Author: Madeline Ashby Publisher: Angry Robot, July 2012 (448 pp trade paperback) Cover Illustration: Martin Bland Genre: Science Fiction Soon after I started reading vN (Book I of The Machine Dynasty), I began to suspect that if it wasn’t YA, it had a lot of elements that I associate with that genre: a young, female (well, robot female) protagonist, a teenager (well, not at first, but…) trying to find her place, and
David Gerrold Interview Part Two: Kickstarter and Independent Production, “It’s a whole new game.” 
Silicon Heaven 
SFF Abroad Movie Review: Paprika 
Foes of Reality Assimilates The Best of Both Worlds 
Planet Earth: truck stop at the edge of the galaxy
Can’t you just see it? Planet earth as the last pit stop on the edge of the galaxy. Only the toughest, meanest-looking, green, long-distance trucker-aliens stop here. We’re the galactic equivalent of … oh, Churchill, Manitoba. The end of the line. Beyond here, you must have flight.. or sled dogs. Beyond here: white walkers… OK, maybe not. The subject of UFO sightings is curiously frought with broken web links and vague “research”.
Worldbuilding and ADHD: Where Epic Fantasy meets—look! Squirrel!
If you’ve ever attempted to write science fiction or fantasy, chances are that you have wrestled with a concept that plays out as an internal debate along these lines, “Would elves be more likely to use shoe laces or buckles as a manifestation of their cultural distinctiveness?” No, I’m not talking about OCD. I’m talking about worldbuilding. Well, I’m probably talking about OCD too. I just refuse to acknowledge the connection between obsessive/compulsive behavior
Remembering Curiosity: the Mars Rover as Personal Wake-up Call
A few weeks ago, some friends asked if I wanted to go to a Curiosity Landing Party at the Adler Planetarium. I skimmed the site: free snacks, a raffle if you wore red. I hadn’t been to the planetarium a while, so sure – why not? The party was late: it started at 9:00 p.m. and didn’t end until 2:00 a.m., so it would mean a short night’s sleep and a screwed
Farmercon 90 and the Future of Small Market Fandom
Philip José Farmer is probably best remembered for his Riverworld series (1971-1983) about an artificial “afterlife” created by aliens to test the character and motives of humanity. Others remember Farmer for creating the Wold Newton conceit connecting a multitude of fictional heroes and villains, and their progeny, in a massive family tree; all enhanced by exposure to the Wold Newton meteorite that fell on Yorkshire, England in 1795. The Wold Newton family
