Category Archives: science fiction

Notes for a Series of Essays About Science Fiction

Posted on Tuesday 16 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

The essays I plan to write will be about science fiction — the nature of science fiction with discussion of many individual science fiction works — and the things science fiction is about. Which is most things.

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Links & Comments: More on Foundation and Dune

Posted on Friday 12 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I still have not seen the Dune movie, nor any Foundation episode past the 2nd. Still, articles and reviews about them illustrate some basic principles about science fiction, and about dramatic adaptations of science fiction, and I’ll post a few … Continue reading →

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L&Cs: Jill Lepore on Muskism and Science Fiction

Posted on Sunday 7 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Just one item today, after a long afternoon with a screaming baby.

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H.G. Wells, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1897)

Posted on Saturday 6 November 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Foundation, Dune, and Long-Term Projects

Posted on Wednesday 27 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I haven’t seen the new Dune movie and am not sure I will, in part because my partner just doesn’t care about that kind of movie (and I could never do anything like going to see a movie by myself), … Continue reading →

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Heinlein’s STARMAN JONES (1953)

Posted on Wednesday 20 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Starman Jones is the 7th of 14 novels that Heinlein published from 1947 to 1963, at annual intervals except for a four-year gap between the last two, that were called “juveniles” at the time — that is, designed for younger … Continue reading →

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Personal History: World Fantasy Con Badges

Posted on Sunday 17 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

One more set of badges with commentary for today, then I’ll move on to other things, and catch up on links and comments. Today: badges from World Fantasy Conventions.

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Personal History: Worldcon Badges

Posted on Saturday 16 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Another afternoon of sorting and photographing photos and artifacts. For today, here’s a group shot of badges I’ve collected from the World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons for short) over the years.

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Robert Sheckley, MINDSWAP (1966)

Posted on Tuesday 12 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Sheckley was a science fiction writer who debuted in the early 1950s, right about the time Philip K. Dick that did. They were both prolific short story writers through the ’50s, each publishing several stories a year, in the … Continue reading →

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PKD: The Man in the High Castle

Posted on Friday 8 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

I am going to begin posting relatively *brief* comments about books I’ve read lately, to keep up with what I’ve been reading. My extensive book summaries with comments take a long time to set up; by waiting to post anything … Continue reading →

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