SUPERCHIMPS! IN! SPAAAAAAACE! The previous book was about neo-Dolphins, this one is about chimps. And it is very good. Ultimately, it is a book about slavery and ecology. What do we owe to our planet? Can we take "lesser" races and bring them sentience and sapience? Should they be allowed to develop their own culture? What can we do to prevent "alien" cultures from influencing us? Despite its…
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Pure pulp sci-fi - and I loved every page of it. The best sci-fi, in my opinion, doesn't dwell too long on how the magic box works - but spends time exploring the consequences of opening it. The premise is great - cloning is real and you can back up your brain. When you die, your brain is downloaded to a clone. It's a brilliant exploration of human rights. Are clones humans? Are they property? …
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Oh! But this is ridiculously fantastic fun. An unemployed sci-fi geek escapes the pandemic by going all David Attenborough with Godzilla. Yes, it is an exercise in nerdy wish fulfilment. But who among us wouldn't have rather spent the last two years being chased by giant scary monsters rather than cowering away from a microscopic virus? It a joyful piece of bubble-gum sci-fi. It plays well…
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Dolphins in spaaaaaaaace! This is the sequel to David Brin's "Sundiver" - and the 2nd part of the Uplift series. And - BAM! - it goes straight into the action. Very little needless exposition - just spaceships running away from an Extra-Terrestrial menace, crash-landing, and having to escape. All good sci-fi fun. Especially with a crew of cyborg dolphins, a few telepathic humans, and one…
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Palia’s emotions are in turmoil. After watching her son succumb to Empyrean fire, she barely escapes the same fate. Guilt ridden and alone, she will not stop until his killer is brought to justice. The Protectorate forbids Ferrash to have emotions. That suits him, since he cannot avoid the people who control the Empyrean. Making this sacrifice prevents them from hijacking his feelings and using …
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(I *sure* this was the basis a short story I read - but I can't find it. So I'm (re)writing it. If you know of the original, please let me know…!) The speed of light is a universal constant. This "speed limit" is fundamental to everything we understand about physics. Information - when propagated via the electromagnetic spectrum - cannot travel faster than 0.3 Gigametres per second. There is no a…
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Inspired by Sir Arthur C. Clarke's short story A Meeting with Medusa, this novel, with permission from the Clarke Estate, continues the story of Commander Howard Falcon over centuries of space-exploration, interaction with AI, first contact and beyond. All brought to life by two of our greatest SF authors, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds. Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident…
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It's hard to know what to make of Dune. It is visually and sonically impressive. It's a great ride from start to finish. But - and it's a big but - you've seen it all before. Partly that's because Dune was published in 1965 and every sci-fi film made after that date used it as a template. Star Wars' Tatooine is the obvious example. But you've seen the sword-training montage in Game of Thrones,…
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A story of time travel, murder, and unlikely allies separated by centuries, battling for a world in which anyone can change the future. 1992: Beth, a teenage riot grrl, witnesses a murder and realizes something is deeply wrong with her life--maybe it's her best friend, maybe it's her dad, or maybe it's the strange woman who keeps trying to warn her about what's coming. 2022: Tess, a…
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In his sharply crafted, unnerving first collection of speculative fiction shorts, Courttia Newland envisages an alternate future as lived by the African diaspora. Robots used as human proxies in a war become driven by all-too-human desires; Kill Parties roam the streets of a post-apocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on inter-breeding with mortals to survive; mysterious …
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How do you build a Tardis? What are the secrets of teleportation? Could Cybermen take over the world? Is telepathy possible - even for an alien? Will extra-terrestrials one day visit planet earth on their travels through the galaxy? Can a robotic dog catch a cold ...? Take a journey with the Time Lords as Michael White guides us through the real science behind Doctor Who. Here he shows us how…
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Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organisation was simple: To advocate for the world’s future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story. From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined. Told entirely through f…
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