Proxima
{4.5/5} “And on the longest of timescales, what is there not to fear? We are motes, our very worlds are motes, floating in a universe that was born in unimaginable violence. Our little corner of the universe is tranquil now, relatively. But it was not always this way, and why should it remain so?” Proxima […]
Time Travelers Never Die
{4.5/5} “Socrates was, at first glance, a man of mundane appearance. He was of average height, for the time, and clean-shaven. He wore a dull-red robe and, considering the circumstances, he maintained a remarkably equanimity. And his eyes were extraordinary, conveying the impression that they were lit from within. When they fell on Dave, as […]
Camouflage
{4.5/5} “The changeling changed. It would never be human, but it was human enough for something like empathy with its professors. They were trying to understand, and teach about, the human condition — but were themselves trapped in human bodies; stuck in human culture like ancient insects in amber.” Camouflage by Joe Haldeman, published in […]
Alien: Resurrection
{4.5/5} “‘So I heard you, like, ran into these things before… What did you do?’ ‘I died.’” Alien: Resurrection, released in 1997 Once again Ripley wakes up and it’s decades later. This time it’s even more surprising since she was dead. But a military research ship has cloned her from blood samples. They didn’t particularly […]
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 Truman Show
{5/5} “They’re just going round and round.” The Truman Show, released in 1998 Truman is an insurance salesman whose dream is to visit Fiji. But he can’t leave the island his town is on — his dad died in a boating accident when he was a kid. Unbeknownst to Truman, his whole life has been […]
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 […]
Self/less
{4.5/5} “Simply put, we offer humanity’s greatest minds more time to fulfill their potential.” Self/less, released in 2015 Damian is dying of cancer. A company called Phoenix Biogenic offers him a unique possibility — “shedding.” He can transfer his mind into a healthy young body that’s been grown in a vat. After undergoing the procedure, […]
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 […]