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Category Archives: science fiction
M1: The Crab in the Bull
In 1842, William Parsons, Earl of Rosse aimed his fine telescope at the constellation of Taurus the bull. He drew a deep sky object he viewed there. Would you say it looks like a crab, left? I’d say a silverfish, … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, science fiction
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On The Tube: Night Sky
The title of the streaming series on Amazon Prime is a misnomer. There is one extraterrestrial vista through a window at the end of an underground passage in rural Illinois. However, this show unfolds entirely on Planet Earth. It begins … Continue reading
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On The Tube: More Star Trek
One season wraps up as another series begins. The second of three Picard seasons comes to a merciful and tattered ending. I commented on another social media platform, “What a relief!” Good characters and acting, visuals deserving of a Star … Continue reading
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Takes On Time
Time is a frequent theme in science fiction. Various authors have handled it well in different ways, and when they do it well, it reflects our desire for change, even change in ourselves. There’s a Christian contrition aspect in how … Continue reading
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On My Bookshelf: Science Fiction Big and Small
In home quarantine, I’ve had a chance to catch up on some reading. I had seen some good reviews of Chris Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. It’s an enormously long read, a unique blend of military science fiction … Continue reading
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On My Bookshelf: Binti
For at least a month, this novella has been on my tag list for online borrowing. It finally popped up “available” a few days ago. According to my app, it took me fifty minutes to read it. I sent it … Continue reading
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On My Bookshelf: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
The author’s premise is not new. Bill Murray explored it with a groundhog in Pennsylvania. That flick was inspired by Ken Grimwood’s Replay, a novel I would recommend for the personal examination of living a life over and over. Catherine … Continue reading
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Another Robot Movie
Resting at home from a medical procedure today. Once assured I was feeling fine, if fatigued, and after a mid-afternoon nap, my wife departed. Time for a science fiction movie (that she would probably dislike.) Archive looked like the most interesting … Continue reading
Posted in film, science fiction
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On The Tube: Counterpart
The premise of Counterpart attracted me. Two parallel worlds, each kept mostly secret from the ordinary people of the other. There’s that science fiction premise, but everything that follows is espionage. I generally find modern espionage fiction, book or tv, … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, television
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A Future Footing
Four episodes into season three, Star Trek Discovery finds a footing. Not its footing. Just a footing. I last wrote about this show last December. Certain weaknesses dragged things down the first two seasons: mishandled characters (killing off Philippa Georgiou … Continue reading
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The Vast of Night
A “science fiction mystery” is how this film is described on wikipedia. Fair enough. It’s a good piece of filmmaking all around: acting, character development, music, pace, direction. It takes place in rural New Mexico about sixty years ago and … Continue reading
Posted in film, science fiction
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Tales From The Loop
This weekend I completed my watch of the Amazon Prime series Tales From The Loop. It explores people living in a midwestern community. Underground is a mysterious physics research facility. I found it compelling. More human than about 95% of … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, television
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On My Tube: Amazon SF
Generally I don’t offer book or tv reviews unless there’s some element of faith involved. Or astronomy. In these days of pandemic, our streaming options have expanded somewhat. While I originally got sucked in to Amazon for High Castle, I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, spirituality, television
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Dystopia In Current Science Fiction
One unfortunate trend in speculative fiction (in my opinion) is the ongoing indulgence for dystopia. To be clear, I think dystopia is fine if that’s your story. The problem is that publishers seem to be gravitating to it in great … Continue reading
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On My Bookshelf: A Memory Called Empire
One of the best things about good science fiction is when an author takes us places we’ve never been in ways we’ve never gone. The first of those is easy to do. No human has yet set foot on Mars … Continue reading
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Catholic Sensibility 