Dreaming of Science Fiction Landscapes

The universe is a strange and wondrous place. We know this because NASA has shown it to us, in surprising detail with such modern scientific marvels as the Hubble Space Telescope and CERN. What once was thought of as nothing more than a vast, sparkling nothing is now a wonderfully complicated and expansive space of […]

The Five Phases of Science Fiction

The other day I mentioned that I thought science fiction went through several phases in every industrialized or industrializing nation. I thought I would further explicate my theories on this subject here. The only problem with these phases is that they are not absolute temporally. They do not happen at exactly the same time, nor […]

An Aside: Anime, Space Operas, and Space Westerns

I was watching the first few episodes of Gundam Wing the other day and I started to think about how prevalent space operas and space westerns are in Japanese animation. I can name half a dozen Anime shows that fit into the space opera or space western categories: Gundam Wing, Crest of the Stars/Banner of […]

Traditional SF vs. Literary SF: Which is better?

Larry of OF Blog of the Fallen recently wrote a retort to the Crotchedy Old Fan’s blog post about why traditional science fiction is better than the “literary” vein. I’ve not read the Crotchedy Old Fan’s post, and briefly scanned Larry’s, but having seen the question, I have to wonder: can such a determination actually […]

Top 5 Science Fiction Leading Ladies

In fashioning this list I decided to set some ground rules. When I say leading ladies, I mean leading ladies, not sidekicks, or other characters who are overshadowed, even slightly, by male characters. Considering that means drastically minimizing my options, since instant favorites, such as Princess Leia, can no longer be included. Narrowing things down […]

Reader Question: Unexpected Expansions and Expectations

My dear friend Carraka recently asked me the following question: Are fantasy series more likely to expand, unplanned, than science fiction? Actually, you’d be surprised to know that science fiction is the more likely genre to have unplanned expansions. Unlike fantasy, science fiction is not as readily susceptible to series-itis. This has quite a lot […]