868 posts tagged with scifi.
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The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence
A detective searches for a mysterious second dimension, with his ability to stand on one leg being his one asset in the quest. The only thing standing in his way is the “Donut Men”, a group who stalks our hero and poses their electric-wielding power as a threat. Simultaneously, a rock star needs to be plugged into an electrical supply so he can garner the power to create powerful music with the occasional destruction. David Lynch attempted to make Ronnie Rocket, or The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence his second film. Or his third. Or his fourth. Or his fifth. He never found the funding. Far Out magazine looks into the story of David Lynch's abandoned sci-fi opus. You can check out the screenplay here or listen to a reading on YouTube. [more inside]
fast food, slow reflection, aliens, alienation, research, & authenticity
Graduate Assistant Four Fronds Turning had made the best guacamole that Mike had ever tasted in his original or post-revival life, and it was all wrong. "The Jaxicans' Authentic Reconstruction of Taco Tuesday #37" by Stephen Granade is a short, bittersweet science fiction story (published in April in Strange Horizons) in which Mike makes a few meals and a few friends. Content warnings are available behind the "show warnings" button at the top.
"this rat borg collective ended up [performing] better than single rats"
"Not-pleasant! I am causing you not-pleasant!"
The short science fiction story "Hello! Hello! Hello!" by Fiona Jones (published March 2024 in Clarkesworld) begins:
I express greetings and most joyful salutations!
I do not mean to interrupt you if you wish to be without company. It is only that I noticed you have been drifting alone for six flares of star-home-past-great-star-birthplace, and that is many flares! Your movement has been aimless, and I express concern!
If only your economy room included an escape pod
Little Workshop is an award-winning French studio specializing in high-quality immersive 3D experiences for the web. Their portfolio contains many charming and fun projects you can try out yourself, including endless city generator Infinitown, cute procedural dungeon crawler Keep Out!, pulsing geometric music visualizer TRACK, and Arde Madrid, a multi-scene recreation of Ava Gardner's home in Francoist Spain. Their latest and most ambitious project: EQUINOX, a slick, stylized adventure game set in a failing starship in deep space, complete with a full soundtrack and voice acting in a mobile-friendly interface. Read the case study on their website, or check out their other projects (including the dearly-departed Mozilla MMORPG BrowserQuest).
Mars Wants Movies
"The History of Sci-Fi Film from 1900 to the Present." Under the title Robots and Rayguns, Mars Wants Movies [YT channel] is methodically reviewing the history of sci-fi on film – the classics along with the forgotten. (At the time of posting, it is at Episode 16, for the year 1936.) From Episode 1: "In this ongoing series, I will delve into the history of science fiction cinema. …This introductory episode sets the stage for the history of the genre that dominates Hollywood today. But in the early 20th Century, the genre was a mix of science fiction, fantasy, adventure, and experimentation that evolved with the technology of the 20th Century." The series also looks at other contemporary milestones in movies, plus the scientific, cultural, and historical events of the times. "From interstellar adventures to dystopian futures, the genre has captivated audiences, allowing them to contemplate the possibilities of technological advancements, extraterrestrial life, and the consequence of our own scientific pursuits."
Has Uploaded Intelligence been deleted? Or is it hiding on the web?
In September 2022, the first season of animated science fiction series Pantheon debuted on AMC+. By January of the following year, the series was cancelled and wiped from the streaming service, despite the completion of a season 2. [more inside]
The 3 Body Problem is out!
After a failed adaptation in 2017, Netflix has finally released the home-streaming adaptation of Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem trilogy. How will the slow build to epic scope that prevented some readers from finishing the book series fare in the hands of the same showrunners that brought you Game of Thrones? Binge ready for the weekend (trigger warning: starts with violence). [more inside]
An Anarchist’s Guide To Dune
A long time ago in a place called Olympia, Washington… The Transmetropolitan Review places Frank Herbert’s Dune within the anarchist history of the Pacific Northwest.
escaping realtime
Vernor Vinge, author of many influential hard science fiction works, died March 20 at the age of 79.
Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced the finalists for the Nebula Awards. [more inside]
Ghosting
"Ghosting" by Kelly Lagor (2023) is an uncomfortable science fiction novella involving reinvention, memory, betrayal, drugs, sex, and a drier, hotter Southern California. She thought of her trunk, covered in stickers from places she could only confirm she’d been to by looking at entries she had no memory of putting in her diary. But these people were fellow like-minded misfits. They felt like a kind of home. She didn’t want to lie. Author's commentary.
The Lost Universe: NASA's First TTRPG Adventure
The Lost Universe (science.nasa.gov, 03/04/2024): "A dark mystery has settled over the city of Aldastron on the rogue planet of Exlaris. Researchers dedicated to studying the cosmos have disappeared, and the Hubble Space Telescope has vanished from Earth's timeline. Only an ambitious crew of adventurers can uncover what was lost. Are you up to the challenge? This adventure is designed for a party of 4-7 level 7-10 characters and is easily adaptable for your preferred tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) system." Adventure design by Christina Mitchell. Graphic design by Michelle Belleville.
Lo-fi beats to smash Tokyo to
The Godzilla Meditation Series, lightly animated stills from kaiju movies with ambient music. From Kaijutopia. [more inside]
"I wake up later and I can’t pretend anymore."
Maureen F. McHugh (previously) wrote two short scifi stories recently in which folks navigate modern uncertainty with a fantastical twist. In "The Goldfish Man" (2022), "Before everything went to hell I was making double vases." In "Liminal Spaces" (2024) (which feels in conversation with Ursula K. Le Guin's Changing Planes), "There was a broad corridor going off to the left that she definitely didn’t remember. It shook her out of her ruminations." [more inside]
“Maybe the kid in the hole was always a bad idea.”
WHY DON'T WE JUST KILL THE KID IN THE OMELAS HOLE, by Isabel J. Kim. An excellent Omelas riff that's just what it sounds like.
The Blazing World
Margaret Cavendish's multiverse science fiction from 1666 predates Mary Shelly, Jules Verne and Marvel by more than a century. She also published books of poetry under her own name, discussed her science research at the Royal Society, and designed gender neutral clothing that she wore at Queen Mary's court. Samuel Pepy's mentioned her a few times, although he was not a fan.
Something something torment nexus
An Anti-Defense of Science Fiction. If we’re going to give science fiction credit for solar power and electric cars, then it’s only fair, unfortunately, to give science fiction credit for child slavery in the cobalt mines. If we want to claim that science fiction inspired reusable spacecraft or even the lowly Roomba, we must also reckon with the fact that it inspired the gun-wielding drones sniping hospital patients and staff in Gaza.
Rudy Rucker's 1986 Cyberpunk Sci-fi Collection Mirrorshades
=== This is a free online edition of
Bruce Sterling's anthology Mirrorshades. ===
via boingboing. [more inside]
Bruce Sterling's anthology Mirrorshades. ===
via boingboing. [more inside]
“Memories are meant to fade… They’re designed that way for a reason.”
I’ve never encountered such well-made sinks.
Recent micro-fiction An Obituary to Birdsong at speculative fiction/science fiction purveyor If There's Anyone Left. From Issue 2: Travel Guide to Spaceport Rest Stops. From Issue 1: It Is a Beautiful Day on the Internet, and You Are a Horrible Bot. And previously (in 2021) on MeFi.
Those Awesome Scientists
A Mystery That Should Not Exist
Sarah Elizabeth, author of the upcoming book The Art of Fantasy, posted in May that she'd been searching for years for the name of the artist who painted the cover for the 1976 Dell Laurel Leaf edition of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Four months of dead ends from various internet sleuths later, the folks at WBUR's Endless Thread podcast have announced the mystery is solved and described how they did it. (Full transcript available at the link.)
