Tag Archives: science fiction

The Heinlein Interview

Posted on October 18, 2023 by smellincoffee

I am closing in on the end of Astounding, which bills itself as a history of golden-age SF, and so far the most interesting aspect of it was the largely-uncommented-on political history of Robert Heinlein. We meet him as an … Continue reading →

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Moriarty, Consulting Criminal and Scroogled

Posted on October 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

Short rounds! One short story by Cory Doctorow and three short stories by Andy Weir. The first, Scroogled, is a very short story, just hitting 20 pages. Written in the mid-2000s, when Google was beginning its transformation from Mew to … Continue reading →

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The Shockwave Rider

Posted on October 15, 2023 by smellincoffee

Nick Haflinger is a man of many names and identities, on the run from what passes for the government these days. With so much of the population constantly on the move, existing more in the plugged-in virtual realm than in … Continue reading →

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Millenium

Posted on October 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

So there you are, dear reader, engrossed in an interesting story about two airplanes smashing into one another, and of a man named Bill Smith who’s trying to find why. And then, perhaps a half hour into your reading journey, … Continue reading →

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A life reading SF

Posted on October 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

It amuses me to think that there was a time — even when I was keeping this blog — where I steadfastly maintained that I wasn’t a science fiction reader, that I just liked Star Trek. Part of me even … Continue reading →

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Murder by Other Means

Posted on October 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tony Valdez is a dispatcher. In a world where people who die of natural causes stay dead, but people who are killed by others magically appear back in bed, his job is to intercede when people are dying from accidents … Continue reading →

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September 2023 in Review

Posted on October 2, 2023 by smellincoffee

September was a quieter month for leisure reading than the last have been, in part because of grad school — I’m constantly reading articles related to information science for class, both the assigned pieces and those I can find connected … Continue reading →

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Starter Villain

Posted on September 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

Charlie is a sacked journalist struggling to get by with a substitute teacher’s salary, and dreams of maybe owning the neighborhood pub one day if he can ever get approval for a loan that uses his father’s house as the … Continue reading →

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Living Memory

Posted on September 18, 2023 by smellincoffee

When Starfleet begins analyzing a series of disruptive and potentially dangerous flares in space, Commander Pavel Chekov realizes there’s a pattern: these flares mostly in places visited by the Enterprise on its five-year mission, albiet in reverse order — and … Continue reading →

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Warcross

Posted on August 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

Emika Chen is a young woman, desperately in debt because a past criminal record makes it impossible for her to obtain the kinds of work that she’s developed skills for. What’s she’s good at coding and hacking, and these days … Continue reading →

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