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Re-Reading Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

By John Folk-Williams

Foundation and Empire

Up next in my re-read of Isaac Asimov’s original Foundation trilogy is Foundation and Empire. First published in book form in 1952, the novel consists of two novellas originally published in Astounding magazine in 1945, when Asimov was 25 years old. I mention his age since it seems to me that in these stories of […]

Filed Under: Space Opera, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: destiny, free will, galactic empires, Isaac Asimov, power, psychic powers, psychohistory

A Few Thoughts about Foundation by Isaac Asimov

By John Folk-Williams

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Given the lavish production of Apple TV’s Foundation series, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the original Foundation trilogy. Like most people, when I was being introduced to science fiction it was Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels that were thrust upon me as cornerstones of the genre, one of the great achievements […]

Filed Under: Space Opera, Vintage Science Fiction Tagged With: galactic empires, Isaac Asimov, power, psychohistory, religion, space colonies, space governance, war

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

By John Folk-Williams

These Burning Stars

Before getting into the gripping debut novel, These Burning Stars, by Bethany Jacobs, I need to mention a few things about this blog. After four years of writing reviews for SciFi Mind, I ran into a burnout period earlier this year and took some time off. I’m getting back into review mode again but find […]

Filed Under: Space Opera Tagged With: Bethany Jacobs, colonialism, exploitation, identity, oppression, power, rebellion, revenge, social classes

The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August

By John Folk-Williams

The Last Gifts of the Universe

The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August is the winner of the second Self Published Science Fiction Competition, and it’s easy to see why it came out ahead of the hundreds of other novels. But before I get into my review, I’d like to say how grateful I am that SPSFC exists. Without […]

Filed Under: Indie SciFi, Space Opera Tagged With: adventure, alien civilizations, alien life forms, family, loss, love, spaceships

Ethera Grave by Essa Hansen (Part 3 of The Graven Trilogy)

By John Folk-Williams

Ethera Grave - Favorite SFF Novels of 2023

Essa Hansen’s Ethera Grave may be the conclusion of her Graven trilogy (following Nophek Gloss and Azura Ghost), but it does far more than bring to an exciting and powerful conclusion a complex story. The novel expands its multiverse in dazzling ways and probes numerous questions of moral choice, diversity, transformation, time, the power of […]

Filed Under: Great Series Read Project, Space Opera Tagged With: alien life forms, consciousness, diversity, Essa Hansen, family, multiverse, time, transcendence, transformation

The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord

By John Folk-Williams

The Blue Beautiful World by Karen Lord

The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord, the latest in her Cygnus Beta novels, is unlike any science fictional work I’ve recently read. It depicts familiar elements: a vast scale of galactic politics, a humanoid diaspora in space, a climate-changed Earth where cities are being enclosed in protective globes and many current nation states have […]

Filed Under: Future History, Space Opera Tagged With: alien civilizations, family, galaxy, relationships, ruined earth, space community, transformation

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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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