They Came From Outer Space to Become a Show's New Face
[MLYT] In 1989, Australians John Thomson and Mark Shirrefs began planning a children's magazine series hosted by crash-landed aliens learning about Earth. Ten years later, they pitched it... as a children's sitcom ABOUT such a show, hosted by characters the network doesn't know are real alien schoolchildren. It went straight to series without even a pilot order, and got a second season. This is Kid's Breakfast... or rather, Pig's Breakfast.
“I just wanted to make food,” Lou said.
"Please be informed, the notification read, that your business, the Sunlight Cafe, has been designated a Moderately Impactful Business. This replaces your current designation as a Negligibly Impactful Business. The Moderately Impactful Business designation comes with increased governance requirements which are listed below. Note that our decision may be appealed and is considered probationary until the appeals process is complete." In the short scifi story "Sunlight" by Shauna Gordon-McKeon, one woman loves that the little café she runs with her wife has become a community space. But her wife doesn't. [Disclaimer: Shauna is a friend.]
love, beauty, sparkly song, shattering, joy
"Edie tilted her head to listen. It was catchy, full of bouncy rhythms. It made Edie think of sparkly outfits and dancing.....The name of the singer had been said so quickly, and besides that, all musicians gave themselves funny names. They’d done that even when Edie was young." In the short science fiction story "Always and Forever, Only You" by Iona Datt Sharma (previously on MetaFilter), a woman in "what the Sunshine Care Home called Independent Sheltered Living" experiences joy, heartbreak, and togetherness.
It's got Zathras, but I hope Zathras is in it, too. And Zathras.
The trailer for the next installment of the Babylon 5 saga has arrived: The Road Home. Much of the surviving cast returns, with Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy, Tracy Scoggins, and Patricia Tallman all reprising their iconic characters.
Kitchen Sink Science Fiction
Simon Stålenhag, artist, musician, and designer specialising in retro-futuristic digital images, may have a new production coming out... The Electric State. [more inside]
There are infinite planets, infinite stories, and infinite possibilities
Nobel prize-winning astrophysicist Didier Queloz explores the astronomy behind Hovoyerse (developer of Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd et al)'s new interstellar turn-based RPG Honkai Star Rail.
"I tried to title this post for 20 minutes and failed"
Trigun Fan Account's Tweet Turns Queer Sci-Fi Novel Into An Amazon Bestseller. An enthusiastic tweet on Sunday from the account of one bigolas dickolas woIfwood now has the 2019 scifi novella This Is How You Lose The Time War sitting at #7 on Amazon's bestseller list. Co-author Amal El-Mohtar reacts and is interviewed. Co-author Max Gladstone says it feels like coming full circle. Bookriot: "There is something so delightful about this whole experience."
SLYT
50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time
Another list to argue about! What does Esquire Magazine know about sci-fi? I don't know either, but have at it! [more inside]
Through every transformation, you are only who you dream you are.
Tight, tight. A sharp flex, a crack, a sudden a wash of air, then—the scent of a guru upwind! Guru guru guru! Larva831’s eggy thoughts gushed away, its ejected cognitive fluids mixing confusedly with the ejected fluids of its 100012 hatching sibs. Obsolete embryonic ideas flowed under a dozen dozen dozen cracking shells, swirled through holes in the bottom of the nest, streamed dazzling out into the air above the great tree’s lower branches, hit soil, and dissolved. Larva Pupa Imago by Eric Schwitzgebel is a short story about love, personhood, and transformation. It's also about erotica for uplifted butterflies.
rescue, bandages, and smoke
A few very different wish-fulfillment pieces of speculative fiction. Stories by lyricwritesprose and by dalekteaservice give us alien points of view on what humans could offer to a troubled universe. And in "Burning Men" by Maria Farrell, certain people start spontaneously combusting. (Author's commentary: it's "about a world where the cost of sexual violence is born by the perpetrators and how that changes everything" as well as "the mood music of brexit and covid.") [more inside]
"our duty of care outweighs such emotional considerations"
"We believe close partners should be candid with each other when misunderstandings occur. As such, we wish to respond to certain inaccurate statements made today by British officials and media regarding our archaeological activities." From MeFi's own adrianhon, a short science fiction story: "The Taking of Stonehenge".
