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  • Showing only topics with the tag "science fiction". Back to normal view
    1. Star Wars recommendations for a six year old

      Kid has just started getting into Star Wars, which is great because I could buy a set of light sabres for Christmas and no what do you mean that was for the kid it absolutely wasn't a present for...

      Kid has just started getting into Star Wars, which is great because I could buy a set of light sabres for Christmas and no what do you mean that was for the kid it absolutely wasn't a present for myself as well. Anyway, countless hours of duelling later...

      We have watched the "first" two films (ep 4 and 5) and plan to watch the remaining movies at some points. A few grabbing-my-arm scary moments but it's OK because "the good guys always win, right Daddy?"

      We're playing Lego Star Wars together on the Playstation, which is brilliant fun. Their face when they blew up the Death Star all by themselves was fantastic. Everyone was excited for the rest of the day.

      We are hitting the phonics books, of which there is plenty. Kid loves books and stories but isn't such a fan of reading for themselves as yet - but will ask me to let them read to me if there are Star Wars books on the pile, which is great.

      However, that's where my Star Wars knowledge ends. I know there's a whole boatload of EU stuff out there, but I have no idea what it is, or what of it is suitable (or not) for a six year old. Any suggestions? We have a rotating selection of streaming services live at any given time, but I'm ok with the occasional venture into choppier waters if needed.

      21 votes
    2. What fictional world would you live in, if you could pick any one?

      Given that it's a day a lot of people want to escape, I figured I may as well ask. I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm torn between some of my favourite sci fi or fantasy worlds. Where...

      Given that it's a day a lot of people want to escape, I figured I may as well ask. I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm torn between some of my favourite sci fi or fantasy worlds.

      Where would you go? What would you do? Any caveats, or would you just take a portal and hope for the best?

      51 votes
    3. Speculative fiction that speaks to our current moment(s)

      I'm looking for your short stories, novelettes and novellas, and to a lesser extent novels too, that directly speak to the politics and social realities of today....

      I'm looking for your short stories, novelettes and novellas, and to a lesser extent novels too, that directly speak to the politics and social realities of today.

      https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/rabbit-test/ was a short story I shared here about 18 months ago that directly dealt with abortion restrictions and the future created from them.

      Another user shared Better Living through Algorithms for a more optimistic sort of take on "AI"

      And recently I was reminded of Mur Lafferty's The Ophelia Network, a novella which features a dystopian society where one of the changes from today was the Heritage Law. People of color needed to prove ancestory at least three generations, "preferably" descended from slaves. This plot point runs mostly in the background through the story but pops up occasionally.

      From The Ophelia Network

      Agent Frank looked up from Saxon’s tablet. “Your file says you’re half Black, half white. Your father’s people can be traced to sale at a South Carolina auction—wow, in 1619!” She looked at Saxon. “Is that correct?”
      Saxon nodded. “Our records say he’s descended from the first slaves to set foot in this country. His father’s people have been here longer than most American families.”
      Frank smiled. “You’re really lucky that those slaves had a kind master who kept good notes on his inventory.”
      Bailey didn’t let his TV persona slip one notch. He had always been calm in the face of racist bait. He met Frank’s eyes and simply nodded; his father’s genealogy was not news to him. After the president signed the Heritage Law, all people of color had scrambled to do genealogical research to justify their place in a country their ancestors built but was suddenly not theirs. They needed proof of at least three generations of forebears in America, preferably descended from slaves.
      The sponsors of the Heritage Law presented it as a step toward thanking slaves for building the country. America would thusly reward the slaves’ descendants with citizenship and the right to stay. What the sponsors failed to point out is that millions of other people of color would be deported.
      The Heritage Law meant the first-generation Haitian family across the street from Bailey’s parents had been deported just last week. His parents were still trying to clean out their neighbors’ home and put their things in storage before the government claimed the house and everything inside.
      It was with relief, not pride or gratitude, that his parents found the information about his many-great grandmother and her sale in Charleston, South Carolina.
      “Yes, I’m a legal citizen of America,” Bailey said. His voice was slurred as his swollen lips rallied their troops to muster forth a communication.

