The Engine of Recall
{4.5/5} “The alien is incapable of language, does not possess a society in our sense of it and instead of our massive vocabulary, the thousands of words we have and the millions of subtleties of personal relationships which clutter up our thoughts and unconscious minds, it has an instinct and mind directed to technology… Both […]
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
{5/5} “The end of the world is speeding up — it is happening earlier in every life. That implies that the cause is changing, and what, we must ask, is the cause of change?” The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, published in 2014 When Harry dies he finds himself back where […]
Rainbows End
{4.5/5} “You-Gotta-Believe Me. That is, mind control. Weak, social forms of YGBM drove all human history. For more than a hundred years, the goal of irresistible persuasion had been a topic of academic study. For thirty years it had been a credible technological goal. And for ten, some version of it had been feasible in […]
Mind Over Medicine
{5/5} “If you’re lonely, you’re stuck in a toxic relationship, you’re full of resentment for people who have hurt you, you’re cheating on your partner, you’re selling your soul at work, or you feel spiritually bankrupt, no amount of veggies, gym visits, 12-step programs, or vitamins is going to cut it. Radical self-care also involves […]
Burning Paradise
{4.5/5} “Every star is an oasis in a desert — a warm place, rich with nutrients and complex chemistry. Many organisms compete for access to those riches. Their struggles are ethereal, protracted, and largely invisible to beings as yourself. But the battles are as relentless and deadly as anything that happens in a forest or […]
Star Trek: Child of Two Worlds
{4.5/5} “You are addressing General Krunn of the Klingon Empire, presently in command of the Imperial Battle Cruiser Fek’lhr, and I demand the immediate return of my stolen kinsman, as well as custody of her perfidious abductor. Surrender them at once, if you care for the safety of your ship and crew.” Star Trek: Child […]
A Turn of Light
{4.5/5} “‘Because you were born at a turn of light,’ the dragon said. ‘As such, you belong to the Verge as well as Marrowdell. The Verge is where I am from. It is–‘ As he paused to search for words, she waited, her heart hammering in her chest, for what he told her was strange […]
Red Planet Blues
{4.5/5} “Rent tended to be cheap out on the rim, despite being the only place where you could get uninterrupted views of the vast Martian plain — people preferred to live near the center, if they could afford it, so that they could see something human instead of the vast unchanging monotony of the world […]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Ascendance
{4.5/5} “Tension and anticipation filled the cockpit around Ghemor, almost as though the Ascendants in the vessels spread out in space behind her had propelled a wave of desperation ahead of them. She understood that many of them believed her, but even if some didn’t, she knew that they all wanted to believe. That was […]
Star Trek: Titan — Sight Unseen
{4.5/5} “We’re going to help set the tone for a Federation that has taken some hard knocks in recent times. Titan isn’t just a starship, she isn’t just a titanium shell keeping a few hundred organic beings live in the darkness. She is the principles we have chosen to abide by.” Star Trek: Titan — […]