From Jim Ryan and Jamie Hale for The Oregonian/OregonLive 10/28/21: A new film adaptation of classic science fiction novel Dune has opened in U.S. theaters, bringing audiences back to the desert planet Arrakis, home of sand worms, spice, politics and war. While set on an alien world, Dune was inspired by a very real place: …
Librarians are gifts to the community, even after the apocalypse. Nina, Dani, and Maya have scavenged the wreckage of cities long dead for tech, data and content, to share with their community and help everyone survive. It’s a dangerous job, and all three of them have a shadowed past, so it’s no surprise when disgraced …
From Oregonlive.com July 31, 2021: The Ursula K. Le Guin stamp, the 33rd in the U.S. Postal Service’s Literary Arts series, was released Tuesday in a ceremony at the Portland Art Museum. Among those who spoke at the event was Portland arts critic Martha Ullman West, a longtime friend of Le Guin’s; Oregon Arts Watch published her remarks. Other …
An astronaut wakes up with amnesia, and discovers he is on a mission to save the world. This book is a return to what made The Martian such a great read. There’s a sarcastic but earnest narrator, many a life-threatening disaster, and so very much clearly and cleverly explained science. Once I started reading it, I could …
Sometimes the right book comes along at just the right time. Hollow Kingdom was easily my favorite book of 2019, and its sequel, Feral Creatures (publishing this August) just f***ing ravaged my entire heart. Holy crow, apocalyptic fiction never hurt so good! Brb, I have to go snuggle my perfect tiny wild child baby and …
We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker is… wow. Proof that I need a bit more faith in the good authors because Pinsker went places with this story I was not expecting and that is glorious! In the near future, Pilot is released. It’s a small brain implant that allows the brain to come close to …
I have absolutely loved everything Nnedi Okorafor has ever written, and this latest book from her is no exception! Her amazing ability to blend traditional African stories and themes with hardcore science fiction is spectacular. While Sankofa cannot remember her name, she does remember her past as she travels from town to town. Even as …
Charles Soule is back with Anyone. Soule wrote an interesting near future SF novel called The Oracle Year a while back, and he’s tackling the near future again with Anyone. This time around, the premise is human consciousness can be transported between bodies. Naturally, this becomes both thrilling and terrifying (when you start to extrapolate some of the effects …
A war is waged by two rival time-traveling agents: Red, who comes from a world ruled by technology, and Blue, who comes from a world rooted in organic life. The narrative is told through letters between the women, at first passionately loathsome, then– surprising both– passionately loving. Through visceral, poignant, and intricate wordplay, El-Mohtar and …
On August 18, the Hugo Awards were handed out. This is a big deal mostly in the Science Fiction and Fantasy community, but, this year it should be a big deal to everyone who values inclusive writing, especially the voices of women and more particularly women of color. For years, Science Fiction and Fantasy were …
