#sf

'Ringworld' is a classic for many reasons but the main one is its sheer imaginative scope. Few authors attempt to write on this scale. Even fewer succeed.

#sf #scifi #sciencefiction #books #bookreview

https://abastrabooks.com/ringworld-is-a-classic-then-and-now/

'Titan' is a book of high imagination. Varley writes a book that is not just science fiction but fiction of the fantastic.

#sf #scifi #books #bookreview

http://incompletefutures.com/2025/09/15/titan-burns-with-feverish-imagination/

‘Titan’ Burns With Feverish Imagination

Titan (1979) by John Varley takes the reader on a journey that breaks through the borders of science fiction. The amount of creativity Varley pours into the pages of Titan is difficult to keep up with. Almost with each turn of the page Varley does something to surprise. Yet for all its wonder Titan has a dark streak running through it that is at times chilling and repulsive.

In 2025, as DSV Ringmaster approaches Saturn the crew discovers a new moon dubbed Themis. However, as the Ringmaster closes to investigate the moon the crew make an even more startling discovery. Themis is no moon but a giant ship.

Captain Cirocco “Rocky” Jones and her crew are eager to explore Themis. As they approach the Ringmaster is attacked. Unable to escape the ship and the crew are drawn into Themis. Cirocco tries to fight but is overwhelmed with the rest of her crew.

Cirocco awakes alone and naked somewhere within Themis. Her only thought now is to find her crew and find a way home. But Themis is nothing like she expected. Themis is alive with strange and yet familar life. Cirocco must begin a journey that will challenge what it means to be human.

Titan is Varley’s second published novel. As such, the amount of imagination put into it is impressive. Varley creates a world wholly unique and filled with people and creations found nowhere else in SF. It’s as if Varley decided that there are no bad ideas for Titan and, strangely, it works.

At first Titan seems like a BDO (Big Dumb Object) type of story similar to Ringworld or Rendezvous With Rama (1973), however, that changes rapidly. Once Cirocco and her crew are inside Themis it is clear there is nothing dumb about this object. Varley seems to have set out to create an anti-Rama object in Titan.

Varley fill Themis with creatures that are both alien and familiar. There is a mystery about the beings on Themis that Cirocco and the crew must understand. If they were entirely alien it would be easier to accept. However, because so many of the people of Themis are frighteningly familiar it makes them more enigmatic.

When discussing Titan it is all to easy to focus on the magnificent world building, however, there is more to the story. Much more. Varley’s characters are realistic with relateable motivations and faults. It is the faults that Varley is not afraid to expose even if it is difficult.

The main protagonist, Cirocco, as Captain of Ringmaster questions her ability to lead. And when things do go wrong her responses feel accurate. What is most compelling about Varley’s characters is how Varley allows each of them to be who they are with no apologies. For good or bad the characters make their choices that make sense for them.

The plot development and pacing of Titan is also well done. Varley doesn’t dwell on needless details and moves the action forward in a timely manner. Yet he doesn’t force the plot either. There are no jarring moments that are out of place. When things happen they happen for a reason.

John Varley

The cover of Titan makes a comparison to Dune (1965). To me this is wrong. Titan compares more closely to Ringworld (1970) and Philip José Farmer’s Riverworld series. Regardless, Titan doesn’t try to emulate any of these stories but takes its own path.

If there is anything wron with Titan its that it does too much too quickly. It is somewhat overwhelming to deal with all the creativity in such a short book. Especially considering that Titan is the first book in a trilogy.

If you like wildly imaginitative SF that refuses to be easily defined then Titan is for you. Titan is the kind of SF that leaves the reader wondering and ready for more. You can’t ask for much more than that.

#BookReview #JohnVarley #SF #Titan

#PennedPossibilities 782 — SC POV: When was the last time you felt needed?

Hopefully not your typical answers.

[Devil-girl as an SC:]

Feeling needed? Can I ever really say I have been? I've done plenty of things that made people think they needed me, but in retrospect, I did those things because they challenged my capabilities and I thought they'd be fun. That's not the need you mean. I am a loner, should have been allowed to be from childhood, but that never happened, never is going to happen. Give me an apartment in a library with off-hours access to the stacks, food, and water, and I'd be happy with nary the echo of a human voice for days. I think…

[Steamed Milk and Sugar, male, journalist:]

Needed? The semantics of the question bother me. If we're discussing affection, I can't say anyone ever made me feel needed, not even my family—or my riding partners who, including my friend and roommate Night On Fire, think of me as another convenient guy. What I strive for is to one day be needed in the sense of wanted for what I can do with my brain, essential—if possible—for what I think I do well, which is write columns and report news. I've always struggled being born male, but thinking female. Nobody knows better than me that gender roles exist make you fit in, to make you not challenge authority. I'm neither physical nor sanguine about letting people think I fit the male stereotype of being stupid, vapid, or best suited to fight or to raise children. I worked hard scholastically against the headwinds of my peers and got accepted in school by the girls (and harassed by the boys), but now that I've graduated, now that there's real competition for opportunities? Flapping chance. No. Feeling needed isn't important. I will settle for feeling respected for being me regardless of my gender, which is why I enjoy being around my screwy new friend Bolt.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

#WebAuthorsCafe 7/21-27: Introduce yourself and your work. If you want, add a link to where your work can be found.

