39 posts tagged with sf and SciFi.
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Book: The Employees by Olga Ravn

The Employees chronicles the fate of the Six-Thousand Ship. The human and humanoid crew members complain about their daily tasks in a series of staff reports and memos. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes strangely and deeply attached to them, even as tensions boil toward mutiny, especially among the humanoids.
posted by Literaryhero on Jul 15, 2023 - 6 comments

Book: Waypoint Kangaroo

Kangaroo isn’t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is “the pocket.” It’s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he's pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower. After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory “vacation:” an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isn’t the only spy on the ship–and he’s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.
posted by Literaryhero on Jun 28, 2023 - 4 comments

Resident Alien: Autopsy  Season 2, Ep 9

Asta is overwhelmed with guilt after she, Harry, and D'Arcy get rid of the dead body. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 11, 2022 - 8 comments

Resident Alien: Alien Dinner Party  Season 2, Ep 8

It's a surprise party as everyone gathers to celebrate Harry but some dangerous guests cause havoc. (Mid-season finale) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 16, 2022 - 8 comments

Resident Alien: Escape From New York  Season 2, Ep 7

Harry and Asta find what they are looking for but not what they need as danger closes in. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 10, 2022 - 5 comments

Resident Alien: An Alien In New York  Season 2, Ep 6

Harry and Asta travel to New York looking for one of his people, but things go horribly wrong. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 3, 2022 - 10 comments

Resident Alien: Family Day  Season 2, Ep 5

Harry and Asta's trip is interrupted by an uninvited relative as the town celebrates family. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Feb 24, 2022 - 5 comments

Resident Alien: Radio Harry  Season 2, Ep 4

Asta is going to find out whether Harry is building another bomb as they go camping on the reservation. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Feb 17, 2022 - 3 comments

Resident Alien: Girls' Night  Season 2, Ep 3

Harry meets a woman unlike any other and realizes that she is the key to his new mission. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Feb 10, 2022 - 10 comments

Resident Alien: The Wire  Season 2, Ep 2

Harry has a plan to save Asta and himself but first he must attend the Sheriff's poker game. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Feb 3, 2022 - 6 comments

Resident Alien: Old Friends  Season 2, Ep 1

Harry, the alien, is back on Earth but doesn't remember who he is, and only Asta can keep him safe. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Jan 31, 2022 - 8 comments

Book: XX

Drawing on Dada, punk and the modernist movements of the twentieth century, XX is assembled from redacted NASA reports, artwork, magazine articles, secret transcripts and a novel within a novel. Deconstructing layout and language in order to explore how idea propagate, acclaimed designer and artist Rian Hughes's debut novel presents a compelling vision of humanity's unique place in the universe, and a realistic depiction of what might happen in the wake of the biggest scientific discovery in human history. [more inside]
posted by one for the books on Aug 18, 2021 - 2 comments

Book: Fugitive Telemetry

The latest in Martha Wells's stellar Murderbot series, novella-length Fugitive Telemetry, is out. [more inside]
posted by Coaticass on Apr 29, 2021 - 20 comments

Resident Alien: The Green Glow  Season 1, Ep 7

Fearing he's facing failure, Harry enlists an unlikely ally to help find his ship. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 13, 2021 - 5 comments

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.
posted by rednikki on Jun 9, 2020 - 3 comments

Book: Agency

William Gibson's "sequel and prequel" to 2014's The Peripheral.
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol on Jan 23, 2020 - 23 comments

Another Life: Through the Valley of Shadows  Season 1, Ep 2

As tensions rise aboard the ship, the crew gets ready for an expedition to explore the planet; on Earth, Erik tries to decipher a clue from the artifact.
posted by Literaryhero on Jul 28, 2019 - 9 comments

Black Mirror: Black Museum  Season 4, Ep 6

On a dusty stretch of highway, a traveler stumbles across a museum that boasts rare criminal artifacts -- and a disturbing main attraction.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 45 comments

Black Mirror: Metalhead  Season 4, Ep 5

At an abandoned warehouse, scavengers searching for supplies encounter a ruthless foe and flee for their lives through a bleak wasteland.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 59 comments

Black Mirror: Hang the DJ  Season 4, Ep 4

Paired up by a dating program that puts an expiration date on all relationships, Frank and Amy soon begin to question the system's logic.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 50 comments

Black Mirror: Crocodile  Season 4, Ep 3

Architect Mia scrambles to keep a dark secret under wraps, while insurance investigator Shazia harvests people's memories of a nearby accident scene.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 66 comments

Black Mirror: Arkangel  Season 4, Ep 2

Worried about her daughter's safety, single mom Marie signs up for a cutting-edge device that monitors the girl's whereabouts -- and much more
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 41 comments

Black Mirror: USS Callister  Season 4, Ep 1

Capt. Robert Daly presides over his crew with wisdom and courage. But a new recruit will soon discover nothing on this spaceship is what it seems.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 29, 2017 - 99 comments

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time  Season 10, Ep 13

Two Doctors stranded in a forbidding snowscape, refusing to face regeneration. [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Dec 25, 2017 - 77 comments

Blakes 7: Seek – Locate – Destroy  Season 1, Ep 6

In which our intrepid seven heroes encounter the ruthless Queen of All Space, and her peeved henchman with a gun arm, Travis. Travis hates Blake, Servalan wants power, Avon wants money, Vila wants to steal something, and Blake just wants to be left alone long enough to steal to bring down the tyrannous Federation … except he leaves something important behind. [more inside]
posted by Mezentian on May 18, 2016 - 8 comments

