Ark
{4.5/5} “I’m no John Kennedy. If you want to hear the speech he gave on 15th May 1961, go find it. But the mandate I’m giving you now is similar. You have a challenge to fulfill that is immeasurably harder than flying to the moon, yet immeasurably more important. Your starship must be ready to […]
Flood
{4.5/5} “The fact was, her access to HeadSpace was the product of a complex and interconnected society, the capstone of a pyramid grounded in very old technologies, in farming and mining and manufacture and transport and energy production. It was only as that essential pyramid was crumbling that Maria became fully aware of its existence.” […]
The Invisibility of Success
{5/5} “When things work, the forces that make them work are invisible.” The Invisibility of Success and Other Investigations by Daniel Quinn, published in 2014 This is a collection of essays and talks Quinn gave over a period of several years. Here are some highlights, with direct quotations: On civilizations that disappeared, like the Maya […]
Infinity Beach
{4.5/5} “We don’t like horizons. We don’t like limits. We always want to see beyond them. We don’t stop at the water’s edge, do we? What is a beach to us but a place from which to launch ourselves at the future?” Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt, published in 2000 Humans were creating 6 novas […]
Star Trek: TNG — A Call to Darkness
{4.5/5} “There were no benefits to being the first driver in the line… Mostly, it was a burden. But Picard had taken it up without hesitation. It gave him a measure of control over what happened to him. If he couldn’t dredge up his past, at least he could take an active part in preserving […]
Necessity
{4.5/5} “People from the Republics hold the pursuit of excellence as a goal. The other cultural goals I have encountered in my experience and researches seem much less conducive to producing happiness for individuals and societies. Additionally, we do all believe in constant examination of facts and positions; and even when this decays to pious […]
Star Trek
Here’s an update to this list. The Original Series I don’t read all of these but I do pick up the ones that are written by authors I know or look particularly interesting. I’ve also reread a few of the best older ones. The Entropy Effect by Vonda N. McIntyre 1981 -> 4.5/5 Yesterday’s Son […]
SF & fantasy collections & anthologies
Here’s an update to this list. Collections Best of the best I, Robot – Isaac Asimov Nightfall – Isaac Asimov Virtual Unrealities – Alfred Bester The Golden Apples of the Sun – Ray Bradbury Keeper of Dreams – Orson Scott Card Maps in a Mirror – Orson Scott Card Stories of Your Life and Others […]
Best tie-in novels by year
Here’s an update to this list. Winner Runner Ups Year Author Title Author Title 2018 Dayton Ward DISCO: Drastic Measures James Swallow DISCO: Fear Itself 2017 David A. Goodman The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard Christopher L. Bennett TOS: The Face of the Unknown Christopher L. Bennett ENT: Rise of the Federation […]
Best science fiction novels by year
Here’s an update to this list. Winner Runner Ups Year Author Title Author Title 2019 Adrian Tchaikovsky Children of Ruin 2018 Marina J. Lostetter Noumenon Infinity Becky Chambers Record of a Spaceborn Few John Scalzi Head On 2017 Kim Stanley Robinson New York 2140 Stephen Baxter The Massacre of […]