I'm a published SF and fantasy author who burnt out in 2001 and returned to storytelling using the excuse that fan fiction wasn't real writing—you can't sell it—so I could let go of the fear and angst that had stopped me before. Spoiler: It is real writing. It is also wonderful practice.

I began posting online in 2015. I started by writing stories that continued certain series episodes, extending it where the show lacked depth, but later created original characters and situations that went far beyond the scope of the original material, or would have been flatly incompatible. I specialized in radical backstories and histories that if you squinted properly, might evolve into the rather sketchy characters in the show—sometimes squinting through a microscope.

Since then I've been adapting my characters and plot lines to conventional F&SF stories, and extending those otherwise constrained restrained characters into my own original universe, creating stories that highlight my fervor for telling #gender related and #feminist stories.

When I considered this hashtag in the beginning, I forgot that I do still publish quite often online, now only on Mastodon. Writing short scenes that are satisfyingly complete by themselves was a revelation that occurred only after I started on this site. I'll direct you to two short tootfics (I have a 5,000 character limit, so I by this I mean approximately 750 words). These are not as polished as they could be, but I think they highlight my characters, stories, emotional content, and humor. Both are in the Reluctance Series #RSReluctanceStory. Surprisingly (for me), it turns out I pinned both story posts, so I guess I think they're pretty good. Many of my better samples can be for in my pinned sample story link post; one of these days I have to add my newer stuff to that list…

Reframing the Experience: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112497915608418589

The Wanted Poster: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110136451462609798

Pinned Sample Story Link Post: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110470537747067765

PS: I thought about linking to my 900K of fan fiction, but I don't want to muddy the waters, and do want to maintain a separation. If you know who I am IRL or under another aliase, please keep this to yourself.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Fanfiction #serial #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

Für alle, die gestern den #livestream verpasst haben: Die Buchpremiere von "ÜberMorgen. Geschichten aus einer besseren Zukunft" könnt ihr ab sofort auf YouTube angucken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXcmv5j0dQ

Und für alle, die gestern keine Zeit hatten: Heute Abend habt ihr um 19 Uhr noch mal die Chance, mich im Otherland zu treffen. Ich freu mich auf euch!

#übermorgen #uebermorgen #buchpremiere #taz #kolumne #sciencefiction #sf #humor #satire #buchtipp #event #veranstaltung #video #stream #livestream

I'm sitting in the lunch room at work, enjoying some leftover curry from a couple of nights ago. I've got an ebook propped up in front of me, and I'm just getting into it when I see something that surprises me.

I see Anthea coming into the lunchroom - this is odd, because she always has lunch outside. She comes right over to where I'm sitting. She's got some sort of shake - probably something her mum designed for her.

Now Anthea is in her mid twenties, but right now she looks like a deeply depressed fourteen year-old. All she was missing was the white makeup and black eyeliner.

I look at her. She looks back.

"I hope this isn't about last week" I open with. That was really embarrassing - I'd had to trim a flower spike from her so that she'd be able to wake up (it's a long story), but she'd neglected to warn me that she'd be naked.

"It kind of is?" Her reply turns into a question halfway through.
"I am really sorry, I - "
"Not, not about that - that's fine. No, after you left."
"Nicola didn't take it well?" Nicola is her roommate, and didn't know about Anthea's unusual parentage.
"Um... kind of? Or not? Or..." the stuttering petered out.
"Does she want to move out?"
"No, no she doesn't."
"Does she want you to move out?"
"I don't think so?"

This is painful. Charlie normally handles this sort of stuff, but I guess I'll have to do the best I can.

"Anthea, has Nicola done something without asking?"
"No! Nothing like that! No, she's just being ... argh!"
"Alright, different question. Are you sweet on her?"
I get a blank look back. "Am I what?"
"Sweet on her." The blank look slowly morphs. Charlie had warned me that she might not have even realised herself.
"I'm in love with Nicola?" she eventually says, like she's trying out some new flavour. She sits there for a couple of minutes, looking through me, not at me. Eventually she gives out a small "Oh."

"Now, what is the problem you're having with her?"
"Uh ... oh... um..."
"Maybe you should tell her. If she's not interested, you can get it all over with. And if she is ... well, you get to see how it goes."
"Was it like that for you and Charlie?"
"No, but we were a bit different. But we did become friends first. So you've got that at least."
"How did you know?"
"I didn't, Charlie did. She did warn me that even you might not have known."
"That I was sweet on my roommate?"
"No, that you're gay. "
"I - " she paused and thought for a moment or two "I guess I am." Then she looked alarmed "Mum! How am I -"
"Don't worry about that."
"Don't worry? But - "
"She'll be pleased to have won the bet."
"The bet?"
"The one she and Charlie have. That you'd come out to one of us first."

