Tag: SciFi

Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Propulsion-Engines

rocket engines, propulsion, space travel
Via Wikipedia commons

In my last post on this topic (Space Travel) I mentioned that many Sci-Fi authors borrow heavily from naval vessels and aircraft in depicting the behavior of space craft in their writing.  And while this sometimes irritates me too, I encouraged authors to write what they dream; don’t pay too much attention to us hard-SciFi’ers, because something is impossible only until someone does it.  And humankind has done the impossible many times already.

However, for those who would like to put a more factual edge into their Sci-Fi writings, I will continue to look at some of the specific areas that draw fire by being more science fantasy than science fiction and ways to lessen this by employing currently viable technologies as a starting point at least.  This week I want to look at propulsion systems: engines.  Because this is a blog post, not a treatise, I’ll need to keep it brief and select the most suitable topics – or serve espresso and cookies with each reading to keep you from wandering off. Continue reading “Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Propulsion-Engines”

Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Travel

sci-fi, science fiction, space, battle, travel, shipsFor some weeks now I’ve been reading articles and blog posts offered up by experienced Sci-Fi authors, learned men of science and even a naval designer concerning the idea that when mankind finally sheds the shackles of planetary dependence and travels seriously in the ether, space travel, and space battles in particular, will have little resemblance to what we see on the big screen today. Sci-Fi novels tend to be less fanciful, but some still draw fire for being too “unrealistic”.

The learned men in particular site the laws of physics holding up such ideas as bodies in motion, vectors of thrust and the lack of resistance in the vacuum of space.  Others point out that aerial combat craft use air and wings to swoop, dive, roll and dodge during maneuvers.  But in space there is no air, so swooping will be all but impossible.  The designer also focuses on the vacuum and its terrible anti-pressure effects on structures that float through it. He claims that aircraft carrier sized ships traveling through space are highly unlikely just because of the structural logistics involved. Continue reading “Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Travel”

Book Review: The Trilisk Ruins

The Trilisk Ruins (Parker Interstellar Travels #1), by Michael McCloskey, is a futuristic tale.  Mankind has achieved an efficient form of space travel and ventured out among the stars, but humanity and the people who try to manage it are not so very different from us today.

Among the stars, humanity has discovered evidences – artifacts – left by several technologically advanced alien races, but have not found any evidence that these races still survive.

Telisa Relachik is the daughter of a high ranking naval officer, the captain of a military starship.  She is trained as a xenoarcheologist (studier of alien artifacts) and highly resents the government’s increasing attempt to control possession and even knowledge of the alien artifacts. This puts her and her father at odds with each other.

Telisa accepts a job offer with an organization that has the ability – and the desire – to help her locate and study artifacts without government interference.  The only problem is that doing so is so illegal it carries the death penalty. Continue reading “Book Review: The Trilisk Ruins”

Book Review: Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge

Stopover at the Backworlds Edge by MPaxStopover at the Backworlds’ Edge is the second book in Mary Pax’s Backworlds series about bio-engineered human life forms that were created to be able to thrive in the harsh environments of planets that are not exactly, “Earth Normal”.

The Story

In this tale we find Craze and his new-found friends from the first book encamped at Pardeep Station, a sort of rest stop along the galactic interstate system, except Pardeep is out in the sticks, galactically speaking, and not an especially inviting place to go.

Continue reading “Book Review: Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge”

Book Review: The Cowchip Café (Cowchip Al)

The Cowchip Café (Cowchip, Al) by Norman Morrison.  Reviewed in Kindle format. Book length is listed as 45 printed pages. Price: $0.99 at Amazon.com.

The Story

Cowchip Cafe, eBook, sci-fi, norman MorrisonThe Cowchip Café by Norman Morrison is a delightful novelette set mostly in the only restaurant in the small rural town of Cowchip Alabama.  The cast of characters include:

  • Lewis Stubbs: the restaurant owner, rebel, idealist.
  • Port Love: the cook. An older black man living in a typical southern town and dealing graciously with the prejudice that entails.
  • An assortment of “old farts” having their weekly get-together for coffee and tale swapping. Included is the former town mayor.
  • And a nutty alien who orders a burger and triple hash browns before threatening to destroy the planet.

