Happy April 7, 2026!

This is a free-to-read e-Book that deserves to be better known.

The setting is a near-future dystopia. It is written from the point-of-view of an "artificial", a disembodied PDA (personal digital assistant) who has to earn its CPU time. Did you know that reboots are painful and disorienting? Good thing people wear masks with cameras. It is a criminal offense not to transmit your stream in public.

The world is on the brink of collapse because of climate change and waves of viruses like mySARS. I know what you're thinking now, but no: this book was published around 2012. Climate change wasn't even a news topic when I first read it. And anyway, this is just the setting. The plot is about surviving in a surveillance city-state, and the inner struggles of an artificial being.

Later books have more action-packed fights for technology and power inside and outside of the city, while some of the more nerdy elements are dropped (like keeping track of the PID that is running the artificial).

Hi,

I'm a great fan of Isaac Asimov, in particular the stories about the spacers. I was really fascinated about how the societies of the spacers worked and liked the stories on the outer planets. Are there any stories from other authors expanding on the spacer stories you can recommend?

Hi,

I'm a great fan of Isaac Asimov, in particular the stories about the spacers. I was really fascinated about how the societies of the spacers worked and liked the stories on the outer planets. Are there any stories from other authors expanding on the spacer stories you can recommend?

Have they missed any good ones?

March is lining up to be packed with treats for science fiction fans. For starters, we get to return to the universe of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series, this time in the company of a huge mantis shrimp. We’re also being offered a take on Moby-Dick, set in space, and what sounds like a must-read: a forgotten speculative novel from 1936, which imagines the last woman left alive in Britain after a pandemic. If instead you’re after a cosy sci-fi mystery, a slice of horror or a mission to Europa, then you’re in luck, because all of those are on offer too.

The prompt for the contest asked only that entries have at least a tenuous connection to the Bulletin’s mission; some of those connections were pretty tenuous.

To my way of thinking, the final 10 stories I sent to Stan all seemed at least competent. But I wasn’t sure if they were good only in comparison to the many disorderly efforts at storytelling that my editorial helpers and I had dutifully read. I was, after all, sending them to Kim Stanley Robinson—who, The New Yorker has opined, is “generally acknowledged as one of the greatest living science-fiction writers,” and whose work The Atlantic has called “the gold standard of realistic, and highly literary, science-fiction writing.” His books have been translated into 29 languages. He’s had an asteroid named after him, for god’s sake.

I was ready to apologize for wasting his time at any suggestion that our stories were wanting.

Just watched Marooned as a tribute to him. For the brits: it is all on the iplayer and Rob was involved til season 6

Who's read the original novels? This could be lots of fun

Fans already have the DVD box set and like mentioning it as often as Linux users tell us they use Linux and vegans do their thing.

But this is now the opportunity to win new fans. TV junkies are begging for shows that they can watch continuously for weeks without having to wait a few years for new episodes or for them to be over after a measly 24 or 178 episodes.

Great character chemistry and compelling stories. A fantastic mix of action and humor.

You don't need to know the movie it is based on. Maybe read the plot on Wikipedia if you want to.

I've been listening to X-Minus-One episodes for the last few days and am really starting to appreciate the radio play format. Some of the stories are pretty dated, being from the 40's and 50's, but a lot of them still hold up if you're a little forgiving on the science details.

Genetically and technologically enhanced animals, mostly dogs, have been developed as mercenary soldiers who act on any order given by their masters. Rex is such a soldier, leader of his squad, but what happens when his enforced obedience is removed and he is able to (has to) make his own decisions? This is a fascinating book that probes the ethical boundaries of enhanced biological beings, AI, and free will. I really loved this one and will certainly read the other the books in the series.

Here is a size comparison for different scifi spaceships.

Does anyone know if there's a grander version of this? More ships or stations?

I'm going to keep this short and spoiler free. The final main line Laundry Files novel has been out a few days now. There may be more New Management books (he mentioned an Imp book a while back) but he's got a space opera up next.

I finished the new one and enjoyed it. Loved the reference to a couple of terrible 70s flicks. It's a pretty good wrap up to the series.

It is back to Bob as the main character. Plenty of Mo. If you read the New Management books you'll likely recognize a minor character from there. Johnny MacTavish's family comes into play. A couple of the guns were left on the mantle but the big stuff is wrapped and we're not left wondering about the fate of anyone important.

As solar flares and earthquakes wreak havoc upon the Earth, Air Force One and America's president vanish. Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland must embark on a perilous mission aboard Deep Fathom miles below the ocean's surface to save the world from destruction. Violence and some strong language. 2001.

Just finished my first book of the year, Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I think he's now my favorite author, at least currently writing. He's so good at so many things, from hard SF to fantasy. He's created some really interesting worlds, and populated them with interesting characters.

So far, I've read these books of his (order I read them, not order published):

• Children of Time
• Children of Ruin
• Children of Memory
• Made Things
• Walking to Aldebaran
• Service Model
• Shroud
• City of Last Chances
• Alien Clay

Each of these is a gem. The children of time series has to be an all-time great SF trilogy. If you want my little paragraph of spoiler-free notes on why of them, let me know.