Book Reviews Photo by Aideal Hwa / Unsplash If reading Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg’s Robot (Penguin Classics, 2021), translated by Tomasz Mirkowicz, makes you think about Stanislaw Lem’s work, you’re not alone. Indeed, both Robot and Lem’s His Master’s Voice (published in Polish just a few years apart) take up the fascinating but insoluble problem of whether or not we’re alone in the universe. One might even call Robot surrealist science fiction and liken it to Kafka’s work, or even Lem’s Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, since the main character spends most of his time wandering around the halls of an underground shelter, unsure of his own identity and his place in the community that has formed following an apocalyptic event on the surface. His identity confusion derives from his “birth” on an assembly line under a kind of bell jar. Given instructions by a mysterious Mechanism to study the people living in the shelter, the protagonist proceeds as if he is a living machine given a modicum of free will (as explained by the Mechanism). Much of the novel focuses on the protagonist figuring out why those around him are living underground and why many of them believe that he is a physicist named Poreyra. Encountering strange “statues” that weigh several tons in one of the shelter’s rooms, he eventually moves through a mirror there into a replica of the stricken city, where time moves at a fraction of the speed experienced in the shelter.... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-11-10 20:14:00 UTC ]
In a test of planetary defense capabilities, NASA and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory crashed a spacecraft to alter an object’s orbit. NASA is No. 17 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2023. Explore the full list of companies that are reshaping... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-03-02 07:00:00 UTC ]
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Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino Essay [email protected] Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:46 Photo by NASA / Unsplash “All our AI Frankenstein stories,” the author writes, “warn us that AI will destroy us, but far... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-01 09:46:57 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-27 14:38:35 UTC ]
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Relive those school days with these manga set at school, from the more typical romance and comedy series, to science fiction and horror. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-27 11:31:00 UTC ]
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There’s nothing spookier or more haunting than the soaring sounds of a theremin, an instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to produce various pitches when you move your hands around it. You’ve probably heard one in your favorite science fiction flick. It’s one of my favorite... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-02-24 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Early on in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, our hero Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) are warped into a quantum-level universe. It’s filled with alien biology and vistas that wouldn't be out of place on distant planets. But while that sounds like the perfect... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-23 13:00:36 UTC ]
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In a case of life (or something) imitating art, an award-winning publisher of science fiction says it’s being overrun with AI-generated work. Clarkesworld Magazine is no stranger to tales of artificial intelligence impacting society, but in a sad and wild case of life imitating art, the Hugo... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-02-21 09:59:00 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-20 16:40:35 UTC ]
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A century ago, on February 18, 1923, the first issue of Weird Tales appeared on American newsstands. Subtitled “The Unique Magazine,” it was, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction puts it, “the first pulp magazine to specialize in supernatural and occult fiction,” including horror, fantasy,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-17 09:56:46 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-13 14:29:45 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-06 14:37:16 UTC ]
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Denise Crittendon’s debut science fiction novel, Where It Rains In Color, leads us to the planet of Swazembi, a blazing, color-rich utopia and famous vacation center of the galaxy. Set far in the future, this idyllic, peace-loving world sees no real trouble. But Lileala’s perfect, pampered... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-03 09:51:26 UTC ]
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Originally, The Lathe of Heaven appeared in two installments in Amazing Stories, a pulp magazine started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback. Ursula Le Guin, born in 1929, read Amazing Stories as a child and would go on to outlive almost all the science fiction pulp magazines. While many of the writers... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-31 09:53:42 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-30 14:30:18 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-23 15:25:13 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-16 15:18:29 UTC ]
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Dark academia isn't just for mysteries and thrillers-- you can find all the dark academia vibes you crave in science fiction and fantasy too! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-12 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Goodreads has released a list of its most anticipated science fiction and fantasy releases for 2023. Get your TBRs ready! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-11 18:35:26 UTC ]
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Remote-desktop software may still seem like science fiction to the family member or customer trying to overcome a computer issue, but real heads know it’s been a useful reality for a while now. Using the remote-desktop software allows you to diagnose, operate, and fix another computer over... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-01-09 15:30:00 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-09 15:14:08 UTC ]
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