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Otherlands and More Science Books for Science Fiction Readers

By John Folk-Williams

Otherlands - Science Books for SciFi Readers

Here are three excellent books about science that I’ve found helpful for updating ideas about the origins of life, the nature of the mind and the vanished worlds of extinct creatures and environments that preceded our present precarious moment. Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth’s Extinct Worlds by Thomas Halliday is one of the most extraordinary […]

Filed Under: Science and Related Books for SFF Readers Tagged With: alternate worlds, brain, cognition, evolution, genetic change, human survival, life forms, navigation, species, subminds

The Quantum War by Derek Künsken – A Review for #SciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

The Quantum War by Derek Kunsken #scifimonth

Derek Künsken’s The Quantum War, the third book in The Quantum Evolution series, continues the stories that blend exciting space adventure with probing speculations on the philosophical and religious implications of altering human evolution. At the heart of these novels, set in the 26th century, are new human species, especially the Homo quantus, endowed with […]

Filed Under: Great Series Read Project, SciFiMonth Tagged With: artificial intelligence, brain, consciousness, Derek Kunsken, evolution, genetic engineering, religion, sacrifice, sentient beings, Venus

Signs of Life – Science Books for SFF Readers

By John Folk-Williams

Signs of Life Sirens of Mars

Here are two books in this ongoing series of posts on science books for SFF readers that explore basic signs of life, one at the cellular level here on Earth, the other at the molecular level on Mars. The Sirens of Mars The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson is an exciting record of […]

Filed Under: Science and Related Books for SFF Readers Tagged With: brain, cells, communication, Jon Lieff, life forms, Mars, microbes, Sarah Stewart Johnson, space exploration

Pushing the Boundaries of Mind: Science Books for SFF Readers – 3

By John Folk-Williams

Neuroscience - boundaries of mind

One of the reasons I’m drawn to science fiction is to see how writers explore boundaries of mind and consciousness. I mean not just the sort of psychic powers that were popular to write about 40 or 50 years ago (or superheroes today) but testing the limits of human consciousness. While sff fiction uses standard […]

Filed Under: Science and Related Books for SFF Readers Tagged With: artificial intelligence, brain, consciousness, memory, mind, neuroscience, psychedelics, science fiction movies

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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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