She starts to look annoyed, and then an evil grin surfaces. "But I didn't. You outed me to me first. So neither of them win!"
She gets up and walks out looking a lot happier.

I am not finishing my book today.

#SF #SFF #Microfiction #tootfic #UrbanFantasy #CharlieAndToby #microfic #IAmWriting

#PennedPossibilities 779 — MC POV: Do you think you have any idiosyncrasies?

[Bolt, a day angel woman from Reluctant Courier (for the Mob), answers:] I had to ask my soft-bodied reporter friend what the word meant, then compounded the problem saying that I didn't think dictionaries existed outside of libraries so I couldn't be expected to have one. I'll get him back, though. He volunteered to join me at the gym and will get to explain to him the next day how sore muscles mean you're getting stronger. [Smirks.]

Author adds: She has them.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#cozy #mystery ##sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

What happens after rebel guerillas fight a fascist empire...but don't win? A trilogy of novellas about choosing hope, recovery, and building community on the utopian planet Refuge. #Hopepunk #sapphic #solarpunk #spaceopera #cozy #sf

Reviews are love!

https://books2read.com/rl/aplaceofrefuge

'The Hercules Text' has many good ideas, however, it lacks a spark to set them alight.

#sf #scifi #books #bookreview

http://incompletefutures.com/2025/09/08/the-hercules-text-struggles-to-excite/

‘The Hercules Text’ Struggles To Excite

The Hercules Text (1986) by Jack McDevitt is a first contact novel with a heavy influence of Cold War thinking. McDevitt takes an interesting approach to what first contact and the reasons for it might be like. Despite this, The Hercules Text has difficulty holding the reader’s interest. The Hercules Text may appeal to hard SF fans but lacks emotional punch.

When an X-ray pulsar in the Hercules constellation suddenly stops emitting x-rays the scientists at Goddard Space Center panic. Pulsars don’t just stop emitting for no reason. Then, just as suddenly, the pulsar begins again but with a difference. There is a clear pattern to the emissions that can mean only one thing. A message from space.

Harry Carmichael is an adminstrator at Goddard becomes swept up in the efforts to understand the signal. His role is only to support the scientists and at first it is simply a scientific puzzle. However, when the scientists realise that the signal contains data, advanced data, the puzzle becomes a political game. A game Carmichael must handle so the science can continue.

As the data is decoded it seems like a gift, at first. However, the government sees a different path. A path that could either protect the Earth or destroy it. And Harry Carmichael holds the key to either outcome.

The Hercules Text marries near future SF with Cold War paranoia. However, McDevitt leans a little too heavily into the paranoia. The story begins well with the usual excitement of verified signal from space. However, as the story progresses it becomes difficult to stay engaged.

There is little world building involved in The Hercules Text, however, there is plenty of scientific extrapolation. McDevitt creates science that is extremely plausible and relateable. If you judge The Hercules Text on its imaginative science alone then it rates highly. However, that isn’t possible.

McDevitt also creates very real situations and senarios for his characters. The challenges they face in understanding the signal and what to do with the information is all too real. This is another plus for the novel. However, where McDevitt lets the reader down is in his characters.

Unlike most stories of this type, the main protagonist is not a scientist but an administrator. Harry Carmichael works in HR and payroll. It is unique perspective to involve someone usually not involved in a scientific mystery. Carmichael is thoroughly developed and believable as a character. As are most of McDevitt’s other characters. The simple fact is that none of the characters in The Hercules Text are likeable.

The plain and simple fact is that every single character McDevitt writes is missing a spark to make them leap from the page. Without this spark we are simply reading about facts and events without any immersion. There is a flatness to McDevitt’s characters that keeps them from being sympathetic in any way.

Because the characters are unlikeable there is no dramatic tension. As the plot unfolds and the world becomes increasingly in danger there is nothing to make the reader’s gut clench. There is edge of your seat feelings. The climax, such as it is, passes like a soft breeze without much motion.

Jack McDevitt

I very nearly stopped reading The Hercules Text several times but I continued in hopes of something more. The idea of first contact is one that I usually enjoy but in this case I was put off. Perhaps the biggest reason is the single minded Americanness of the story. McDevitt contrives that only NASA receives the signal and as such America controls it.

This American jingoism is a relic of 1986 and in 2025 it feels backward. Contact by Carl Sagan was published the year before in 1985 and understood that no single country could control a signal of this nature. That control is not even possible.

If you decide to read The Hercules Text read it for its ideas and not its drama. Without drama there is no excitement and no entertainment. The Hercules Text promises much but delivers very little.

#BookReview #JackMcDevitt #SF #TheHerculesText