Category writing

L Is For Logan’s Run

Rob Leave a comment

 

No, we’re not talking about the 70s Michael York/Jenny Agutter film. Rather, we’re taking a look at the source material–the William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson novel. An entirely different, much darker but much more cinematic prospect. Which is frankly a lot more fun!
We believe the time is right to reconsider this cracking, pulpy take on a society that has shrugged off its humanity in favour of youth. Who needs another movie?

 

logansrunbook

Pictured: the exceedingly battered 1970 Corgi edition of Logan’s Run that lives with Rob.

 

Advertisement

O Is For The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Rob Leave a comment

As usual with our short fiction posts, we urge you to read the story before listening.

Here’s a link.

A parable on the sacrifices even the most utopian societies have to make. Does Ursula LeGuin’s acclaimed story dig into a deeper truth…or is it simply stating the obvious? Worse, is it suggesting that the best we can do when faced with atrocity is walk away? Rob and Clive try to unpick this most knotty of threads, only to find themselves more deeply tangled than before…

S Is For Story Of Your Life

Rob Leave a comment

Let’s talk about some proper SF, with a nose around Ted Chiang’s Nebula-Award winning short story Story Of Your Life. If you want discussion on the challenges of living in a deterministic universe or Fermat’s Theorem of Least Time, then do we have a treat for you!

If not, don’t worry, we’ll be back to the zap guns and little green men soon enough.

 

 

Hey, if you want to read the story in question, lucky you! Check it out here (If you like it, we do urge you to buy the collection of stories in which it’s housed for yet more head-mangling goodness).

A Is For Aldiss

Rob Leave a comment

brian-aldiss-in-study-by-wendy-aldiss1390-3

The Grandmaster of Science Fiction. Not just prolific but absurdly talented, Brian Aldiss is a Great British Author in every sense of the word. Rob and Clive celebrate the man and his work: not just as writer, but editor, artist and advocate for SF in all its forms.

If his work is good enough for Kubrick and Spielberg, it’s good enough for us!

Here’s a look at the film version of his deeply odd conjoined-twin punk opera, Brothers Of The Head. A strange and very English piece of work.

A IS For “Aye, And Gomorrah…”

Rob Leave a comment
delanypic

Samuel R. Delaney

More short story action from Rob, Clive and that thrice-damn’d CycloMedia. This episode, they look at Samuel R. Delaney’s “Aye, And Gomorrah…”, a bracing antidote to the macho American view of what space explorers should be like.
Are we not men? Interesting question…

Dangerous Visions, the anthology in which “Aye, and Gomorrah…” appears, is back in print for the first time in decades. It’s one of the most important collections in SF, and and any selfrespecting fan-being should own a copy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dangerous-Visions-MASTERWORKS-Harlan-Ellison/dp/0575108029

A Is For ‘–All You Zombies–’

Rob Leave a comment

This time, Rob and Clive look at a classic bit of SF from one of the masters, Robert A. Heinlein. If you’re expecting macho space battles and right-wing posturing, think again. ‘–All You Zombies–’ is a time travel tale with one hell of a familial twist…

How complicated is it? Well, why don’t we let Ray Stevens try to explain…