Category Archives: science fiction

Dr. Christopher Evans, CULTS OF UNREASON

Posted on Thursday 12 June 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

No subtitle (they didn’t do them so often fifty years ago). (UK, 1973; US: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974, 258pp, including 5pp index.) Like Nicholas Humphrey’s LEAPS OF FAITH, discussed a couple weeks ago, this is a book I read … Continue reading →

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Substack as the new Royal Society, vs MAGA waging war on the future

Posted on Wednesday 21 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Will Substack be the Royal Society of the 21st century? While Trump and MAGA wage war on the future; Robert Reich on *why* Trump and his regime want to destroy every institution in America; And my running theme about the … Continue reading →

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GOP/conservatives and the Rich; and the Countryside; and Star Wars

Posted on Sunday 18 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The GOP tax bill will hurt lowest earners and help the rich (of course!); NYT’s Jamelle Bouie on Republican hypocrisy and the countryside; Trek v. Wars, and how Wars reveals conservatives’ authoritarian fantasies. – – – NY Times, Tony Romm, … Continue reading →

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John Scalzi, WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE

Posted on Thursday 15 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Tor, March 2025, 323pp) John Scalzi is one of the most popular of current science fiction writers, even as he’s not regarded, I think, as a *serious* sf writer by the critics or even readers. He’s entertaining, often humorous or … Continue reading →

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Three Perspectives on Trump’s First 100 Days

Posted on Wednesday 30 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times summarizes Trump’s first 100 days; The Atlantic on how Trump voters like what they see; My comments about the theme of Tom Nichols’ books — people are bored with success — and the implications this has for the … Continue reading →

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Viewpoint Diversity and Consensus

Posted on Wednesday 16 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on Harvard vs the US government and the idea of “viewpoint diversity,” with a response by Steven Pinker; Why do conservatives think themselves under-represented in academia? Because they promote ideas that are not true; Will there ever be … Continue reading →

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Perhaps Humanity Has Hit a Conceptual Ceiling

Posted on Sunday 13 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Alternate title: America was supposed to be better than this. Perhaps MAGA is about making America *simpler* again; perhaps what we’re seeing is a rejection of the complexity of the modern world; Why is it Americans love watching crime shows? … Continue reading →

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Two More Books of Futuristic Art

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

FUTURE PERFECT: Vintage Futuristic Graphics, ed. Jim Heimann (Taschen, 2002, unpaginated) DRIVING THROUGH FUTURES PAST: Mid-20th Century Automotive Design, by Hampton C. Wayt (Kythe Publishing, Feb. 206, 59pp) Here are two more books that I read the same couple days … Continue reading →

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Isaac Asimov, FUTUREDAYS

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “A Nineteenth-Century Vision of the Year 2000” (Henry Holt, trade paperback, 1986, 96pp) This is a thin little book I’ve had for nearly 40 years, since it was published. It’s ostensibly about a set of “cigarette cards” (presumably included … Continue reading →

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Pretty to Think So

Posted on Friday 13 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

One of my running themes — here on this blog, in the reviews I’ve written of SF novels and stories in recent years, in my essay for Gary Westfahl awaiting publication, and in my book if I manage to write … Continue reading →

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