(Yet another recycled entry from 2002!)

Found a copy of JWC's Cloak of Aesir—in hardcover! With an intact dustjacket! First edition, from 1952, in pretty darn good condition. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(Recycled from 2002. I'll eventually re-post a second entry I did on this book as well.)

The review can now be viewed here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(A posting recycled from 2001...but not a Space Odyssey!)

My current reading in SF is mostly firmly set in good old (and new) space opera. Primarily, it has been:

David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series: "Something new" in the litany. Not the greatest things since sliced bread, but a lot of fun. Plus, Baen Books distribution methods (more on that in a separate note) makes it easy to get into the series. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the most invaluable sites on the web. By the time you work through the Atomic Rockets section, you'll be ready to fly your own spaceship!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another good non-fiction reference is Borderlands of Science by the late Charles Sheffield. As with the previous book mentioned, Baen Books has an electronic version available. If I could get anywhere near the level of these stories, I'd be a very happy camper.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:51 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Indistinguishable from Magic is a non-fiction book by the late Dr. Robert L. Forward. He takes a look at (what was at the time of the writing) some bleeding-edge science. A good book for reference if you're writing science fiction. And, even better, Baen Books has an electronic version available!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One possible setting for a story that I'd like to write is on the Moon, around the time that it starts to get explored again. This work is considered one of the seminal papers on the structure of the Moon.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Robert J. Sawyer talks about eight things new writers need to know.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One potential setting for a story I would love to write is either the asteroid belt or an asteroid in general. Looking at this site, there seems to be no lack of material for resources!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There lies a world beyond the seas of night
Past the last planet, on the farthest Rim
Of curving space, where by some cosmic whim
It reels and wheels beyond the shores of light,
Lost in the howling dark. The eye of man
Can never glimpse its lone imperial place,
Deep in the blackest depths of elder space,
Nor astronomic glass may ever scan.
This is the planet that Alhazred knew,
Beyond the measured, known, and numbered nine;
Lost and alone where never sun doth shine,
Nor soft winds blow, nor skies are ever blue.
Far in the midnight deeps beyond our sight,
There the black planet rides the tides of night.

(Lin Carter)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"Another one of them new worlds. No beer, no women, no pool parlors--nothin'. Nothing to do but throw rocks at tin cans and we got to bring our own tin cans."

(Ship's Cook, United Planets Cruiser C-57D, Forbidden Planet, just about the best dang SF film ever made.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It's at times like this that I wish I still had a shred of modeling ability!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(100% recycled electrons and bits!)

George Zebrowski is one of those excellent science fiction authors who just don't do enough writing. I first encountered some of his work in the Laser series of books. A few years later I came across Macrolife, a fantastic work about living in space (not on planets, but living in artificial communities, as suggested by J.D. Bernal, Olaf Stapledon, Gerard K. O'Neil and many others). Coupled with a cover and interior (black-and-white) illustrations by Rick Sternbach, the book blew me away. Years later, after several more Zebrowski volumes were purchased, I was lucky enough to find a copy of Macrolife in hardcover (autographed!). more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"Strange adventures on other worlds, the universe of the future."

(Motto of Planet Comics)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(This posting is made from 100% previously posted electrons and bits!)

I've been thinking about Mars stories that I've enjoyed, such as Ben Bova's Mars or Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy.

I recall reading several by an author named Bob Buckley in Analog in the 70's, e.g., "Encounter Below Tharsis" (1974) and "The Hunters of Tharsis" (1975). According to a website where I found biographical data, it appears he hasn't written anything for several years.

Anybody ever hear of him? Know what happened to him? Know if he's still around?

But wait! There's more... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Chubby, brunette Eunice Kinnison sat in a rocker, reading the Sunday papers and listening to the radio. Her husband Ralph lay sprawled upon the davenport, smoking a cigarette and reading the current issue of EXTRAORDINARY STORIES against an unheard background of music. Mentally, he was far from Tellus, flitting in his super-dreadnaught through parsec after parsec of vacuous space.

E.E. "Doc" Smith, Triplanetary, Chapter 5: "1941"

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm sure that this is one of those urban legend style quotes, but it came to mind. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Via BoingBoing, a link to a collection of videos from last year's Singularity Summit. See Ray Kurzweil, Eric Drexler, Cory Doctorow and Mr. GEB himself!

And they say that I am a strange loop!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In the Department of Poorly Written Headlines Department, Methane May Allow Rockets to Go Beyond the Fringes of Space (!). Let's hope they don't run into...REEEEAAAVVVVEERRRRSSSS!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The suns tumbled up into the mauve autumn sky like rollicking kittens.

(Jack Vance, The Anome, 1973)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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