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You are here: Home / 2023 / Archives for January 2023

Archives for January 2023

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny – #VintageSciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

I had intended to write about a new science fiction novel this week, but that turned out to be a disappointment. So I’m eagerly diving into Nine Princes in Amber, the first book in Roger Zelazny‘s epic 10 volume fantasy series, The Chronicles of Amber. This rounds out my contribution to the great not-a-challenge of […]

Filed Under: Epic Fantasy, Parallel World Fantasy, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: battle strategy, epic fantasy, family, imagination, memory, multiple worlds, power, Roger Zelazny, time travel

Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny – #VintageSciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny

Every January is Vintage Science Fiction Month, the not-a-challenge created by Andrea at the little red reviewer and Retro Rockets podcast as well as Red Star Reviews. It’s definitely one of my favorite scifi celebrations. The original idea was to comment on science fiction written before your birth year – but I believe “vintage” came […]

Filed Under: Space Opera, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: alien life forms, gods, multiple worlds, religion, revenge, Roger Zelazny, telepathy

Ringworld by Larry Niven – #VintageSciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

Ringworld by Larry Niven

If you’re new, as I am, to Larry Niven’s Known Space world, you’ll find an astonishing amount of information online about this hugely influential series of novels and short stories. Ringworld (1970) was Niven’s first novel in the sequence. There are articles about all the characters, alien species, technologies and events of Known Space as […]

Filed Under: Space Opera, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: agency, alien life forms, alien technology, city, fallen world, Known Space, Larry Niven, religion, spaceships

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick – #VintageSciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick asks a basic question that is all the more pressing today. What’s the difference between a human being and an android? Dick goes beyond the current debate about the potential replacement of humans by robotic software to produce creative works we feel should only […]

Filed Under: Post-Apocalytic, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: androids, human emotion, identity, Philip K. Dick, religion, ruined earth

Excession by Iain M. Banks – A Culture Novel

By John Folk-Williams

Excession by Iain M. Banks

Well, it’s a new year – and good wishes all around! After a mentally tired December when I wrote little, I relaxed while getting to know the work of Roger Zelazny – and re-reading Iain M. Banks’ Excession, the fifth of his Culture books. Some people suggest starting with other novels set in this universe […]

Filed Under: Space Opera Tagged With: alien life forms, artificial intelligence, gender, Iain M. Banks, identity, spaceships, The Culture

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Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is. It’s pushing the imaginations of fiction writers to bend and twist familiar forms to try to capture the forces that are hurling us into a barely conceivable future. This blog is my small way of exploring the half-perceived … Read More about About

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