310 posts tagged with scifi and ScienceFiction.
Displaying 51 through 100 of 310. Subscribe:
Book: The City in the Middle of the Night
Humanity clings to life on January--a colonized planet divided between permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Two cities, built long ago in the meager temperate zone, serve as the last bastions of civilization--but life inside them is just as dangerous as the uninhabitable wastelands outside.
Sophie, a young student from the wrong side of Xiosphant city, is exiled into the dark after being part of a failed revolution. But she survives--with the help of a mysterious savior from beneath the ice.
Movie: WALL-E
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind. [more inside]
FanFare Book Club?
I just went through the book posts for the last three months. There's lots of books I'm considering reading, and one book I read a while ago but don't remember well enough to do deep insightful commentary. In order to get more synchronicity on this, does anyone want to start a book club? Or even a couple in different genres? I would love a romance, science fiction, fantasy and/or nonfiction book club.
Movie: Prospect
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Forced to contend not only with the forest's other ruthless inhabitants, but with her own ...
Movie: The Big Space Travel
From the same studio that produced Richard Viktorov’s diptych Moscow-Cassiopeia / Adolescents in the Universe comes this second teen-themed sci-fi adventure, in which three youngsters have to take command of a space flight when their adult captain comes down sick and is forced to quarantine himself. [more inside]
Movie: Teens in the Universe
Interstellar expedition equipped by "pioneers"(soviet scouts) travels to Alpha Kassiopea after receiving a distress signal and finds a planet run entirely to the ends of making its inhabitants happy. Unexpected difficulties, however, ensued. [more inside]
Movie: Moscow-Cassiopeia
A young student develops an interstellar engine that can reach near light speed and seeks to take a team of teens on a mission to Cassiopeia to check out the origins of a radio signal emanating from near the star. The mission requires teens as it is expected to take 50 years to complete. [more inside]
Babylon 5: No Surrender, No Retreat Season 4, Ep 15
Sheridan and B5 try to free Proxima III. Londo and G'Kar try something new. "So from now on, I guess the operational phrase is 'trust no one'." "No. Trust Ivanova; trust yourself. Anybody else -- shoot 'em!" [more inside]
Book: A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarer's Guide #2)
Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.
Book: Empress of Forever
A feminist Guardians of the Galaxy—a smart, swashbuckling, wildly imaginative adventure of a rag-tag team of brilliant misfits, dangerous renegades, and enhanced outlaws in a war-torn future. [more inside]
Book: Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2)
It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…
Book: Revenant Gun (Machineries of the Empire #3)
Shuos Jedao is awake.... and nothing is as he remembers. In his mind he’s a teenager, a cadet—a nobody. But he finds himself in the body of an old man, a general controlling the elite forces of the hexarchate, and the most feared—and reviled—man in the galaxy. Hexarch Nirai Kujen orders Jedao to reconquer the fractured hexarchate on his behalf even though Jedao has no memory of ever being a soldier, let alone a general. Surely a knack for video games doesn't qualify you to take charge of an army?
Soon Jedao learns the situation is even worse. The Kel soldiers under his command may be compelled to obey him, but they hate him thanks to a massacre he can't remember committing. Kujen's friendliness can't hide the fact that he's a tyrant. And what's worse, Jedao and Kujen are being hunted by an enemy who knows more about Jedao and his crimes than he does himself..
Book: Saga Volume 9
The multiple Eisner Award-winning series returns with a spacefaring adventure about fake news and genuine terror. Warning: Feelings. Collects SAGA #49-54 [more inside]
Babylon 5: Moments of Transition Season 4, Ep 14
The Minbari Civil War ends. Garibaldi and Edgars continue their relationship. Lyta makes a painful decision. "Well, there is just no delicate way to say this. [a pause] I want your body." [more inside]
Book: Paper Girls Volume 4
The mind-bending, time-warping adventure from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang continues, as intrepid newspaper deliverer Tiffany is launched from the prehistoric past into the year 2000! In this harrowing version of our past, Y2K was even more of a cataclysm than experts feared, and the only person who can save the future is a 12-year-old girl from 1988. (Issues 16 - 20), colors by Matt Wilson.
Babylon 5: Rumors, Bargains and Lies Season 4, Ep 13
Neroon and Delenn meet to try to end the civil war breaking out on Minbar, at great cost to Lennier... Sheridan, with Londo and G'kar's support, tries to get the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to accept a White Star patrol. "Ambassador, there are so many things in the universe that are and so many things that aren't. If I were to take the time to deny all the things that aren't, we'd be here for centuries, wouldn't we?" [more inside]
Book: Binti: The Night Masquerade
Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse.
