Whatever 1I/2017 Oumuamua and now 3I/Atlas are, they fired my imagination. These intersolar voyagers are cloaked in mystery and possibilities. David Wellington’s novel, The Last Astronaut, takes that idea and runs with it giving us a cross of Crichton, Clarke and Lovecraft. A combination of science and wonder with unnerving horror. Sally Jansen was the…
Tag: science
To Be Taught, If Fortunate (2019) – Becky Chambers
The last (for now) Becky Chambers book for me to read was her first. Again, it’s too short, but it hints at the wonders to come in her Wayfarer Series and Monk and Robot books. The story follows a foursome of Earth explorers as they explore strange new worlds. Well four of them anyway. And…
The Judas Strain (2007) – James Rollins
It’s been quite some time since I dug into a Sigma Force novel, but sometimes you just want to dig into a sprawling adventure. Sigma Force is a super secret arm of DARPA. That means not only do the characters have military training, but they have doctoral degrees, and great science and tech at their…
The Andromeda Strain (1971) – Robert Wise
I greatly enjoyed reading Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain and then I decided to correct an oversight in my viewing history and check out the 1971 film directed masterfully by Robert Wise. I love that like the book, the film is played very straight, and consequently it makes the idea all the more frightening. When…
Twisters (2024) – Lee Isaac Chung
I love Twister. Unabashedly. Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, some fun tunes, some solid (mostly) effects (cow!) and some great pacing and set pieces. So I was both excited and nervous when Twisters was announced. There’s some nice nods to the original film, and there’s some pretty easy character set-up. You…
Stargate SG-1 (2000) – Point of No Return, and Tangent
Willie Garson guest stars in Point of No Return, a fun SG-1 adventure with a comedic bent. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, it first debuted on 8 September, 2000. O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Daniel (Michael Shanks), Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) are summoned by General Hammond (Don S. Davis) when Stargate…
Stargate SG-1 (2000) – New Ground, and Maternal Instinct
O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Daniel (Micheal Shanks) find themselves captured on a world where there is a struggle between religion and science. New Ground was written by Heather E. Ash and first debuted on 18 February, 2000. The planet is engaged in a philosophical war, which occasionally turns violent over the…
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Power Hungry (1989) – Howard Weinstein
Howard Weinstein delivers his first Next Gen novel with Power Hungry. Set squarely in the second season of the series, Weinstein shows that he has a pretty solid handle on the characters, and explores an environmental theme that sounds very familiar to the way we are treating our own planet. The Enterprise is on a…
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) – Andre Ovredal
We just can’t leave the undead alone. It seems every couple of years someone trots out another Dracula update, or a new take on vampires. Some of them are good, some of them are not. The Last Voyage of the Demeter falls into the former. It’s bloody, and it’s fun. Based on a small five-page…
TIFF ’23: Sleep
Midnight Madness at TIFF is always a lot of fun, and some great genre films get scheduled that are designed to deliver to the late-night audience. Sleep hopes to do that this week. A Korean entry to the film festival from writer/director Jason Yu. It’s his first feature film, and Yu creates a tense, moody…
The Mind Reels 