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Showing posts with the label science fiction

Space-Time Challenge Update and SF Review: Cassastar

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  Jemima Pett has been hosting the SpaceTime Reading Challenge for a few years now, and I keep signing up and then losing track. If you are a SF fan, like a little mind-bending time travel now and then, or just want to find out if you do, sign up and jump in. I recommend following jemimapett.com for ideas about what to read--I've gotten a lot of good tips from her reviews! Sign up here --it's never too late. The SpaceTime Reading Challenge #spacetimereads You can read any book that is from the science fiction/time-travel genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres.  Non-fiction is not included in this challenge. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews (even one-liners) to link up. (blog, Goodreads, booklikes, shelfari, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back here with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be novellas or novels, although anthologies count if they meet the pag

SF Classic: A World Out of Time, by Larry Niven... and Space/Time Challenge update!

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Way back at the beginning of the year I joined Jemima Pett's SpaceTime Reading Challenge . Jemima has been hosting the SpaceTime Reading Challenge for a few years now, and I keep signing up and then losing track. If you are a SF fan, like a little mind-bending time travel now and then, or just want to find out if you do, sign up and jump in. I recommend following jemimapett.com for ideas about what to read--I've gotten a lot of good tips from her reviews (and currently have two more SF books on my reading pile)! #spacetimereads You can read any book that is from the science fiction/time-travel genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres.  Non-fiction is not included in this challenge. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews (even one-liners) to link up. (blog, Goodreads, booklikes, shelfari, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back to Jemima's page with your goal for this challenge. Bo

Friday Flashback: Xavier Xanthum's first appearance.

Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, made his debut during my first April "A to Z Blogging Challenge," when I needed a post for "X". That was in 2013. Since then, I have written and shared about 18 more XX stories, and have a particular fondness for the occasionally hapless explorer. Some of what's in this one I'd totally forgotten and may not be so true in later stories.   Xavier and the X-Ray Eyes Xavier Xanthum explored space.  With his Arcturian Warp drive, he’d been doing it long enough that time and age no longer had any meaning for him.  Twice he had passed through random uncertainty fields, and met himself coming.  Once he’d hit something strange, and the next ship he met told him a hundred years had passed.  He'd aged two days. After that one, he’d sold his ship to an antique dealer for enough to buy one of the new-fangled ships with an even better faster-than-light drive, one that was guaranteed to keep him from ever being stranded in a gravi

Flashback Flash Fiction: An Elegant Apocalypse

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This story first appeared on this blog in December of 2012. I've touched it up a bit, and wondered about the amount of borrowing from Douglas Adams, but decided to let it stand with the original "reverent apologies to Douglas Adams." I'm not sure about the origins--I'm pretty sure someone challenged me with that title, but I kept no record. About the only thing I can be pretty sure of is that I was rereading the Hitchhikers Guide and sequels. We can probably chalk this one up to fan fiction. Elegant Apocalypse With reverent apologies to Douglas Adams   Sunrise on Planet X-4732B is 7th most stunning and beautiful event in the Universe following, among other things, sunset on X-4732A and the eruption into the sea of an unnamed volcano on an undiscovered planet. This is a well-established fact, determined by a complex algorithm developed by the Ultra-Computer housed on the 4 th Moon of Planet G-7512, known to locals as Home. The lunar location w

SF Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few (audio book)

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  Title: Record of a Spaceborn Few Author: Becky Chambers. Read by Rachel Dulude Publication Info: Harper Audio, 2018 11 hours 41 minutes. First published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2018. 359 pages. Source: Library digital resources   Publisher’s Blurb: Brimming with Chambers' signature blend of heart-warming character relationships and dazzling adventure, Record of a Spaceborn few is the third standalone installment of the Wayfarers series, set in the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, and following a new motley crew on a journey to another corner corner of the cosmos—one often mentioned, but not yet explored. Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure. Hundred

SF Review: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

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    Title: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) Author: Becky Chambers. Read by Rachel Dulude Publication Info: Tantor Audio, 2016. 14 1/2 hours. Hardback by Hodder & Stoughton, 2015; 404 pages. Source: Library digital services Blurb:  Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain. Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a di

Friday Flash: The Space Explorer is back!

That's right--I'm back with a bit of new flash fiction after all these months, and it's everyone's favorite Space Explorer! It ran a little long, at 1175 words, including the title. Xavier Xanthum and the Galactic Sandwich Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, relaxed aboard his good ship Wanderlust. Kitty Comet hovered over his lap in the zero-g living space. For the moment, Xavier was content to let Larry drive the ship. Comet mewed, and Xavier stroked the cat’s back, pressing it into his lap. Immediately the mewling changed to a roaring purr. Cat and spaceman alike relaxed, content. “Captain, your presence on the bridge.” Xavier groaned. The AI only got formal when something was wrong. Xavier set the cat gently aside and shoved off toward the control room. Comet continued to float in a curled position, drifting slowly with the air currents until she came to rest against the ventilation grate. Xavier shot into the control room, which Larry had so grandly called the bridge.