Babylon 5: Conflicts of Interest Season 4, Ep 12
The conflict between Sheridan and Garibaldi escalates, as Garibaldi takes on a client: smuggling an old acquaintance through B5. Meanwhile, Sheridan negotiates with Londo and G'kar, and Ivanova descends to Epsilon III. "But only Zathras have no one to talk to. No one manages poor Zathras, you see. So Zathras talks to dirt. Or to walls, or talks to ceilings. But dirt is closer. Dirt is used to everyone walking on it. Just like Zathras. But we have come to like it. It is our role. It is our destiny in the universe. So, you see, sometimes dirt has insects in it. And Zathras likes insects. Not so good for conversation, but much protein for diet." [more inside]
Book: The Calculating Stars
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.
Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.
Book: The Black God's Drums
Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans. Instead, she wants to soar, and her sights are set on securing passage aboard the smuggler airship Midnight Robber. Her ticket: earning Captain Ann-Marie’s trust using a secret about a kidnapped Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.
Movie: Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer
An Android, Jane 57821, attempts to break free from the constraints of a totalitarian society that forcibly makes Jane comply with its homophobic beliefs. [more inside]
Book: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach
In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.
Book: Space Opera
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in Catherynne M. Valente's science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest…and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth.
Babylon 5: Lines of Communication Season 4, Ep 11
Marcus and Franklin address a bombing on Mars. Ivanova is given a new task. Delenn investigates strange attacks... "John! It pleases me that you care for what I have become... But never forget who I was, what I am, and what I can do." [more inside]
Book: Hugo Nominated Novelettes
All of the novelettes (stories between 7,500 and 17,500 words) that were nominated for a Hugo this year. [more inside]
Babylon 5: Racing Mars Season 4, Ep 10
Franklin and Marcus arrive on Mars. Garibaldi and Sheridan have a confrontation. "There isn't much chance of me winning this argument, is there?" "None whatsoever; I never give up when I'm right. Your only option is to surrender." [more inside]
Book: The Tea Master and the Detective
Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.
Babylon 5: Atonement Season 4, Ep 9
Delenn goes to Minbar to discuss her relationship with Sheridan, and is tested. Franklin and Marcus go to Mars to contact the rebels there. "I cannot have an aide who will not look up. You will be forever walking into things." [more inside]
Book: On a Sunbeam
2019 Hugo Nominee for Best Graphic Story: A webcomic where a ragtag crew travels to the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful, broken structures to piece the past together. Two girls meet in boarding school and fall deeply in love―only to learn the pain of loss. [more inside]
Book: Hugo Nominated Short Stories
A discussion of the shorts stories nominated for a Hugo this year [more inside]
Babylon 5: The Illusion of Truth Season 4, Ep 8
Garibaldi starts his new career. ISN is now effectively the Clark government's propaganda arm. For reasons that beggar belief, Sheridan lets an ISN crew onto the station, believing the staff can outsmart the editors. Sheridan is incredibly wrong. [responding to allegations that Ivanova threatened to throw a journalist out of an airlock] "I'm shocked! Shocked and dismayed... May I remind you that we are short on supplies here? We can't afford to take perfectly good clothing and throw it out into space! Always take the jacket off first—I've told you that before! Sorry. She meant to say, 'stripped naked and thrown out of an airlock'. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Epiphanies Season 4, Ep 7
Garibaldi has issues adjusting to life on B5. Bester makes his annual pilgrimage to make an offer to B5 high command... "Why, the Emperor himself said I would only be allowed to leave over his dead body. I thought, 'Well, how strange. Mr. Allan said I would only be allowed back onto Babylon 5 over his dead body.' With my busy schedule I'm afraid I can only accommodate so many requests. I'm sorry, Mr. Allan, but I'm afraid you'll simply have to wait your turn!" [more inside]
Babylon 5: Into the Fire Season 4, Ep 6
The Shadow War ends at Coriana VI. "Pour it on, Mr. Lennier. Take us into the fire." [more inside]
Babylon 5: The Long Night Season 4, Ep 5
The Shadows retaliate. Londo's plan reaches its conclusion. G'Kar breaks. "What have I endured?" [more inside]
Babylon 5: Falling Toward Apotheosis Season 4, Ep 4
The Vorlons march. Sheridan, his newest ally, and his oldest ally, hatch a plan. Londo suggests a trial. "Sometimes I don't know which scares me more, winning or losing." "God, I thought I was depressing." [more inside]
Babylon 5: The Summoning Season 4, Ep 3
Ivanova seeks out more First Ones to act as allies for the war. Zach Allen takes action. Delenn is opposed by members of the League. "I was. I'm better now." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi? Season 4, Ep 2