20 genre-defying sci-fi books that broke the mold
BookRiot.com, a bit breathlessly, gives us
20 genre-defying sci-fi books that broke the mold. I've read four of these, and they were all very good, so I'm taking a chance on sharing the full list.
a funnel, the tinsel, sifting, forgetting, remembering
Here, have 2 heartwrenching short speculative fiction stories where parents, trying their best, say or do terrible yet ordinary things; their children eventually find imperfect ways to cope or heal. "Coming Through in Waves" by Samantha Murray -- content notes at the top -- "[My mother's] sentences all sound … reasonable on the surface. She’s pulling any immediate clues from the environment, from my expression, from words that knit well together, to cover the gaping wound which is her mind.". Summary of "Sand" by Jasmin Kirkbride: When Suzy was born, her parents filled her mouth with sand. But this is normal and natural and the way things are always done. And if she finds it uncomfortable to keep it there, to eat with it there, to talk with it there, she’s just going to have to learn to live with it.
SF/F published this year that somebody loved
Enjoy reading and recommending science fiction and fantasy prose, art, TV, film, and more published in 2022 with a crowdsourced list of Hugo Award-eligible works, people, magazines, etc. It currently lists 164 short stories and 29 novelettes, most of which you can read for free online, along with more than 130 novels, 19 graphic stories, and dozens of magazines and podcasts. This collaborative spreadsheet is administered by the fans who run the group blog Lady Business. If something you loved isn't in the sheet, please add it!
"The warlock said, 'These are not new jokes.'"
Three fantastical stories about trying to heal. "Isabel said, 'I think I’m being possessed.' You said, 'You’re not being possessed.' You also said, 'Don’t be so dramatic,' which you would later look back on and regret." "Spirochete" by Anneke Schwob (please note the content warnings on that page) has a demanding friendship and a chronic illness. “Did you regret what you said before Carl passed?” "Reprise" by Samantha Lane Murphy (please note the content warnings on that page too) portrays the end of a car ride, over and over. "Traditional witches and green witches don’t always see eye to eye. With a life on the line, Berthe is very persuasive." "Berthe the Green Witch" by Catelyn Winona (Caffeine and Magix on Tumblr) features a snob getting comeuppance. [more inside]
"the service, which centred on themes of growth and renewal"
Iona Datt Sharma (previously) is a lawyer and author of science and fantasy fiction that I love and frequently recommend. They often write about the legal and social infrastructure of fantastical places. "Are you here to bang on about cultural ties and the longitudinal view of history?" "Light, Like a Candle Flame" (2017) reckons with the aftermath of a generation ship, sewage treatment, and the fear of "repeating all the old mistakes". "And it is the oldest settled law of our people that where signene lies, no cause of action can." "One-Day Listing" (2014) depicts attorneys taking care of refugees and each other, and grief. [more inside]
"resentment is an essential survival skill"
A few short scifi pieces by BIPOC authors whose work I love and I frequently recommend. "As a low-quality person waiting for slaughter, Helena understands how those cows feel." "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (January 2017) (previously) portrays a beef forger, stuck with an awful job, who makes an unexpected friend. "I’m a very expensive prototype but there will be efficiencies at scale." "Left of Bang: Preemptive Self-Actualization for Autonomous Systems" by Vajra Chandrasekera (April 2017), on training in surviving and committing violence, is short and brutal. [more inside]
"I grabbed a seat in the reality opposite her."
