Category Archives: science fiction

Clarke, Childhood’s End, part 2 – themes

Posted on Friday 6 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Last week I started my discussion of re-reading several classic Arthur C. Clarke novels, and summarized the plot of Childhood’s End, in this post. Now some comments on themes. My purpose in these rereadings is not to explore the history … Continue reading →

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Clarke, Childhood’s End, part 1

Posted on Saturday 31 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I have been re-reading several classic novels by Arthur C. Clarke, published in the 1950s and ‘60s, because they were books that I read in my formative years (i.e. ages 13 to 15), and so influenced my early thinking and … Continue reading →

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Trek vs Wars

Posted on Wednesday 14 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A long Facebook post by David Gerrold a few days ago captures my own feelings about Star Trek vs Star Wars, and since I can’t figure out how to link it, I’ll quote it below, and hope he doesn’t mind. … Continue reading →

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Passage from Clarke, 1

Posted on Wednesday 14 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Science fiction isn’t about prediction, of course, but some SF authors do take seriously the idea of projecting future possibilities. I’ve read several works by Arthur C. Clarke in the past month, and am rallying my notes on them for … Continue reading →

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Goonan Quotes

Posted on Sunday 4 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Like the meaty interview with Joan Slonczewski a couple months ago, Locus Magazine’s May interview with Kathleen Ann Goonan, of which I posted excerpts this afternoon, has several passages of particular interest to my theme here. About science fiction: At … Continue reading →

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Diversity in Science Fiction, Two Examples

Posted on Friday 11 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve noted here and on Facebook that science fiction generally aligns with progressive values; science fiction is typically about speculating how things might be different, celebrating discoveries of what is new and celebrating conceptual breakthroughs of understanding, rather than reflexively … Continue reading →

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Lucius Shepard, RIP, and Readerly Notice

Posted on Sunday 23 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I did not know Lucius Shepard, beyond seeing him across the room (at the bar) at some con, perhaps the Portland Westercon in 2001, looking back at my schedule. But as a reader of his, I have the following observation. … Continue reading →

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From Bible Stories to Science Fiction

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Following up Thursday’s post, San Francisco Chronicle’s Mark Morford (via Alternet) explains the motivations behind the latest Christian movie, Son of God. There is tremendous money to be made endlessly reinforcing what the masses have already been told to believe, … Continue reading →

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Panic and Alarm (and Why This Is About Science Fiction)

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: I lost my dad to Fox News: How a generation was captured by thrashing hysteria Sad case study of a man whose father disappeared into the paranoid, outraged worldview of Fox News. Like certain kinds of religious extremists, Fox … Continue reading →

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Her

Posted on Monday 6 January 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I am of mixed minds about HER, the Spike Jones written and directed film, set in a near-future Los Angeles, about a dweeb (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with the new artificially intelligent operating system (installed on his home … Continue reading →

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