G'Kar focuses on Unresolved Mystery #2: where is Garibaldi? Delenn wallows in grief. The time between the ticking of the clock is explored. "It's easy to find something worth dying for. Do you have anything worth living for?" [more inside]
Babylon 5: The Hour of the Wolf Season 4, Ep 1
Expeditions set out from B5 to search for Garibaldi and Sheridan. Londo arrives in the court of Emperor Cartagia. "[Lennier:] It was the year of fire... [Zach Allen:] the year of destruction... [G'Kar:] the year we took back what was ours. [Lyta:] It was the year of rebirth... [Vir:] the year of great sadness... [Marcus:] the year of pain... [Delenn:] and the year of joy. [Londo:] It was a new age. [Franklin:] It was the end of history. [Ivanova:] It was the year everything changed. [Garibaldi:] The year is 2261. [Sheridan:] The place: Babylon 5." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Z'ha'dum Season 3, Ep 22
Anna makes an offer. "All of life can be broken down into moments of transition, or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both." [more inside]
Russian Doll: Season 1 Complete Season 1, Ep 0
A 36 year old chain smoking computer programmer's birthday repeatedly ends in her death, only to find her waking up, back at the birthday party, as if nothing had happened. [more inside]
Babylon 5: Shadow Dancing Season 3, Ep 21
Sheridan takes the battle to the Shadows. Franklin's walkabout reaches its conclusion... "And what are you?" "Alive. Everything else is negotiable." [more inside]
Babylon 5: And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place Season 3, Ep 20
Delenn, Sheridan, and Earth religious leaders meet. Londo orders Vir to tell G'Kar a secret. Refa arrives on B5. "You know the sinners gonna be running / At the knowledge of their fate. / They gonna run to the rocks in the mountains, / But their prayers will be too late." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Grey 17 is Missing Season 3, Ep 19
We return to Spoopy Sector for Spoopy Times. Ivanova and Zach Allen seek rogue telepaths for hire. Delenn is to become Ranger One, but someone wants to prevent it... "I'm in awe, Lennier. The way you can take a simple proposition and turn it inside out so that it says what you want it to say rather than what it actually says. Does this come naturally or did you attend some sort of…martial arts class for the philosophically inclined?" [more inside]
Babylon 5: Walkabout Season 3, Ep 18
Kosh arrives at Babylon 5. Lyta returns. Sheridan tests a plan for taking on the Shadows. Franklin, now a civilian, meets a lounge singer on his "walkabout." "The theory is: if you are separated from yourself, you start walking... and you keep walking until you meet yourself. Then you sit down and have a long talk. You talk about everything that you've learned, everything that you... felt. And you talk until you run out of words. Now, that's vital, because the real important things can't be said. And then, if you are lucky, you look up and there's just you, and you can go home." [more inside]
Babylon 5: War Without End (Part 2) Rewatch Season 3, Ep 17
[all-spoilers!] The crew have to steal Babylon 4 and save Sheridan from his time slippage. "Let us make an end of it quickly, before it stops me. I am as tired of my life as you are." [more inside]
Babylon 5: War Without End (Part 1) Season 3, Ep 16
We return to Babylon 4, in the past... because they have received a message from the future: Babylon 5 will be destroyed by a Shadow fleet in 8 days. "He is the closed circle. He is returning to the beginning." and "Zathras understand. ... ... No. Zathras not understand. But Zathras do! Zathras good at doings, not understandings." and "Welcome back from the abyss. Your timing, as always, is quite exceptional. Just in time to die." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Interludes and Examinations Season 3, Ep 15
The Shadows begin open war. Adira, the dancer-with-a-heart-of-gold that Londo fell in love with in season 1, returns to the station. Franklin and Garibaldi have confrontations about Franklin's addiction. "All I want now is revenge. They took from me the one thing that I have… have ever truly loved. [...] Give me this, and the safety of my people--and let the rest of the galaxy burn. I don't care any more." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Ship of Tears Season 3, Ep 14
Bester comes with confidential news of a Shadow weapons shipment... Meanwhile, G'Kar continues his campaign to be part of the anti-Shadow war council. "I suspect you'd rather walk out that door and wall me up inside! Do a little re-creation of The Cask of Amontillado. 'For the love of God, Montresor!'" [more inside]
Babylon 5: A Late Delivery from Avalon Season 3, Ep 13
King Arthur arrives on the station, but Franklin isn't so sure... "By G'Quan, I can't recall the last time I was in a fight like that! No moral ambiguity, no hopeless battle against ancient and overwhelming forces! They were the bad guys, as you say, and we were the good guys. And they made a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor." [more inside]
Babylon 5: Sic Transit Vir Season 3, Ep 12
Vir's new fiance, Lyndisty, arrives on the station. Ivanova investigates reports of missing Narn. "Are you not seeing me now? I would assume that you see me every time we meet. Unless I have become translucent, or insubstantial, and no one has thought to inform me until now." [more inside]