Nova
{3/5} “Whenever I’ve experienced a re-run, they’ve cut out the actual death. But five billion-odd were subjected to all the emotions of a man, about to be sworn in as Secretary of the Pleiades, suddenly attacked by a madman and killed.” Nova by Samuel R. Delany, published in 1968 Lorq von Ray hires a crew […]
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
{5/5} “I hate to pull the my-past-is-a-sad-story card, but listen: I am the end product of a few very stupid, well-intentioned people who thought it would be a great idea to redefine Humanity. It didn’t start with much. A tweak here, a splice there. But things escalated, as they always do, until it became something […]
The Light of Other Days
{4.5/5} “It was telling that these images, which would have been shockingly revealing just a few months ago, now blared multicolored in the middle of the afternoon from stands in the main street of this Mormon community, unregarded by almost everyone, young and old, children and churchgoers alike.” The Light of Other Days by Arthur […]
The Humans
{5/5} “Humans, as a rule, don’t like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead. But the definition of mad, on Earth, seems to be very unclear and inconsistent. What is perfectly sane in one era turns out to be insane in another.” The Humans by Matt Haig, […]
Vigilant
{4.5/5} “Before legislators voted on a bill, the proctor scrutinizing that vote could set a test to determine whether the politicians understood what the bill actually meant. Those who failed the test could only sit and grind their teeth in public humiliation while those who passed made an informed decision.” Vigilant by James Alan Gardner, […]
Six Wakes
{4.5/5} “On the way out, Maria paused to check on her own body, which she hadn’t really examined before. It seemed too gruesome to look into your own dead face. The body was strapped to a seat at one of the terminals, drifting gently against the tether. A large bubble of blood drifted from the […]
Cavalcade
{4.5/5} “I’m beginning to wonder if there’s isn’t some sort of programmer running which — like it or not — we have to learn how to interact with to have any chance of controlling our environment, never mind fixing it if anything goes wrong.” Cavalcade by Alison Sinclair, published in 1998 Aliens came to Earth […]
The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard
{4.5/5} “Will… they put us in charge of these vessels, they train us as best they can to be emissaries of peace, to avoid conflict… but there will always be those who look to war and violence for their solution, who operate out of greed and self-interest. We can’t blame ourselves for their occasional success. […]
Voices of Chaos: A Novel of StarBridge
{4.5/5} “You were right, Khyriz. She did not seem alien to me, once we began to speak of dance. All those worlds out there — so many things to see….” Voices of Chaos: A Novel of StarBridge by A. C. Crispin & Ru Emerson, published in 1998 The CLS has found another new planet of […]
Ancestor’s World: A Novel of StarBridge
{4.5/5} “The contracts Nordlund had signed with the Na-Dina promised enough hydroelectric power to double their world’s energy production.. That wold make possible more factories, more mills. Soon the Na-Dina would be able to build all the wonders the Infidels used so casually, and then the People would have no more need for the off-worlders.” […]