A Kepler’s Dozen
NASA’s Kepler mission has been watching a swath of the Milky Way watching for the signs of stars being eclipsed by planets in orbit around them. This takes patience and favorable geometry, but Kepler has […]
E-Zines vs. Dead Tree Zines: the more things change…
I have been producing fanzines off and on since 1976, shortly after encountering science fiction fandom and this particular aspect of that hobby interest. As anybody who has ever pubbed (that is fanspeak for “published”) […]
Raptor Rapture
2013 sees the twentieth anniversary of Jurassic Park. To celebrate, a 3D version will be released in the USA in April: https://www.jurassicpark.com/index_splash.html. Dinosaurs are hotter than ever before and that’s good news. Their snapping jaws […]
Judging A Book By Its Cover (Art)
The old axiom about not judging a book by its cover notwithstanding, I am going to judge the merits of various book covers that wrapped editions of heroic fiction. This is not a scholarly article, […]
Am I A Science Fiction Writer?
Now that’s an interesting question. We’ve just launched my first novel, Shh! It’s a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender’s Guide, at Arisia. It got written up in both Publisher’s Weekly and the […]
The First Poem Written in Space
The real scandal is that it took anyone this long to write a poem in space. The solution is easy.
Horrorcast: The Drabblecast
If you love to start your day with photos of catacombs and bone chandeliers, or listen to ectoplasmic psychodramas while doing your grocery shopping, then quality genre-related newsfeeds that bring you the best art, fiction, […]
Fiction and the Happy Brain
STORY HORDER As a child, I was a story horder. I couldn’t get enough of them. I was very fortunate to have parents who read to me, and looking back, they were saints in this […]
No. 4 – H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and the Social Impacts of Science
I suspect what most people remember most about H. G. Wells gets confused with Orson Welles, the actor. You know, that infamous radio announcement? When the radio started blaring out reports on Halloween, 1938, that […]
A New Generation of Star Wars
A couple of months ago came an announcement that caught many of off-guard. The announcement I refer to is that of the Star Wars franchise being sold to Disney and the plan of a new […]
“I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part III: Robots, Reboots and Remakes. How Hollywood Kills Serious Science Fiction
The only time the public pays attention to Science Fiction is when that great machine of mass marketing and “entertainment” called Hollywood inundates the collective consciousness with that most dreaded of phenomena: the Summer Blockbuster. But […]
Art + Fandom ≠ Fan Art: Definitions
Before I get properly rolling with this blog, I thought it might be worth taking a moment to stake out the territory I plan to cover. This website, and these blogs, are all about fandom, […]
The Speed of Science
Science deals with a lot of high speed phenomena, like the speed of sound and the speed of light, which can make the topic seem fast and exciting. We also see science news on tv […]
Ready When You Are, JJ
They’ve really done it now. It’s over. First George Lucas sold Luke, Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Han and all the others into eternal indentured servitude on the Disney Plantation. Lucas, once a man with ideas […]
Science Fiction Poetry
Unlike most of the other bloggers here at Amazing Stories, I’m just a fan-girl. Not a writer. And I don’t claim to be a particular expert on anything (except maybe Hildegard von Bingen and Baroque vocal music […]
Steve Stiles A Retrospective
Steve Stiles is a living double entendre: not only does he draw icons of the field, he is an icon of the field. If brushing twilltone off your lap after reading is a familiar experience, […]
Time Travel Defined: A device for repairing a poorly thought out plot. Usually.
Time travel is one of those devices that seems to turn up eventually in most long running Science Fiction shows, particularly in the later seasons when they’ve worked out their main story arc already. I’ve […]
What is the Optimal Human Population? Lessons From the Novels of Stephen Baxter
Are there too many people on the planet? Science fiction bears much of the responsibility for spreading this meme, which can be unpleasantly tinged with racism. But now and again a great science fiction author develops a more inspiring and pro-human approach to the population question.
Crossroads: A Genre Darkly
World-building, extrapolation, analogy, conceptual breakthrough, thought experiment – these are science fiction’s basic methods. Other genres might occasionally borrow them, but SF has sharpened them to a razor’s edge. So what happens when this set of tools works alongside the themes, styles, and plot structures of noir?
Weird Tales For Winter
If you’re anything like me, you have long since exhausted the established canon of weird, speculative, and mainstream horror fiction. You’ve read every Stephen King novel in triplicate, and are starting to wish that […]
Audio column #1: “An Introduction….”
Greetings! This is the Science Fiction audio section of the Amazing Stories Blog section. In it you will see a great deal of interesting and unique information. “But what,” you ask, “is Science Fiction audio?” […]
Life on the Fringe
Fringe finished it’s five year run the ot her night and I am grieving it’s loss. At the same time though, as I watched the two hour finale, I was left with a deep sense of […]
A Defining Moment for Science Fiction
The word Science Fiction is recognizable to the average fan, but the definition can be indistinguishable from other genre and cause confusion. Perhaps from the standpoint of the fandom, this vague categorization is by design and allows readers to broaden their focus.
I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part II: You Actually Read That Crap?
“I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part II: You Actually Read That Crap? Science Fiction has never had an easy time with the literary establishment. […]
Scientists and Stereotypes
Older male (check), glasses (check), white lab coat (check). A scientist! Even without the funny hat or breaker full of red liquid, everyone recognizes the stereotype. Stereotypes can be based on a nugget of truth […]
Science Fiction Poetry
Unlike most of the other bloggers here at Amazing Stories, I’m just a fan-girl. Not a writer. And I don’t claim to be a particular expert on anything (except maybe Hildegard von Bingen and Baroque […]
Doctor Who and the Strange Victorians
Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction can exist in the real world, or create hermetic worlds of their own. Which is to say genre fiction can follow the rules of the real world, or make its […]
A Conversation about Cheating with My Time Traveling Future Self by Pornsak Pichetshote
There are things that titles tell you. A title like “A Conversation with My Time Traveling Future Self” says “Expect science fiction comedy played against a hilarious relationship situation.” That’s what I had in my […]
Crossroads: What is Noir, Anyway?
Before we get into a discussion of how speculative fiction approaches noir, let’s start by discussing just what the noir aesthetic really is.
No. 2 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter of Mars
Any SF library without Edgar Rice Burroughs and John Carter of Mars is hardly complete. Burroughs’ John Carter series captured the imagination of many noted SF writers, like Ray Bradbury, early in their youth. As […]
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