visited a flea market in Ontario near Peterborough and found that a book vender there was downsizing her science fiction. so around the corner in another section she had totes and bags of sci Fi paperbacks. the quantity was overwhelming, and in retrospect I should have just bought them all, but I already had my hands full so I limited myself to the following.

some great covers and a few authors I am not familiar with yet. secret of the black planet is my first planned read. any of these favourites of yours?

(excuse the rumble fish, didn't notice it was in the stack when I photographed)

‘Star Trek Beyond’ is the 13th movie.

As I work on the outline for my next sci-fi novel, I keep coming back to Orwell’s 1984.

It was published almost 80 years ago, yet people still reference it whenever governments, surveillance, censorship or manipulation of information make the news.

How close do you think we actually are to Orwell’s vision?

Are concepts like constant surveillance, changing language and social conformity becoming reality, or is 1984 now used as a catch-all comparison for things Orwell never imagined?

Which parts of the novel do you think proved remarkably accurate, and which parts missed the mark?

I’d be interested to hear whether you think 1984 has become more relevant with time, or whether another dystopian novel is a better guide to the world we’re living in today.

If you had to recommend one dystopian novel that best reflects the world of 2026, would it be 1984, or would you choose something else?

Looking forward to your thoughts

John Westley Turnbull

I started Neuromancer twice before and DNF, now I finally did. I don't think I ever had a harder time rating a book.
Obviously it is an absolute classic and foundational work for cyberpunk, on the other hand half the time I felt I didn't know what was even happening. But then again every couple of pages you read a specific line of prose and just go "wow"... until you get back to cringe-y Rastafarian dialogue.

Usually I can tolerate wodden characters and/or writing if the plot or idea is fascinating enough - which it definitly is with Neuromancer. But I need at least some level of coherence to know what's going on.

I am really not sure what to make of it overall much less if I should give Count Zero a read. I know I am not alone with this, so for those sharing my experience (or not), was Count Zero worth it after Neuromancer?

Basic sci fi sources of starship propulsion power, systems power generation, and destructive power are as follows:

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion

Quark Fusion - This is 8 times greater than nuclear fusion.

Antimatter - This is up to 300 times greater than nuclear fusion. A typical classic Star Trek show would massively lower the destructive yield but much much more disproportionately lower the matter input required.

Beyond those are the following:

Singularity - This includes, but is not limited to, black hole engines. In Star Trek's TNG era, this is used by the Romulans. In the DIS / SFA era of the 31st century, the Federation only begins to deploy this.

Zero Point Energy or Quantum Vacuum Energy - Stargate is the leading sci-fi "authority" on this so far, not non-canonical tech spec in a Star Trek manual.

What other sources of starship propulsion power, systems power generation, and destructive power are there, for both Star Trek and beyond?

I'm trying to find an old sci-fi story I read as a child. It was probably written in the 20th century, and I think it was either a short story or a novella.

The protagonist lives in a future where humans have mastered telekinesis. One day, while at a bar, he realizes that he has lost his powers and can no longer levitate his money to pay for his drink. He has to reach for the money by hand, revealing his loss of power and becoming an outcast.

Later (unless I'm mixing up two different stories), the protagonist is exiled to a distant planet. The planet has a medieval-like society where telepaths are hunted down as witches and warlocks. He has to hide the fact that he used to be a telepath and learn to control the remainings of his abilities so they don't manifest and expose him.

Once again, I'm not 100% sure these two part are from the same story, even though they're somehow connetcted in my memories. But that scene at the bar I recall rather vividly and it seem to be quite distinguishing.

It don't remember well what is was about, but here is what I recall: there was kind of a prophecy, saying that the humanity have several years left before a catastrophe hits the planet. I don't remember if it was happening on earth, but it is highly likely to be. Also, I guess that the amount of time left was around 20-30, and that the catastrophe was kind of a huge and toxic fog, but I'm not sure at all about these ones. I think the author was Isaac Asimov, or at least a smilar author.

Sorry for the bad explanation, and thanks in advance.

Thanks to multiple sources of the news which I will link down below, we have an all new official Robocop tv series which is said to be a "reimagining" soon for Amazon Prime.

James Wann is set as a producer of the tv series, as he will direct the pilot episode while original film co writer Edward Neumeier is producing and writing it.

