The Forever War

In the not so far future, William Mandella is young, fit, smart, and conscripted to fight an unknown enemy in deep space. Due to the relativistic speeds involved, Mandella and his fellow survivors return to a society they are no longer a part of. With every mission the estrangement grows greater; Mandella fights for a humanity he is no longer a part of, and he does not know why.

Why read Starship Troopers?

“What would I have left out? The Asimovs and Heinleins, certainly, since in completely different ways they did much to distract everyone from the idea that science fiction should be written well. (This is a personal view – the consensus of the SF world is against me.)
Christopher Priest, Forward to 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels

“Starship Troopers is an undoubtedly right-wing in its politics and unashamedly militaristic in outlook but it is also one of the finest coming-of-age stories in SF, a narrative that follows Johnnie Rico’s rites of passage with the kind of detail and empathy that can be appreciated even by those readers to whom Heinlein’s politics and philosophy remain an anathema.”
Stephen E. Andrews and Nick Rennison, 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels

“[Heinlein] forgot to insert a story.”
Anthony Boucher, founder of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

2009 BSFA Award Winners

The 2009 British Science Fiction Awards ceremony took place at the 61st Eastercon convention, Odyssey 2010, at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow, London, UK. The ceremony was hosted by Ian Watson and Donna Scott, and the following awards were presented:

Sweet Charity

Yesterday was a good hunting day in those sometimes rich fields of the Great British Charity Shop. They are, admittedly, full of literary chaff: the Dan Browns and the Geoffrey Archers speak loudly of the triumph of marketing over substance; the airport thrillers nestle shoulder to shoulder with the holiday romances. Read once and then discarded like the throwaway characters they contain.

2009 Nebula Award Nominations

The Nebula Awards® are annual awards presented by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to celebrate excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing.

SFWA also presents the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement, Andre Norton Award for best young adult SF and Fantasy, Bradbury Award for best dramatic presentation, Solstice Award for significance to the SF field, and honours senior writers as Authors Emeriti.

The 2009 Nebula Awards will be announced and presented at the 2010 Nebula Awards Weekend. This will be held on May 14-16 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. If you would like to go, there is more information on the Nebula Awards website.

SF [alternative] Glossary

Alien
A foreigner, needing either a green skin and boggle eyes, or a passport and visa
Amnesia
A forgetful princess
Anaesthesia
Sleeping Beauty’s real name
Artificial Gravity
(1) a useful technology popular in Space Opera that stops the characters turning into jam under the high accelerations needed to keep the storylines down to a 1-hour format
(2) SF that is not as serious as it thinks it is

2010 Hugo Award Nominations

Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, has announced the ballot for the 2010 Hugo Awards.

Best Novel

• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
• Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)
• Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
• Wake, Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)
• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

Dr Who and the Easter Eggs

The waiting is nearly over. The new Dr Who series will start in the UK on April 3rd (Americans will have to wait until the 17th and Australians the 18th) with the new Doctor (Matt Smith), new assistant Amy Pond (Karen Gillian), new Tardis interior (the last Doctor didn’t leave it in very good condition), new chief writer (Steven Moffat) and new story (The Eleventh Hour). There may be some other new stuff as well...

Military SF Double Bill

This month and next we are embarking on a award-winning military SF double bill (it is difficult to think of a greater contrast to Moominvalley): Starship Troopers for April followed by The Forever War for May.

Robert Heinlein's Hugo winning Starship Troopers is still controversial 50 years after its release. It is a right-wing, might-is-right, military service is the measure of the man product of the post-war American dream. That said, it is also a cracking good read. You had best avoid the films though...

SFBK Science Fiction Book Club: The Genres of Speculative Fiction

42blips.dailyradar.com

Book List Archive

Wow, we are now onto our 26th book: The Fountains of Paradise. I must admit it is one of my favourites (accurate technological predictions though far of the mark on spirituality) and has been a great influence on my interest in Astrotechtonics. I am now waiting for NASA to turn the Science Fiction into Science Fact

As a record, I have been listing all our books on an Amazon List: SFBK-Science-Fiction-Book-Club with 1066 viewings at time or writing. With this latest book I have run out of space and had to start a new one, which you can find at SFBK-Science-Fiction-Book-Club-2.

