Category Archives: science fiction

L&Cs: Yet Another All-Time Novel List

Posted on Saturday 12 March 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Just discovered, at 4:45pm, that I don’t have time for anything substantial this evening; we’re having guests within half an hour. (Was going to write up Clarke’s RAMA. Maybe tomorrow.) So here’s a kind of link and comment I don’t … Continue reading →

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Daniel Keyes: FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON (1966)

Posted on Friday 11 March 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s the next part of the batch of brief reviews of SF novels that I began last week. I’m now thinking, though, that with more substantial books like this one I’ll just cover one book per post — back to … Continue reading →

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About Changing SF Book Lengths and Formats

Posted on Thursday 10 March 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Some more SF history, here in drafty first draft; first written last October, cleaned up a bit here. My target for essays like these are the very casual consumers of science fiction books and movies, and even some sophisticated current … Continue reading →

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SF Impressions: Chambers, Kowal, McGuire

Posted on Friday 4 March 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

As I mentioned early last week, I think I’ll start posting short reviews, or impressions, of recent SF novels I’ve read, every month or two, in groups. This is supposedly a blog mostly about science fiction, after all! These won’t … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Trust, Doom, Errors, Science Fiction

Posted on Monday 21 February 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Issues today from the NYT letters page, about trust in government and humanity’s doom, and about theological errors. With an endpiece about science fiction reviewing…

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SF and politics; Trek; Retconning; More on Wordle

Posted on Saturday 19 February 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Coincident to yesterday’s post is this essay today in Salon. Salon, Kyle Galindez, 19 Feb 2022: Why can’t sci-fi and fantasy imagine alternatives to capitalism or feudalism?, subtitled, “The limitless imagination of genre novelists hits a roadblock when it comes … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Engagement with the Universe

Posted on Monday 24 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Two contrasting perspectives, today, both passages I just happened to read during my morning web browsing. Rival worldviews. One characterizing religious myths, the other about Kim Stanley Robinson.

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SF as Luddite Literature?

Posted on Thursday 13 January 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s counter-intuitive notion is from novelist and long-time Locus columnist Cory Doctorow. This essay is in the January 2022 issue, and posted (for free) online, here: Locus, Cory Doctorow, posted 3 Jan 2022: Science Fiction is a Luddite Literature

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Don’t Look Up, 2

Posted on Sunday 26 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Follow-up to previous post: about the film Don’t Look Up. So, I give the film a thumbs-up, even though it’s uneven. It follows through on its premise. It effectively parodies the denialist nature of the anti-vaxx crowd, with a crucial … Continue reading →

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Not at This Year’s Worldcon, Again

Posted on Saturday 18 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

This weekend is this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, in Washington D.C., and again I am not attending, as I have not attended any conventions at all since when Worldcon was near me, in San Jose, in 2018. Tonight, beginning … Continue reading →

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