August 8, 2017
It is 1983, and I am thirteen and hunting for dragons, on a winter Boulder, Colorado day with crystalline skies so clear that I know it is below freezing outside. But I brave the elements anyways, for I want dragons, and I have five dollars and some change earned from household chores. I take the RTD bus 204 downtown, and…
August 7, 2017
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome to back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Carrie Vaughn, author of Bannerless, a murder-mystery set in a dystopian…
August 4, 2017
Two episodes left. Oh dear god, how are we supposed to deal with all that’s come before? How are we supposed to deal with the end? At this point, what will the end even be? In “Gag or Throttle,” I’d gotten my wish for a Rachel-centric episode. In “Guillotines Decide,” I got my wish for Felix’s Art Show featuring all…
July 28, 2017
Three episodes left. I know last week I complained that we didn’t have enough time left in the series. After “Gag or Throttle,” I can’t believe there’s still three episodes left, because now I don’t feel like there’s enough material to carry us through. I got my Rachel-centric episode, and what a damn fine episode it was. But rather than…
July 26, 2017
A Closed & Common Orbit (2016) Written by: Becky Chambers Pages: 342 (Trade Paperback) Series: Wayfarers (Book 2) Published by: Harper Voyager Why I Chose It: As part of this year’s Hugo read, and because I had heard a lot about this series, generally all positive, and wanted to read it. Spoilers for both A Long Way to a Small,…
July 25, 2017
Death’s End (2016) Written by: Cixin Liu Translated by: Ken Liu Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 608 (Hardcover) Series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past Book 3 Publisher: Tor Why I Picked It: I had already read The Three-Body Problem (#1) and was halfway through The Dark Forest (#2) when I was given the opportunity to review Death’s End. I am notorious for…
July 21, 2017
Six down, four to go. I have to admit, while I’m generally a fan of shorter television seasons, I’m starting to feel like we just don’t have enough time to get everything in that we need. Don’t get me wrong: Orphan Black has always played fast with its plot, and each season moves at a breakneck pace. This season is…
July 20, 2017
Fortune’s Pawn (2013) Written by: Rachel Bach Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 341 (Kindle) Series: Paradox Book 1 Publisher: Orbit Why I Chose It: A friend recommended this to me, saying if I liked The Vorkosigan Saga, I would like this. And we all know how much I liked The Vorkosigan Saga… The Premise: Devi Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She…
July 11, 2017
This Month On Changing the Map As we’ve discussed in previous columns, the upside of using fantastic fiction as a forum for feminist thinking is that readers are so immersed in a strange world that they don’t realize they’re learning something important. The downside? That whatever an author might write about women and their struggles may seem dated and irrelevant…
July 7, 2017
Welcome back to Orphan Black‘s Final Trip. After the Hendrix-centric episode in “Beneath Her Heart,” we got to find out what the rest of the clones have been up to in “Let the Children and Childbearers Toil.” Unlike the previous two episodes, at first glance there didn’t appear to be any major moments. Yet as I was sitting back and…