Along the way we learn something of the town of Cowchip Alabama’s quirky history, how Lewis came to own the restaurant, and some interesting background on Port Love. The “old farts” discussion includes a flash of light seen the night before and their experiences (real or imagined) with alien visitation.  The Mayor’s diplomatic background comes into play in resolving the current instance of otherworldly invasion. Continue reading “Book Review: The Cowchip Café (Cowchip Al)”

Friday Date Night: Destination Space

Destination Space, movie, scifi, classic, 1950sOne of the Simple Pleasures of life that Marie and I enjoy is a standing “date night” where we set time aside specifically to spend it relaxing together doing something we both enjoy.  One of our common interest is 1950’s Sci-Fi movies.  What we call Schlocky Sci-Fi.  We have quite a collection of our own, and we have discovered that we can “rent” others on-line and watch them on our television by patching my notebook computer into the TV with an HDMI cable.  Those we particularly enjoy we will purchase for the collection.

Rentals can be had from Amazon.com, Hulu.com, and Netflix.com.  Pricing generally runs either $1.99 or $2.99 from Amazon (our preferred provider) and both Amazon and Hulu offer some free rentals.

This week’s selection was “Destination Space”.  Details provided with the listing were: Continue reading “Friday Date Night: Destination Space”

The Firefly Connection

Today, Dear Reader, I have the extreme pleasure of playing host to one of my most favorite Indie Sci-Fi authors: Mary Pax.  Her short stories, which include Plant Girl, Translations, and Small Graces hooked me with her dynamic writing style.  When she came out with the novella Semper Audacia my infatuation with her work only deepened.  And now that she’s launching her first full length novel, which will be the first novel of a series I’m practically salivating with anticipation.  Especially since I learned that her inspiration for The Backworlds was the TV series Firefly.  Firefly was and still is my most favorite TV series; I have the series and it’s spin-off movie Serenity on DVD and re-watch them frequently.  In today’s guest post, Mary explains how Firefly influenced and inspired her new book, The Backworlds.

One of the biggest influences on my creation of The Backworlds was Firefly and the fact I still mourn its demise. Continue reading “The Firefly Connection”

Book Review: Sullivan’s War, All Good Men Serve the Devil

Sullivan’s War 1: The Story

book review, Sullivans War, Michael K Rose
Cover art,

Rick Sullivan is an idealist, bent on ending a corrupt government’s strangle hold on his home planet of Edaline.  Sullivan is the bad-guy and not above killing people to accomplish his goal.

Frank Allen is an investigator in the equivalent of a galaxy-spanning FBI.  Someone killed a planetary assemblyman, Frank is part of the team sent to investigate.  This quickly pits him against Sullivan in a planet hopping game of hide and seek that comes to involve an assembly of colorful and often loathsome characters.  There is little regard for The Law among the fringe planets and Allen and his team meet with opposition even from among their own side. Continue reading “Book Review: Sullivan’s War, All Good Men Serve the Devil”

Be Nice To Nerds Who Don’t Fear Failure

What would you attempt to do if you were guaranteed that you would not fail?

The biggest reason most of do not attempt to do amazing things is that we fear failure.

Regina Dugan, former director of DARPA, now with Google, gave this TEDTalk on failure. Her observations about fear of failure and scientific advancement are inspiring, but she also shows new video of some of DARPA’s most ambitious projects and that alone makes it worth watching.  She also reminds us that nearly all major scientific advances are created by nerds.  So, you should be nice to nerds.

What would you attempt to create if you could refuse to fear failure?


(If this does not play for you: View it on YouTube)

As a fan (and hopeful author) of speculative fiction, it is encouraging to me to know that humankind has not stopped testing the limits of possibility.  Although, perhaps “encouraging” is not the best word, as some of what we’re looking at is worrisome, as the interview at the end of the video suggests.  Still, when we open our minds and envision new and wondrous places, machines and societies, we are not engaging in mere fancy, we are pioneering the future.

Sci-Fi Robot Trivia Fun

Here’s a little Sci-Fi trivia fun for you.  Click the picture below to get the full size version, then see if you can find Wall-E.  Once you’ve located him, go again and see how many of these robots you recognize.  Do you remember what show or movie they came from?  Some of these are pretty obscure!

robots, sci-fi, trivia
From ToplessRobot.com

Continue reading “Sci-Fi Robot Trivia Fun”