Category Archives: science fiction

Links and Comments: Science and Science Fiction

Posted on 26 July 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Harvard Business Review: Why Business Leaders Need to Read More Science Fiction. Science fiction can help. Maybe you associate it with spaceships and aliens, but science fiction offers more than escapism. By presenting plausible alternative realities, science fiction stories empower … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Science and Science Fiction

Science Fiction as Engagement with Inhuman Reality

Posted on 13 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

A thought for the day. I’ve seen a post by SF critic Paul Kincaid wondering how a film like Hidden Figures — a historical film about the early US space program — can be nominated for a Hugo Award, an … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction | Comments Off on Science Fiction as Engagement with Inhuman Reality

Winter Comes to Water As Well As Land: Gene Wolfe’s “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”

Posted on 14 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Gene Wolfe, “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories” (1970) (~15 pp) Winter comes to water as well as land, though there are no leaves to fall. The waves that were a bright, hard blue yesterday under a fading … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on Winter Comes to Water As Well As Land: Gene Wolfe’s “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”

More on the Enlightenment and Its Critics

Posted on 4 March 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

An essay by Damon Linker at The Week. (I’ve seen Linker’s work on various website for years; he’s an interesting commentator, though one perhaps without any consistent philosophy; he seems to enjoy playing the contrarian role.) The Enlightenment’s legacy is … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on More on the Enlightenment and Its Critics

Rereading Robert Silverberg, 1

Posted on 19 December 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

I am fortunate that, in my “retirement” (from my day job, that is; I still keep my hand in posting on Locus Online once a day, and maintaining sfadb.com), I have the luxury to sit in my armchair each weekday … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Silverberg | Comments Off on Rereading Robert Silverberg, 1

Allen Steele, ARKWRIGHT

Posted on 21 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve read three recent 2016 novels in the past couple weeks, and am reading them faster than I take the time to key in notes and post summaries on my blog. But I will! First up is the last one … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Allen Steele, ARKWRIGHT

Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps

Posted on 13 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Partly because I’ve had a cold, or a couple different colds, for much of the past month, I’m behind on links and comments. So relatively briefly, here’s what I’ve collected. In reverse order, from most recent date. \\ Slate: “How … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps

Rereading HOW TO READ A BOOK

Posted on 1 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Is this book anywhere near as commonly known as, say, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE? I have the impression it was widely known at some point, and my 1972 revised edition is subtitled “the classic guide to intelligent reading” – the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Rereading HOW TO READ A BOOK

Thoughts on Jo Walton’s WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT

Posted on 27 February 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Jo Walton’s WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT is a wonderful book, and I wish there were more like them. It’s not a book of reviews, so much as a book of reviews about *re*-reading books, and why she does … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Thoughts on Jo Walton’s WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT

Syllabuses and Sfadb.com rankings

Posted on 25 January 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

This op-ed item in Sunday’s New York Times, What a Million Syllabuses Can Teach Us, caught my eye initially because part of my long-range plans for sfadb.com involves continuing to add ‘citation’ and ‘anthology’ references to complement the awards data, … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Website Issues | Comments Off on Syllabuses and Sfadb.com rankings