Watch this space!

The Doctor is dead; Long live the Doctor

David Tennant's tenancy of Doctor Who is finally, and sadly, over. He was possibly the best Doctor; if not, then a close second to Tom Baker. The question on every Who fans' lips is: will Matt Smith fill those running shoes?

The Genres of Speculative Fiction

Introduction – or What in General is a Genre?

Stories have existed since the dawn of history; arguably without stories there is no history and thus they are the definition of civilisation. Stories give us the opportunity to examine difficult issues and explore ethical problems, or to escape from reality and live someone else's life, trials and triumphs. Most importantly, from my point of view, they give the opportunity to speculate: to ask "what if?"

The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era

Vernor Vinge

Department of Mathematical Sciences

San Diego State University

Abstract

Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.

Is such progress avoidable? If not to be avoided, can events be guided so that we may survive? These questions are investigated. Some possible answers (and some further dangers) are presented.

The 11th logo for the 11th Doctor

I am not sure about it yet; time will tell! The logo is very "now", but will it one day date as badly as the 7th logo...

Resources for SF Authors

“If at first an idea does not sound absurd, there is no hope for it.” Albert Einstein

Speculative Fiction authors face some challenges that writers of non-genre fiction do not face, but also have freedoms that are not universally available. For example, the situations in fantasy and science fiction stories must be exotic and innovative, but the story universe must be internally cohesive and rational: sci-fi must have a scientific basis (unless verging into space opera or writing for Hollywood) and the best fantasy has an internal logic.
With the literature education in this country seemingly concentrating on Shakespeare and the 19th century novel (not that there is anything wrong with those of course), where is a speculative fiction author going to learn their trade with a minimum of trial and error? Here are a few sources and thoughts that I have found intriguing or useful.

The Hugo Awards 2009

The 2009 Hugo Awards are announced, and the winning novel will be a popular one among the group, though a controversial choice for a science-fiction award: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I loved the book and the kids are all working they way through it (in fact one bought it for me just so that she could read it!). Neil's previous Hugo winner was American Gods, but you can be assured that The Graveyard Book is family friendly. If you thought that a ghost story involving murder and the undead could not be charming and suitable for pre-teens, you are in for a pleasant surprise.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

This month’s book is the award winning The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon (pronounced, in his words, "Shea as in Shea Stadium, Bon as in Bon Jovi", i.e., [ˈʃeɪˌbɑn]).
The preview from Google Books describes The Yiddish Policemen’s Union as:
For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of revelations of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. Proud, grateful, and longing to be American, the Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant, gritty, soulful, and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. For sixty years they have been left alone, neglected and half-forgotten in a backwater of history. Now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end: once again the tides of history threaten to sweep them up and carry them off into the unknown.

The Eleventh Doctor starts filming

Filming has started on the new Doctor Who series due for broadcast early next year. Matt Smith is, of course, taking over from David Tennant, and will be accompanied by Karen Gillian’s character Amy Pond. The Doctor Who website has more details.

There are also galleries of the new look plus the Doctor look through the years.

Personally I prefer the pre-production look, but hey, what do I know about style…

Ryan Reynolds to play Green Lantern

According to the BBC and Hollywood industry magazine, Variety, Ryan Reynolds has been cast as the Green Lantern in a new comic book adaptation. Reynolds, 32, recently played the character Deadpool opposite Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A spinoff movie for Reynold's Deadpool character is also in development. If the new deal goes ahead, it would make Reynolds the only male actor to have played heroes for comic rivals Marvel and DC. Bradley Cooper, who stars in The Hangover, and music star Justin Timberlake also did a screen test for the role of the superhero who is armed with a magical ring. The film is being directed by Martin Campbell, who also directed 2006's Casino Royale. For those who are not familiar with the comic book, the Green Lantern is the name of a series of characters who wield a magic ring that gives incredible powers as long as they have the willpower and strength to use it. The stories were first published back in 1940 by one of the companies that would become DC Comics.