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Last week, Jill commented on the madness and prophecy of Philip K. Dick: And then you have those oddities, such as Phillip K. Dick, who was clearly insane, but had uncanny predictions about the future. Most sci fi writers just plunge ahead and get things wrong or a little off, though. Fortunately for the sane […]

There are at least two axises on which we can categorize books: serious vs fluff, and well done vs poorly done. Serious vs Fluff If a novel is poorly done, it doesn’t much matter what it attempts to do: it is a failure. (Although the topic of what makes a book either a success or […]

In 1964, the Hugo for Best Novel nominees were: Way Station, Clifford Simak (Winner) Witch World, Andre Norton Glory Road, Robert A. Heinlein Dune World (what is now known as Dune), Frank Herbert Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut Way Station won with a total of 63 votes. Witch World and Glory Road tied for second, with 54 […]

After having introduced us to the main characters and plot of The Lost Fleet series in Dauntless, Jack Campbell presents some new concepts that will be explored not only on this present hexalogy but also in its two spin-offs: Beyond the Frontier and Lost Stars series. This book begins right where the first one ended […]

H. Beam Piper — a man so versed in science he could sketch out, on a napkin, an engineering model of Sputnik the day it was announced, and explain it to a table of science enthusiasts — quit near-future science fiction. He did it because the scientific advances of the 1950s were coming so quickly […]