Category Archives: science fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson, AURORA

Posted on Thursday 23 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I began reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s AURORA on the Sunday before last, in the afternoon, and later that evening realized that I had the answer to an ‘elevator conversation’ question — actually a dinner conversation question with some in-laws — … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Narrative, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Kim Stanley Robinson, AURORA

Links and Comments: 11 May 2015

Posted on Monday 11 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Contrast the right’s paranoid claims of a war on religion with their very real war on abortion (NYT). When laws are being passed demanding a 48 hour waiting period before being let into church, then I’ll believe there’s a war … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, Religion, science fiction, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: 11 May 2015

Links and Comments: Dan Dennett, Emotional Intelligence, Worst Predictions, Jeffrey Tayler

Posted on Tuesday 5 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Via Morning Heresy, Dan Dennett is interviewed at Religion Dispatches about, among other things, why the edifice of religion seems to be cracking: Protecting your inner workings is becoming very difficult; it’s very hard to keep secrets. Religions have thrived … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Dan Dennett, Emotional Intelligence, Worst Predictions, Jeffrey Tayler

Links and Comments: Republican analogies; Hugo Awards trolling; Religious freedom laws

Posted on Thursday 9 April 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m way behind with day to day links and comments, so let me spend an hour catching up, if with minimal commentary or alignment into general issues. First, one of many examples of Republicans unclear on the concept of analogies … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Culture, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Republican analogies; Hugo Awards trolling; Religious freedom laws

More about SF/F/H

Posted on Wednesday 4 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The distinctions I suggested yesterday aren’t prescriptions; they’re characterizations or descriptions. In the broad field of SF and fantasy literature, there are deep-seated conventions about whether a given story is SF or fantasy (or horror), depending on its topic. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Thinking | Comments Off on More about SF/F/H

Musings about Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

Posted on Tuesday 3 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I keep thinking about my Provisional Conclusions, how they might be streamlined or crystallized, and how they relate (as I’ve alluded more than once in this blog) to the insights provided by the fields of fantastic fiction — science fiction, … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Thinking | Comments Off on Musings about Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

Links and Comments: Michael Shermer, Science and God, Religion vs Education, Your soul

Posted on Monday 2 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Michael Shermer’s new book As mentioned a couple posts ago, Michael Shermer has a new book out this week (I got my copy yesterday), The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom, which addresses … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Evolution, Morality, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Michael Shermer, Science and God, Religion vs Education, Your soul

Passages by Benford

Posted on Friday 16 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been belatedly catching up on 2014 short fiction in the past two or three weeks, moreso than I’ve done in the past two or three years; not enough to in time contribute substantially to the Locus Recommended Reading List, … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on Passages by Benford

Interstellar… Music

Posted on Tuesday 11 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Gary Westfahl’s reviews save me lots of time and money. Whenever I think a new SF film might be interesting enough to see…. his review often persuades me otherwise. (And when I do see them, my reaction is much the … Continue reading →

Posted in Films, Music, science fiction | Comments Off on Interstellar… Music

Skiffy Flix: Assignment Outer Space

Posted on Thursday 23 October 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

There was a period in the mid to late 1990s when I watched a whole bunch of 1950s and ’60s science fiction films, via a video store around the corner from my house then, back in the days when there … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthur C. Clarke, Films, science fiction | Comments Off on Skiffy Flix: Assignment Outer Space