Flashback Friday: New Year's with Xavier Xanthum

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  Flashback Friday is a monthly meme that takes place on the last Friday of the month . The idea is to give a little more love to a post you’ve published on your blog before.  Maybe you just love it, maybe it’s appropriate for now, or maybe it just didn’t get the attention it deserved when you first published it. Thanks to Michael d’Agostino, who started it all, there is a solution – join Flashback Friday! And thanks to Jemima Pett , who has kept it going--visit her blog to add your name to the list ! Just join in whenever you like, repost one of your own blog posts , including any copyright notices on text or media, on the last Friday of the month.  ###### This month's Flashback post is a 650-word story I'd forgotten all about. I thought it was about time for some action from Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, and this in my opinion is on of the best of his tales. Xavier Xanthum's New Year Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, gazed morosely at the fuel-level indicator of the s

Friday Flash: Space Opera time!

Chuck Wendig is back on the job with our Friday flash fiction challenges, and in honor of May the Fourth commanded us to write a space opera, in 1500 words or less. So, more like a single aria from the opera, but I went for the melodrama of an early Star Trek episode. It's just under 1200 words. Long Odds “There’s no way we can win, on the face of it.” Captain Kira Andashar of the Earth Federation Starship Endurance didn’t believe in sugar-coating matters to her officers. “The invaders outnumber us three to one, and based on what they did to EFS Consequence they outgun us by far as well.” “Should we surrender, then? Or run?” Lieutenant Albert Percival knew better. His captain wasn’t the surrendering sort, and they’d already proved they couldn’t outrun the aliens. When he asked his question he heard a few gasps, and at least one snort of derision. He ignored them and waited for the answer. “We fight. And dammit,” Captain Andashar raised her voice, “we will win!” A few young offic

Friday Flash: Dead Comet

For this week's flash fiction prompt, I headed over to Jemima Pett's blog and checked out out her collection of prompts . A few clicks of the random number generator gave me my title, and the story gives a nod or two to Jemima and her Viridian System books. Dead Comet “I don’t like this.” The uncertainty in Althea’s voice carried clearly over the communications link. “There’s something wrong here.”  Aboard the Jemima, Marlis frowned. It wasn’t like her partner to give way to vague misgivings. They might be due for some time in port, maybe even a visit to Sunset Strip. That was supposed to be the best liberty port for spacers in this quadrant. She shook herself. No good thinking about heading dirtside until they finished what they were here for. They needed to score something big if they wanted a vacation. Marlis spoke into her comm unit. “What?” “I’m not sure, Mar. Just…it’s wrong. The whole thing feels dead.” “It’s an asteroid. They’re all dead. Nothing can live on an asteroid

Middle Grade Monday: Last Day on Mars

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  Title: Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star #1) Author: Kevin Emerson Publisher: Walden Pond Press, 2017. 326 pages, hardback. Source: Library Publisher's Summary:   It is Earth year 2213—but, of course, there is no Earth anymore. Not since it was burned to a cinder by the sun, which has mysteriously begun the process of going supernova. The human race has fled to Mars, but this was only a temporary solution while we prepare for a second trip: a one-hundred-fifty-year journey to a distant star, our best guess at where we might find a new home. Liam Saunders-Chang is one of the last humans left on Mars. The son of two scientists who have been racing against time to create technology vital to humanity’s survival, Liam, along with his friend Phoebe, will be on the very last starliner to depart before Mars, like Earth before it, is destroyed. Or so he thinks. Because before this day is over, Liam and Phoebe will make a series of profound discoveries about the natu

Middle Grade Monday: Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

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  Title: Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? Author: Liz Kessler Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2014. 280 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Summary: Jessica Jenkins has always been a perfectly ordinary girl—until one day part of her arm vanishes in the middle of geography class! Jessica’s friends Izzy and Tom are determined to help her develop her newfound invisibility, though Jessica is more concerned with discovering where the ability came from. When it becomes apparent that there may be other kids developing strange powers of their own, Jessica marshals them into a slapdash band of “slightly superheroes.” But when an unscrupulous adult discovers the origin of their powers and kidnaps one of the team, the rest must put their heads—and all of their skills—together to avert disaster. My Review:  I've read some of Liz Kessler's other books, and she likes to play around on the margins between science fiction and fantasy. I really liked North of Nowhere , and was less cra