Category Archives: science fiction

Margaret Atwood: THE HANDMAID’S TALE

Posted on Thursday 4 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Houghton Mifflin, Feb. 1986, hardcover, 311pp) This is the US first edition hardcover, which I bought when it came out (it’s the first printing too), though the book was published in Canada the year before, in 1985. It’s 40 years … Continue reading →

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Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler: FAIL-SAFE

Posted on Wednesday 20 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(First published 1962. Edition show here: HarperCollins/Ecco, trade paperback, 1999, 286pp.) Here’s another book that begs categorization; is it really science fiction? I’ve grouped this book with two previously discussed, Pat Frank’s ALAS, BABYLON and Nevil Shute’s ON THE BEACH, … Continue reading →

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Nevil Shute: ON THE BEACH

Posted on Monday 11 August 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(First published 1957. Edition here: Vintage International, trade paperback, February 2010, 312pp) And here’s the next in a group of apocalyptic novels I read in June, following Butler’s PARABLE OF THE SOWER and Frank’s ALAS, BABYLON (review review here.) This is … Continue reading →

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Pat Frank: ALAS, BABYLON

Posted on Monday 21 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(First published 1959. Edition here: HarperCollins/Perennial Classics, 1999, 323pp, including author biography and publication history by Hal Hager) Next up in the group of apocalyptic novels I read in June, following Butler’s PARABLE OF THE SOWER, is this. It isn’t … Continue reading →

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Stories Mislead You About the Reality of the World

Posted on Sunday 20 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Crime on TV v crime in reality; Conspiracy theories on TV v conspiracy theories in reality; If stories mislead about reality, then what is science fiction about? – – –   I’ve mentioned before that my understanding is that there … Continue reading →

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History and Change

Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump keeps a trophy for himself; Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science; How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes; Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” … Continue reading →

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Robert A. Heinlein: THE DOOR INTO SUMMER

Posted on Tuesday 8 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(First published 1957. Edition here: Orion/Gollancz/SF Masterworks 2003, 178pp, with an introduction by Stephen Baxter) I’m no expert on Robert A. Heinlein — I still haven’t read Farah Mendlesohn’s book about him — but I have read *almost* all his … Continue reading →

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So Many People to Hate!

Posted on Friday 4 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

ICE now has a budget bigger than all but 15 countries’ military budgets; Why has funding for ICE has ballooned, compared to previous presidents?; Trump says he wants to deport bad people born in the US, too; Trump wants to … Continue reading →

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Octavia E. Butler, PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Posted on Tuesday 1 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Four Walls Eight Windows, October 1993, 299pp) In June I focused on reading classic science fiction novels, partly to see how many I could get through in one month, considering other obligations (answer: 6 and a bit), and partly to … Continue reading →

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Locus Awards and Being Busy

Posted on Sunday 22 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Locus Awards; publisher prospects; recent reading. \ It’s a truism that the busier one is, the less time one has to jot notes in one’s journal, or write posts on one’s blog. The past few days have been busy, but … Continue reading →

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