      I can think of a bunch of novels that say big things. The Handmaids Tale, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 etc. But I find shorter works tend to be more responsive to current events and often more cutting for their shorter length. I'd also suggest trying to avoid really common novel recs and focus on niche novels or shorter (also typically more niche I guess) works. But I'm not the boss of you.

      Share your recs? Link them here if they're free to read online?

      24 votes
    4. Recommend your social/softer science fiction books

      Ok so I'm enjoying the hard SF thread but what I really enjoy about SF is the sociology, anthropology and psychology more than the tech and whether or not the wormhole is sciency enough. Here's a...

      Ok so I'm enjoying the hard SF thread but what I really enjoy about SF is the sociology, anthropology and psychology more than the tech and whether or not the wormhole is sciency enough.

      Here's a wiki article on "social science fiction" for more context. There's definitely some overlap with both hard and soft SF, but I'm not looking for a rec just because it happens to be more space opera. I'm interested because of the themes of the work. Ursula Le Guin, Sherri Tepper, Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood are some of the key classic authors I've read in this arena but I'm looking for who I've overlooked. Plenty of YA work fits here especially post Hunger Games but I'd mostly request adult works unless it's a very strong YA novel (Hunger Games itself holds up very well IMO actually). I'd say Becky Chambers - who's also put into the solar punk/hope punk subgenres - is a good example of more anthropological feeling modern work.

      Some things don't age well - I really enjoy Tepper's Gate to Women's Country for its exploration of a post apocalyptic world where most men live outside the city in barracks, women live inside the city with the few men that choose to return to their mothers' homes, and only during festivals do the men and women get together with a chance for procreating. But it's an anti-sex worker world and one where homosexuality was "fixed" with a wave of a historical genetic hand.

      I'd love to know your recs and maybe what perspectives it gave you or that it exemplifies well. If there's stuff that doesn't age well due to science changing or cultural values changing maybe just note that, sometimes they're still quite good reads with that context.

      43 votes
    5. I need some help with the sciency bit of my short story

      I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our...

      I am writing this short story. It is part of the overall book that I am writing, but it is also a story that can be enjoyed completely on its own. In that story, a planet-sized ship approaches our Solar System, and, ultimately maybe, Earth. For dimensions, let's say it is equal to 1.5 of Earth's diameter. According to Google, that's 25,512 19,134 kilometers. The Planet-Ship is probably less dense than Earth, as it is largely occupied by biomass and weird alien electronics. You may think of it as a round Borg cube, from Star Trek.

      My "Round Borg Cube" is completely black and spherical, with a smooth surface without any visible features.

      What I wanna know is...

      • Assuming that the object is on a very slow path towards Earth, at what proximity will its effects be known?
      • At which point will scientists observe its effects, view it, or detect it with instruments?
      • If that is at all possible, what would be a threshold in which the "Round Borgs" would have to interrupt their movement in order to remain undetected?
      • At which distance will it be visible to the naked eye (if at all)?
      • And if they chose to get dangerously close to Earth, what would be the impact on our environment?

      I understand that is a lot to ask, but I just can't trust GPT for that kind of stuff, even if their answers sound plausible. Perhaps someone with astronomical knowledge as well as an interest in science fiction will find my questions enticing. I don't expect precise answers because I am not providing precise information. So feel free to speculate on that scenario. In any case, I am grateful for any answer I can get.

      Thanks!

      22 votes
    6. What hard scifi books could you recommend?

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Hello! Could you please recommend some hard science fiction books? I am struggling to find a good one. My favorites are Blindsight and Echopraxia by Peter Watts, but I have failed to find anything similar.

      I also enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir and The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, though in my opinion, these aren't quite what I would call hard science fiction.

      Additionally, I enjoyed books that blend fiction and non-fiction, like Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.

      What are your favorite hard science fiction books?

      49 votes
    7. What significant dates from fiction have we reached?

      This question is inspired by two things: @carsonc’s comment in the hard sci-fi topic about Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars starting off in 2026 (which is right around the corner). I started...

      This question is inspired by two things:

      1. @carsonc’s comment in the hard sci-fi topic about Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars starting off in 2026 (which is right around the corner).