The series will debut a new cybernetic lawman named Marc Kyle. Unlike Peter Weller’s Alex Murphy in Verhoeven’s ’87 original, Kyle will start off as a soldier rather than a police officer. Just as Murphy does in the first RoboCop, Marc Kyle will die—in a war rather than at the hands of crooks—before being remade as a cyborg and beginning his new life under Murphy’s tutelage.“

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.joblo.com/amazon-mgm-robocop-tv-series-prime-video/amp/

Judging by how covid went I think if this happens we're fucked...

Ima keep this short and let yall answer

Do you think this is possible and if so how are you/would you prepare?

(It was written as a material for the Lovecraftian RPG).

Video version with sounds and images here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB-NO9snkrQ

It would seem that the Greek gods, so human in their forms and characters, are as far removed from incomprehensible eldritch abominations as possible. It's important to remember, however, that the image presented to us by contemporary pop culture - and even by many works of ancient poets - does not fully capture ancient beliefs. And every deity can be interpreted through Lovecraftian lenses.

We will start with the king of Olympus himself, Zeus.

In the current pop culture, Zeus is associated primarily as a mega-fucker, who will miss no woman. I propose to combine this aspect with his main role - the ruler of lightning - and create something more eldritch.

I propose Zeus as the embodiment of energy - all energy, and therefore not only electricity (lightning), but also life energy. Plato, in his Cratylus work, gives a folk etymology of Zeus meaning "cause of life always to all things", because of puns between alternate titles of Zeus (Zen and Dia) with the Greek words for life and "because of" .

Zeus influence is so strong that its mere presence causes women to become pregnant, giving birth to "heroes" characterized by great strength, aggression and psychopathic tendencies. It has been noticed that these heroes very often get into fights with the offspring of the greatest Zeus' enemy, Typhon (we will talk him in the next episode) - perhaps this means that Zeus does not impregnate women by accident, it is part of his plan to cleanse the Earth of the offspring of his archenemy... Or maybe it is a coincidence.

I propose that Hera, so called "jealous wife" of Zeus, who is known for persecuting his "mistresses" and offspring, is a being sent (by who or what?) to limit the Thunderer's breeding influence. However, while in his presence, she succumbed to his influence and gave birth to Zeus' spawn.

It happened once that Zeus' excess energy caused him to produce a new creature - Athena - without impregnating a mortal woman. She is the goddess of wisdom, and in the computer age we know that information is organized energy. Moreover, some myths hold that Athena did have a mother... in a sense. Metis was a shapeshifting Titan, Zeus's first wife, even before Hera. One day, Zeus devoured her whole. Athena was supposedly the result of this union. And again, gods devouring each other are more akin to eldritch. horror beings.

The myth of Semele is important here. Well, Semele, a demigoddess (daughter of Harmonia) became one of Zeus' lovers. Hera took the form of a mortal woman and persuaded Semele to test Zeus - if he really was a god, let him appear to her in his divine form. Zeus reluctantly granted Semele's wish, revealing himself as a thunderstorm. It turned out that even the demigoddess could not stand the true form of Zeus and she was burned to ashes, but her fetus - Dionysus - survived. Zeus placed the baby in his own body, where it matured. This story shows that Zeus isn't actually a muscular, bearded guy - he's just one of many forms he takes when dealing with mortals, like a bull or a golden shower.

A little-known aspect of Zeus is his strange connection to... werewolves. According to Plato a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every nine years to Zeus Lykaios, and a single morsel of human entrails would be intermingled with the animal's. Whoever ate the human flesh was said to turn into a wolf, and could only regain human form if he did not eat again of human flesh until the next nine-year cycle had ended. There were games associated with the Lykaia, removed in the fourth century to the first urbanization of Arcadia, Megalopolis; there the major temple was dedicated to Zeus Lykaios.

And here, too, we can find Zeus not only as the master of lightning, but as the source of all energy—including life energy. Just as his influence causes women to become pregnant and give birth to extraordinary heroes, so his influence on men, combined with bizarre, cannibalistic rituals, mutates men into powerful, savage beasts.

This is just small part of the full free brochure full of Lovecraftian concepts from the real life, culture, history and science: adeptus7.itch.io/lovecraftian-inspirations-from-real-life-and-beliefs

I made the first phaser years ago, sold it, wanted to replace it and make another but sometimes, less IS more. Its a nice build, but the old one still feels a bit more special. What do you guys think, which is cooler?

