Tag: Science Fiction
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Roadside Picnic (Strugatsky & Strugatsky 1972)
Roadside Picnic (1972 by Strugatsky and Strugatsky) was originally written in Russian in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. I read the 2012 translation by Le Guin. The book is based on a cool idea. Aliens briefly visited Earth and left—leaving behind, as far as anyone can tell, some tossed-out trash. These garbage zones…
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Ancillary Justice (Leckie 2013)
My wife bought this book for me to read as a travel book during the first part of our move. This is a fun, creative, well-written space opera. The point of view is very refreshing and original. The protagonist has a pragmatic, no-nonsense approach, essentially a noir character, but also cares strongly about a few…
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A Fire Upon the Deep (Vinge 1992)
I just finished reading A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) by Vernor Vinge. I was curious about it because it was highly recommended, but I also (purposefully) didn’t know much about it to avoid spoilers. This contained a lot of aspects of the classic Western space opera, where an individual (possibly with superhero abilities) or…
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Children of Memory (Tchaikovsky 2023)
This book brings together some very big ideas, such as (I have to be a bit cryptic to avoid spoilers) how we can recognize human-level intelligence and how would we recognize fundamental physical reality versus an immersive simulation—or do these really matter? The author has a background in zoology and psychology, and it shows. I…
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Artemis (Weir 2017)
I just finished Andy Weir’s Artemis. I’ve previously read two other books by Weir, The Martian (2011) and Project Hail Mary (2021), both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Artemis has a different feeling from those that is hard to put my finger on. It is a solid science fiction novel and is diverting. It reminds…