      2. I started reading Ministry for the Future (coincidentally also by Kim Stanley Robinson) for the Tildes Book Club, and the titular organization starts in, of all times, January 2025 (as in, right now! The book was a perfect pick for this month).

      It got me thinking about how a lot of science and speculative fiction books from the past imagined a future ahead of themselves, and how the passage of time has brought us to or even past those imagined futures.

      So I’m interested in specific date milestones from fiction that we have met or passed already. They do not have to specifically be from science/speculative fiction, though I imagine most will be.

      25 votes
    8. 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly?

      Today is Isaac Asimov's official day of birth, according to Wikipedia. Apparently it has been made National Science Fiction Day in the US. So what are some of your favorite films you return to...

      Today is Isaac Asimov's official day of birth, according to Wikipedia. Apparently it has been made National Science Fiction Day in the US.

      So what are some of your favorite films you return to from time to time and what are some films that made a strong impact on you as an adult or when you were growing up? I wasn't sure about starting another thread just for TV shows, we could include sci-fi TV shows here as well.

      29 votes
    9. In praise of Arcane season 2

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      To me this is the best thing I've ever seen, movie or series or otherwise. Characters, artstyle, writing, animations, worldbuilding, character depth, mental issues and disability representation and the music.

      It's bold, it's flashy, it's outright heartbreaking and earth-shattering yet comforting and soft when it wants to be and then totally can spin the story again in a new direction. Bravo.

      And I've seen anything from the Shawshank Redemption and The Dark Knight on release to obscure anime and bad TV series these past 25 years.

      I bow to the incredible talent that has made this possible.

      35 votes
    10. Scavengers Reign (2023) - Best sci-fi I have seen in years, aside from Dune

      "Scavengers Reign" eluded me when it released last year, but I was made aware of it after MAX canceled the show in May (Netflix has since picked it up but may or may not put in for more, is how I...

      "Scavengers Reign" eluded me when it released last year, but I was made aware of it after MAX canceled the show in May (Netflix has since picked it up but may or may not put in for more, is how I understand the situation).

      The trailer has been posted here but I wanted to check in and see how everyone else felt about it (keep it spoiler free!). Personally I was enthralled all the way through. It has such an interesting blend of Miyazaki-esque "creature-y" world building with more meditative displays of nature and the violence and balance that is integral to it. If that sounds at all interesting I would suggest watching the first of twelve episodes, you will probably know if you are interested or not after it's over.

      Here's hoping Netflix green lights more, assuming the creators want to continue. It really could stand as-is with where they left it.

      38 votes
    11. Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children

      My apologies if there is already a thread about this. I did try searching and didn't turn anything up. My daughter (9) is just about to finish the Harry Potter series. She saw Kim Stanley...

      My apologies if there is already a thread about this. I did try searching and didn't turn anything up.

      My daughter (9) is just about to finish the Harry Potter series. She saw Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars on the bookshelf and asked to read it next. It's been years since I read it, but I remember it being pretty complex and political. Much as I would enjoy discussing it with her, I think it might be a little bit ambitious for her first SF.

      She read a Wrinkle in Time in school and has already listened to the Narnia books on audiobook.

      I was thinking back to my own childhood reading, which was very eclectic because I was limited by what I could get at home or in my small town libraries. I remember Clarke, Asimov, Pohl, L'Engle, but also a healthy dose of Star Trek and Star Wars novels, and even the Death lands novels. It was mostly hard SF. I didn't really read much fantasy until grad school.

      I feel like the landscape is pretty different now, with a lot more YA content in general and especially in the Fantasy/SF world. There are things with better representations and diversity as well. I spent an hour in the children's fiction section of our library, but I feel like it's difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

      So Tilderinos, that are your recommendations or thoughts? I'm also interested in meta resources like book lists or reviewers that have been helpful to you. Much as I would like to read everything she reads, she has much more bandwidth than I do.

      As I was writing this, my daughter came by and suggested I list some of her interests, which are: magic, dragons, wizards and witches, and being tired of having all happy endings. So while I'm not necessarily tied to SF and Fantasy only, that does seem like it will be the thin end of the wedge.

      Edit:
      I have compiled the recommendations from this thread into a spreadsheet listing each book or series with a short synopsis and other notes. I've also included the names of the books for most series. My apologies if I missed any.

