By @edent · Book Review Sci Fi · 1 comment · 300 words
This is a modern Arabian Nights. Eight Middle Eastern tales of adventure and magic, infused with a startling modernity. I loved the world-building in this. The creeping horror in some of the tales was offset by the delicious exploration of what it means to inhabit a world with Djinn. Interestingly, it seemed very scripture-heavy to […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review chinese Sci Fi · 200 words
Yet another compendium of Chinese sci-fi stories - and there are some great stories in this collection. There are also some essays about what makes Chinese science fiction Chinese. Based on my (limited) experience, I'd say one of the defining characteristics of the Chinese SF I've read is the way exposition is dispensed with and […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Sci Fi speculative fiction Tales Of The Algorithm · 1 comment · 800 words
The Yamaguchi Foodstuffs Conglomerate emphatically denies causing tumours in vegetables. They did not "give a beansprout cancer". That would be irresponsible and against their 250 year commitment to responsible bio-agriculture development. Every culture has their own version of Grimm's "Der süße Brei". A cautionary tale of a magic porridge dispenser which, thanks to one woman's […]
Continue reading →By @edent · metaverse MSc Sci Fi · 450 words · read ~116 times.
It was only after I started editing my MSc down to its prescribed word-count, that I finally understood the phrase Kill Your Darlings. I spent ages writing florid prose, only to realise it was needless verbiage. The delete key was hammered mercilessly. But... As all fans of Jasper Fforde know - there is a "Well […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review Sci Fi · 5 comments · 250 words
After finding the first Expanse book mildly interesting, I was badgered into reading the sequel. It isn't good. The first book made for some interesting "engineering" sci-if. What would it take to travel at excess g-force? What are the practical implications of living on a low-gravity moon? That kind of thing. But it was let […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review chinese Sci Fi · 550 words
This is an anthology of modern Chinese science fiction, loosely grouped into three main themes. I'm sad to say that some of the stories are a lot of hard work. One is barely sci-fi - more like a spiritual paean to the souls of people caught in a disaster which, bizarrely, has a throwaway line […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review future Sci Fi · 2 comments · 250 words
This is a difficult and disturbing book. It is a great read for any hacker - it's all about the way technology abuses people and how it radicalises people into fighting back. The dialogue is Socratic and the stories are a set of parables. The first asks us to consider what are the limits of […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review Sci Fi · 2 comments · 150 words
Wow! What a stunning book. It's a series of short stories - all taking place in a world where gene-editing isn't just legal; it's a sacrament. Each chapter jumps us further into the future. What starts off as an uncertain way to improve the human species gradually becomes more beautiful and more terrifying. Do you […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review Sci Fi The Expanse · 8 comments · 250 words · read ~122 times.
I'm really late to the party on this one! After people singing the praises of the TV show, and my brother recommending them, I finally cracked and read the first book. It's pretty good! You probably don't need me to tell you that. But, for a book published in 2011, I was surprised at how […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review Sci Fi · 1 comment · 150 words
I adored Qntm's previous book "There Is No Antimemetics Division". This collection of short stories is just as inventive, and just as thought-provoking. What are the social, moral, and technical implications of uploading a human brain into a computer? Some of the stories are hilariously terrifying - could "you" lose the rights to "your" brain? […]
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