I dug into some classic science fiction this week with Larry Niven’s Ringworld novel, which is set in his Known Space universe. I hadn’t explored any of his stories before, but this one was recommended to me from somewhere, and I found the general idea intriguing, a massive ring, instead of an enclosed sphere, placed…
Tag: exploration
TIFF ’22: Good Night Oppy
I love documentaries about space exploration, the sense of discovery, wonder and hope that permeates them, and humanity when we set our sights on a goal. Director Ryan White understands those feelings and shares them, and guides us on a fantastic journey to the planet Mars. In 2003, two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched…
Star Trek 4K – The Human Adventure Continues…
So much Trek to get through! Paramount Pictures delivers the goods with their 4K releases this week. I remember where I was the first time I saw each film, and I was a recently turned eight-year-old who sat in the theatre in CFB Borden as Christmas drew closer, and I sat and loved every minute…
Eversion (2022) – Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds takes the reader on an epic journey across time. Tinging his new tale, Eversion, with hints of Verne, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, O’Brien, and 50s sci-fi Reynolds introduces us to Silas Coade, ship’s doctor, We slide through time, across a variety of vehicles, sailing ships, airships, and spacecraft, but it is always the same…
Star Trek: Picard – The Dark Veil (2021) – James Swallow
Simon & Schuster delivers another tale set before the first season of Star Trek: Picard with The Dark Veil by James Swallow, this time centering the story on the U.S.S. Titan, and her captain William T. Riker, its counsellor, and the captain’s wife, Deanna Troi, their young sun Thaddeus (which makes what we learn of…
Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series (2019) – Aaron Harvey, and Rich Schepis
I remember when I first heard about Star Trek: The Animated Series. It was the early 80s, and I seem to recall having received a Best of Trek book one Xmas or birthday. It was a compilation of some of the most popular articles and stories from Trek magazine, an unofficial Star Trek fanzine. Inside…
Project: Hail Mary (2021) – Andy Weir
I loved Andy Weir’s The Martian, and happily dug into Project: Hail Mary (I still need to read Artemis), and was completely wowed by it. I haven’t had this sense of wonder and sense of discovery and exploration since I read Clarke’s Odyssey and Rama series. Ryland Grace, former biologist turned teacher wakes up and…
The Quest (1986) – Brian Trenchard-Smith, and Russell Hagg
I remember the first time I saw this film, and how the idea of it resonated inside me. There was just so many things I could relate to in it. I was living in a foreign country, like Cody (Henry Thomas), I was fascinated by the possibility of lake and sea monsters (still kinda am),…
Star Trek: Discovery (2019) – Saints of Imperfection, and The Sound of Thunder
Captain’s log: stardate unknown Kirsten Beyer pens Saints of Imperfection which first aired on 14 February, 2019. What starts off as an episode that we think may finally deliver the goods and give us Spock (Ethan Peck) as Discovery has picked up the warp trail of his stolen shuttle, leads instead to an exploration of…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2005) – Terra Prime, and These Are The Voyages…
Captain’s log: 22 January, 2155 The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Enterprise brings the Terra Prime two-parter to a close in this story written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Manny Coto, from a story developed by the Reeves-Stevens and Andre Bormanis. It debuted on 13 May, 2005. Paxton (Peter Weller) is holding the solar…
The Mind Reels 