John Scalzi has created a fascinating sci-fi universe in his Old Man’s War series. The Ghost Brigades is as much a horror story as a sci-fi adventure. Scalzi references Frankenstein repeatedly as he plants questions about the boundaries of being human, the ethics of creating life, corporate control, and who we consider monsters. Scalzi presents some interesting and deep questions, but ultimately sidesteps the more problematic answers by wrapping up his stories with happyish endings. Which is fine. These days I’m reading for neater resolutions and happier endings. […]
In the Future, Humans Are Still A-Holes
When I posted my review of The Collapsing Empire, Narfna told me I had to read Fuzzy Nation. I can’t remember where that conversation happened, but while I was waiting for my next Audible credit, I would remind myself not to get distracted. Fuzzy Nation was my mission. Other than Narfna’s recommendation and the cover, I had no idea what the book would be about. Fuzzy Nation is an eco-legal thriller in space. Humans still live on Earth, but they have expanded resource gathering to other planets. […]
Too Many Space Quips. Someone be serious!
I five-starred Scalzi’s Old Man’s War earlier this year, calling it my dream blend of science fiction. In that book, Scalzi effortlessly worked in a new world, tech, humor, drama, action, and characters the readers cared about. It was so well done. So, when Audible had The Collapsing Empire audiobook on sale for $2.99, I snatched it up. As a bonus, it was read by Wil Wheaton. This book has already been reviewed myriad times on this site, so I won’t go too much into the […]
Climate Change, in Spaaaaaace!
Humans have migrated into space and lost contact with Earth. They live now in an Empire they call The Interdependancy. There is no faster than light travel, the laws of physics forbid it. There is the Flow. The Flow isn’t well understood, but it has pathways, and those paths allow ships to travel between planets in months rather than years or centuries. The Empire is called The Interdependency because it is deliberately designed so that each colony depends on the others to survive. Each colony […]
I Will Never Feel Bad About Loving a Mary Sue Again
Last night I had my first John Scalzi dream, borrowing from Lock In, Redshirts, and Old Man’s War. My consciousness has just been downloaded into a body, and I am standing on a cliff overlooking a harbor. There’s another person sitting in a machine gun nest in front of me telling me that “he” is on the boat just docking (I’ve also been watching Shetland, so we’re all speaking with Scottish accents and the landscape is bleak and beautiful). Because I am a John Scalzi hero, […]
Stop Waiting and Do Something
On the spaceship Intrepid, low level crew members die at an alarming rate. The premise is right there on the cover: They were expendable…until they started comparing notes. Whether you have watched the original Star Trek series or not, most people know that the guy in the red shirt was going to die. In Redshirts, Scalzi explores what would happen if, rather than actors who went home at the end of a day of shooting, the characters were just going about their lives until everyone started […]
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