      44 votes
    12. I’m falling in love with the Revelation Space universe

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      I want to ramble about Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series/universe. I will avoid spoilers.

      So far, I have read:

      "The Prefect" 2007
      "Revelation Space" 2000
      "Chasm City" 2001
      "The Great Wall of Mars" (Novella) 2000
      "Glacial" (Novella) 2001 (I haven't finished this yet.)

      I’m an occasional listener to “The Sword and Laser,” a book club/podcast where they read a book each month and discuss it, alternating between sci-fi and fantasy. I usually don't read the books, just enjoy the conversations, but if the early discussions sound interesting, I will read it before I get to the spoilery episodes.

      One such case was when they read ‘The Prefect’ in 2021. I had heard of Alastair Reynolds and Revelation Space and had considered reading him before. If I remember correctly, they said it was a good way to dip your toe in the universe with a story that takes place in it but isn't really connected to the main series, so it doesn't spoil much.

      I liked ‘The Prefect’ but didn't love it. It was set in this huge, complicated universe but had this small noir detective-type character we were following. It felt like seeing a narrow flashlight beam, aiming into an opaque mist of stuff that I couldn't quite make out.
      I liked many of the little pieces floating around the universe, but I didn't quite trust that it was real and would have internal consistency.

      I saw “Pushing Ice” (an Alastair Reynolds book that is unrelated to Revelation Space) recommended somewhere late last year and decided to try it. I loved it, even though the ending left so much unanswered that it was disappointing. I can see how it may make sense to do that for some stories. Still, I have this distrust of the author's intent sometimes. If it feels like they are including mysterious background info without any thought of how it all connects, it bothers me. Even if the story or characters are good, it is distracting. I'm afraid of getting a "Lost" or "Game of Thrones" type ending where I don't feel like all the threads paid off or had any real purpose. To be clear, "Pushing Ice" was nothing like those endings. I feel like it earned its story. It just didn't fill in the universe as much as I wanted. I still didn't fully trust Reynolds as an author.

      A few months ago, I decided to try the first proper book in the series, “Revelation Space”. I was surprised to see that I already owned it on Kindle. The first chapter was very familiar. I had bought it in 2013! As I read, I remembered I had gotten bored back then and left the book after a chapter or 2 to read something else. The beginning was a little boring. Again, it's set in a world I don't know and I'm not sure if I care about. In this book though, the perspective changes often. Multiple points of view seem to help me triangulate the world. It takes half the book, but I eventually fully buy-in, and then the world seems incredibly full. References to unknown factions, historical events, religions, movements, etc. They all feel like real plausible things with their own potential histories. Instead of the misty, non-tangible fluff, they seemed like when I read "The Prefect" or the first part of this book.

      I finished “Revelation Space” completely satisfied and excited to dive into the series. I did a little research and found there are a lot of options for reading order. At this point I’m fairly certain I want to read every book in the series, so I am not too concerned with reading order, I just want to find a fun way to keep the things fresh as I explore it. I decided to read “Chasm City” next as it seems like the next thing in terms of publication date.

      "Chasm City" was great! It followed the same pattern for me, with the beginning and the main character being the most boring parts of the book. But by the end, I felt like I knew the universe better and saw a bunch of interesting, fun stuff along the way.

      I then read “The Great Wall” a quick novella that was awesome! It tells an origin story for something that has been mentioned but left ambiguous in all the other books. So satisfying.

      I started reading another novella, “Glacial” today. So far, I'm really curious, but not sure what it's about.

      The Great Wall reminded me of a book I read probably twenty years ago, “Hellstroms Hive” by Frank Herbert. I can't remember the details, and I think I may reread it now to take a break and make sure I won't burn out on Revelation Space. After that, I think I’ll jump right back in with “Redemption Ark” the next main novel in the series, which I believe follows the story of the novella I'm reading now.

      Unless someone else has a better suggestion for what to read next in the revelation space universe? I've already bought the “Galactic North” collection to read those two novellas. But Im not sure if I should read any of the others until after I read further in the main novel series.

      Any other opinions on revelation space?

      18 votes