 9 from Outer Space: Ed Woods attacks!

Posted on May 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

I love watching strange science fiction movies from the fifties and sixties, especially the B+ movies with outlandish costuming, strange set design, and bizarre characters. Ed Woods’ Plan 9 from Outer Space delivered all those in spades, along with genre … Continue reading →

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SHELLI

Posted on May 20, 2024 by smellincoffee

Jake August is a young agent of Homeland Security who has just been welcomed into a special subsection devoted to investigating crimes committed by replican- errr, synthetics. Synths have been integrated into society as intelligent, humanoid tools oriented toward a … Continue reading →

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The Store

Posted on May 3, 2024 by smellincoffee

At a last huzzah in New York, surrounded by former writers who the modern economy has made superfluous, Jacob and Megan announce to their friends that they are doing the unthinkable: they’re joining The Store. The Store dominates the American … Continue reading →

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The Downloaded

Posted on February 20, 2024 by smellincoffee

In the 26th century, two groups of humans are awakening. The first are a group of scientists who think they’re on a spaceship headed toward Proxima Centauri, there to begin Earth’s first colony. The second are criminals who were part … Continue reading →

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