Category Archives: Science Fiction
The Diary of the Rose • 1976 • Dystopian novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
★★★★★ In a despotic government, minds need to be aligned to a canon of orthodox thoughts and beliefs, intellectuals might be electroshocked out of their minds. This story investigates the relationship between a “criminal” Flores Sorde, and his psychotherapeutic … Continue reading
Conditionally Human • 1952 • SF novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
★★★ Summary: The overcrowded world led to family planning policy similar to China’s one-child policy. To satisfy the parental instinct of women, they get “neuts” as a replacement for own children: chimps have been genetically altered in such a way, that … Continue reading
Artemis • 2017 • Hard SF novel by Andy Weir
★★★★ To those who liked The Martian novel or movie and wonder if the author can do it again: Yes, he does. He delivers the same funny, sly dialogs, the same Hard SF background, the same level of reckless last … Continue reading
The Year’s Best SF and Fantasy 2017 • SF&F anthology by Rich Horton
Today, this Year’s Best Of anthology by Rich Horton is published. It is one really large collection featuring 30 stories on 576 pages. This year, it overlaps with Strahan’s annual Best Of in only three stories from MacLeod, Valentine, and … Continue reading
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers • 2015 • Vampire short story by Alyssa Wong
★★★★★ Summary: Jenny tinders around not for one-night stands but to feed off the dark emotions and thoughts of her dates. After having had her first killer she knew why her mother taught her to stay with petty criminals: Nothing tastes … Continue reading
The Best of Subterranean • 2017 • SF&F anthology by William Schafer
★★★+ Summary: Once, there was a great SF&F magazine from Subterranean Press, publishing reviews, news, and stories between 2005 and its final issue in 2014. What you will find here is an anthology of 30 stories spread over some 750 pages from … Continue reading
A Long Walk Home • 2011 • SF novelette by Jay Lake
★★★ Summary: On a distant planet and future, suddenly all the electronics are fried. A prospecting “Howard”, one of the genetically enhanced, nearly immortal humans, finds himself stranded all alone on a planet. He has to build a routine surviving the loneliness. … Continue reading
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling • 2013 • Near Future SF novelette by Ted Chiang
★★★★★ Summary: What would a perfect memory mean for us and our culture? How changed literacy our subjectivity? A journalist explores the pros and cons of a Cyborgish memory enhancement gadget called Remem which lets you capture, search, and replay every … Continue reading
The Screams of Dragons • 2014 • Urban Fantasy novelette by Kelley Armstrong
★★★ Summary: Bobby dreams of screaming dragons, golden castles, and green meadows. He is abused by his grandmother, ignored by his parents, uncorrected by the elders of nearby rural village Cainsville. Would you consider it as a spoiler that Bobby didn’t … Continue reading
The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn • 2011 • SF novelette by Robert Silverberg
★★★ Summary: Human dwellers formed the culture of Majipoor since many thousand years. The first pontifex remained a figure of myth and poetry. The main protagonist Simmilgord wants to uncover his true history. A position as curator for a new museum … Continue reading