Blakes 7: The Web  Season 1, Ep 5

Aka The One With The Mud Men. The crew get new outfits, including Gan who chooses a lovely macrame vest. But one of the crew is a traitor! Who are The Lost? What's the deal with the mutant baby in a jar? And what is the secret of The Space Web that has ensnared the Liberator? And, can Blake make the ultimate decision? [more inside]
posted by Mezentian on May 18, 2016 - 10 comments

Blakes 7: Time Squad  Season 1, Ep 4

The Liberator crew intersects a strange ship, and finds a group of killers from the past on board who will stop at nothing to kill Blake's Six and take over the ship. But why? And can Gan and Jenna stop them? What is Gan's dark secret? Meanwhile, in the other plot, Blake decides to become a terrorist with a fiendish plot to blow up a Federation communications outpost, but does he have the skills to avoid flesh-eating plants, the Federation's crack security forces, a super-high tech killbot? And can he, Avon and Villa trust a silent, mysterious stranger?
posted by Mezentian on May 10, 2016 - 5 comments

Blakes 7: Cygnus Alpha  Season 1, Ep 3

Blake, Jenna, and Avon commandeer the alien ship, which is surprisingly easy to fly, and decide to jet off to the fearsome Cygnus Alpha, the prison planet they have just escaped being sent from to find a crew for the newly-named Liberator, but what is the fearsome mystery of Cygnus Alpha, who will survive, and what is BRIAN BLESSED shouting about? [more inside]
posted by Mezentian on May 10, 2016 - 6 comments

Blakes 7: Star Fall  Season 1, Ep 2

Blake, Jenna and Vila (and some other potential members of the eponymous Seven, who may or may not make it to the end of the episode) take an all expenses paid cruise to the mysterious planet, Cygnus Alpha... and you won't believe what happens next... [more inside]
posted by Mezentian on May 3, 2016 - 11 comments

Blakes 7: The Way Back   Season 1, Ep 1

Roj Blake, brainwashed by the Federation, learns of his true identity - a major resistance leader against what appears to be a corrupt society. Unbelieving at first, he is persuaded to attend a rebel's meeting illegally outside the dome... and then things get interesting. [more inside]
posted by Mezentian on Apr 26, 2016 - 16 comments

Book: Foundation and Empire: "The Mule"

In the imaginary science of 'Pataphysics there's the concept of the "clinamen", or "swerve". As method in the arts, it can be roughly paraphrased as: "To create art you must first create a system. Once you have the system, you must introduce an anomaly which brings the system into a state of chaos. Then you have art." To put it bluntly, until writing "The Mule", Asimov's Foundation series was a perfect system, described by the imaginary science of psychohistory. Things were moving predictably to a predicted end. But then there came a swerve, in the form of "The Mule", a warlord not predicted by Hari Seldon. And in the titular character, Asimov created one of the most interesting anti-heroes of early science fiction. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Nov 14, 2015 - 9 comments

Book: Foundation and Empire: "The General"

"The General" is the last of the classic Foundation stories. In it Asimov tackles the central dynamic head on, setting the "living will" of a single human being against the "dead hand" of psychohistory. It should be no surprise, and indeed is no surprise to modern readers, that the long arc of history doesn't bend around brilliant individuals. There are other characters than the titular general, but Bel Riose is the only one that matters. He knows exactly what he's up against, and backs himself to win. He's undoubtedly the purest example of a tragic hero in the series. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Nov 10, 2015 - 5 comments

Book: Foundation: "The Traders"

The next jump forward in the Foundation storyline takes us well into the second century of the 1000 year plan (which, incidentally, was the original name of the the first book). A merchant from the Foundation on a trading mission to a distant planet runs afoul of local laws and customs. Another trader, Linmar Ponyets, is sent to save him. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 27, 2015 - 4 comments

Book: Foundation: "The Mayors"

Compared to the previous story, there's a lot more going on in "The Mayors". While "The Encyclopedists" is a bit bare bones, this story is painted on a much bigger canvas. Political intrigue, deluded mobs and huge warships flying through space all feature. All of this is familiar from space opera, both modern and contemporary to the Foundation series. But in this story, it isn't the most destructive weapon that wins the day, but the soft power of religious authority. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 24, 2015 - 3 comments

Book: Foundation: "The Encyclopedists"

Science fiction fandom was introduced to the Foundation and psychohistory in a 1942 short story called "Foundation". When it was collected in a book, it was renamed "The Encyclopedists". It is the story of a library on a worthless planet on the far edge of a collapsing empire. And it's the story of a small city mayor who rises to the occasion presented to him by history, becoming one of the most beloved heroes of science fiction, Salvor Hardin. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 22, 2015 - 10 comments

Book: Foundation

The Foundation Trilogy is the space epic's space epic. It follows the history of The Foundation for centuries, from its beginnings as a library on a rinky dink planet on the edge of the Milky Way, to burgeoning galactic empirehood. But before there's a Foundation, there's one guy with a plan, Hari Seldon. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Oct 21, 2015 - 14 comments

Continuum: The Dying Minutes  Season 3, Ep 12

John Doe's revelations force Liber8 to regroup and its members to reconsider their mission. A new character, The Traveller, is introduced. Carlos pulls himself together. The Freelancers face a familiar enemy.
posted by zarq on Jun 17, 2014 - 5 comments

Continuum: 3 Minutes to Midnight  Season 3, Ep 11

The pieces begin to come together: A direct attack from Liber8 puts John Doe and Kiera in danger. But now that John Doe has learned more about his past and future, his revelations could change everything.
posted by zarq on Jun 17, 2014 - 4 comments

Continuum: Revolutions Per Minute  Season 3, Ep 10

A shocking discovery is made by Kiera, whose connection with the mysterious John Doe grows deeper. At the same time, her relationship with the Freelancers becomes more strained. Meanwhile, Alec crosses the Rubicon to protect his legacy.
posted by zarq on Jun 17, 2014 - 1 comment

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