No idea what to expect, and I reckon even if I had some idea, it'd probably be wrong.

So I made a post looking for a physical copy of John Scalzi Constituent Service a while back and everyone just told me to listen to the e-book. Well I found it!

I'm not going to talk about how much I had to pay for it. But I got it! Number 995 out of 1250.

I have always been fascinated by science fiction settings that at first glance look old-fashioned, but clearly have hints or signs of a more futuristic technology. My favourite combination being cowboy/bounty hunter mixed with robots, spaceships and big guns (like Cowboy Bebop, East of West, Firefly). Especially with how the world feels at the moment, the idea to hop in your space ship, or jump on your robotic horse and just travel with no purpose is the kind of escapism I need.

What are your favourite stories that have a space cowboy-esque setting?

Spoilers, obviously.

I saw the movie first, and I absolutely love it.

Finally got around to reading the first Southern Reach novel, and also loved it.

I was prepared the book and movie were quite different, but I avoided in depth comparisons so I wouldn’t get book spoilers.

If you haven’t both watched and read Annihilation, I recommend avoiding the spoilers I’m about to share.

Early into the book, I accepted a head-canon that let me enjoy both without frustration. Lena is not the same biologist in the book. The biologist in the book is a character who later explores area X and has some things in common with Lena, but their experiences are completely separate. In the first few pages, I thought I was going to be annoyed that no one had names, but within a few more, I was grateful because this supports my head-cannon without tension.

In the book, it’s 30 years after the appearance of the shimmer. In the movie it’s within the first few years.

In the book, expedition 11 is composed of the same team makeup as expedition 12: Biologist, Psychologist, Anthropologist, Surveyor, Linguist (missing fr 12 because backed out last minute), and Archeologist (also not in 12 for no stated reason). So it’s perfectly logical that Lena’s team would be different and still made up of folx with similar specialties and even personalities.

Although they are both biologists who have a level of detachment and are loners, Lena and the biologist have very different lives.

In the book, the entire team from expedition 11 makes it out. In the movie, Kane is the first to make it out. This tracks for me since the shimmer has had a lot more time to learn how to send things out.

The only issue with this I see is of course in the ending of the film, the phosphorous grenade seems to end the shimmer. I think this is easily solvable in head canon as well. We see the shimmer being destroyed from within as the flames spread everywhere, but we don’t get confirmation that it’s completely gone (IIRC), just that it’s receding. If the shimmer is damaged but as it’s receding does it’s refraction-mutation-integration thing, we are only seeing the initial reaction where the grenade damages the shimmer and not the full cycle, in which it mutates/integrates the flame and then resumes its expansion. This works with the book being later because there is much talk of flames being part of the shimmer, in the living-fungi-text made by the crawler, psychologist saying she saw the biologist as a flame approaching the lighthouse, biologist talking about the glow taking her over from the inside.

We also find out in the book that there have been way more expeditions than 12, but the movie events support us accepting we really are within a few years of the appearance.

In the movie, we get explanation of why they would later ban modern equipment going into the shimmer as they have in the book. The shimmer makes all the communication signals and compasses not work right. Naturally, decades later they would not be trying to send that type of equipment in. The Southern Reach also goes to great lengths in the book to placate and keep teams calm and uninformed so they would want to avoid teams recording video for the next as Kane’s did. It seems they’ve very intentionally made sure only handwritten accounts exist.

I can certainly understand after having read the book how trying to map Lena and team onto the biologist and her team would be a frustrating experience that would make either the film and/or the book less enjoyable. My early acceptance that we’re experiencing two parallel stories from within area X about distinct characters that just happen to have similarities makes it super easy to love them both. Of course, I just finished Annihilation book and have not gotten to the sequels yet so if the biologist suddenly gets named as Lena in book 2, that will put a wrinkle in things.

I wrote a dark sci-fi mockumentary about a 7ft superstar whose fame becomes a psychic weapon. Would you read this?

I've read Starship Troopers 🦗and am excited to check out the rest

​

*note: OR does anyone know of a sci fi series with a really cool alien antagonist like the shrike from Hyperion for example?

Grew up reading a lot of marvel when I was younger, I love reading about characters like Thanos, Dormammu, Silver Surfer, Lobo etc so I was just wondering if I could find a book series that gives me that same vibe. (I like the concepts of those kinds of characters but I like reading actual books way more than I like reading comics so I gotta know if I can get both in one