Three short science fiction stories written by people of color and published this year (and thus eligible for you to nominate for 2022 awards). "there’s official information, but it’s never enough. And there are rumors, but you can’t trust them. This is almost like…in between." "Shared Data" by Malka Older imagines us joining forces to share information as mutual aid. "What he wanted was to leave reality." "Simulations" by Danilo Campos portrays an AI who gives a tech CEO surprising advice. Vaughn reached inside herself experimentally, tentatively, looking for anger, and found only fear again. "All That Burns Unseen" by Premee Mohamed depicts firefighting, eldercare, and a new friend. [more inside]
"I can’t tell you what a relief it was to find this place!"
Two short speculative stories, written by people of color, that use a fantastically cozy teashop and restaurant to depict comfort and care. "Speaking of the service! They’re LGBTQ+ and undead-friendly, obviously, so that’s a plus." "Review for: Izakaya Tanuki" by J. L. Akagi praises a hard-to-find ozoni vendor. "Who’s that interesting hominid you were talking to?" In "Liz's Tea House" by Rodrigo Culagovski (MetaFilter's Own signal), space newbie Ana stumbles through a lot of beloved scifi stories on the way to making a home for herself. [more inside]
The McCallister Clan is Riding a Shooting Star
A family moves their inn from the Earth to outer space in a failed 1979 TV pilot. Obviously inspired by a certain scene Star Wars, "Starstruck," on YouTube (27 minutes), starring Beeson Carroll, Lynne Lipton and Roy Brocksmith, may remind you of a certain holiday special from the year before. [more inside]
Rejections, feedback, delays, payment, and numbers
Amit Gupta gives readers and writers a peek behind the curtain: How much time does it take to sell a short scifi story, and how much do you make? "10 publications rejected the story before it found a publisher.... Read on for all the gory details including actual emails!"
The 2022 Hugo Awards
The 2022 Hugo Awards ceremony happened last night! The ceremony, hosted by Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz, can be viewed on Youtube. You can also check out the full list of winners and the full voting statistics. [more inside]
Less Bricks More Limbs, or, Ong's Tiny Lego Hat
In the first half of the 2000's, LEGO created two experimental toy lines. One saved it. That was Bionicle. The other almost bankrupted it. That was Galidor. (Documentary video, 26m39s) And here's the complete experimental 26-episode TV series from the creator of Alex Mack. [more inside]
UK LeGuin Prize shortlist is out!
The prize honors a book-length work of imaginative fiction with $25,000. "Since Le Guin’s death in January, 2018, her son and literary executor, Theo Downes-Le Guin has been thinking of ways to honor his mother’s work, and share her art and ideas with a new generation of readers and writers." [more inside]
[sweet guitar riff]
Jack De Sena is a former child actor and the voice of Sokka and the Dragon Prince. His longtime pal Chris W. Smith is a former Blue Man, actor/writer/producer, and juggler. Together they make Chris & Jack [trailer, Twitter, previously], a criminally underrated YouTube channel featuring high-concept, high-production value comedy sketches shot through with smartly-written metahumor and and a surprising amount of wholesome emotional honesty. Highlights:
Groundhog Daying -
Wormhole Monocle -
The White Room -
The Secret Weakness -
Abduction and Mind Wipe -
Body Swap -
Secret Alien -
Your Whole Life is a TV Show -
The Art of the Heist -
The Moments Between the Montage -
If Scrooge Slept In -
What's My Line? -
Deja Vu -
The epic struggle to invent a new holiday: July Sixth Park -
15-minute magnum opus MOVIES IN SPACE, about a cultural-exchange astronaut who is catapulted by host Eepgarg into the strange, strange world of alien movie production. [more inside]
[Addition: “Faeries are weird.” I did not disagree.]
A Record of Our Meeting with the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised.
A not-strictly-linear Science Fantasy short story by A.T. Greenblatt, from
Issue #350 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies.