It starts with an interrupted mutiny, and the death of an Emperor; two unrelated events taking place in the sprawling mass of humanity that is the Interdependency. What we start to realize though is that these are just the first steps in a dance that’s eventually going to lead to the end of the Interdependency,
Kathryn Hey all! Trying to think of how to start this Black Mirror conversation. It occurred to me that I used to think Black Mirror stories were about how technology damages humanity. After watching the first two seasons I now think that they’re about how technology allows humanity to damage ITSELF, faster. Hannah Yeah, I
Longer than a short-story but shorter than a novella, six entries and each one packed with as much world building as you can fit into 15000 words or so. Click the jump for a review of this year’s Hugo Award finalists for Best Novelette.
Kujen laughed softly. “Look at my shadow and tell me what you see.” Jedao had taken it for an ordinary shadow. As he examined it more closely, though, he saw that it was made of the shapes of fluttering captive moths. The longer he stared at it, the more he saw the darkness giving way
You can listen to this episode on our Binary System Podcast channel at Anchor.fm! This week our Alice Isn’t Dead recap is pretty quick because in the end it’s all oracles and deserts and at least one really terrible commercial. (C’mon, Night Vale Presents, we know you can make better ads for your podcasts.) We
The title plays off of a decades-old murder mystery by Agatha Christie, but this Hugo-nominated novella is something quite new. Sarah Pinsker (yes, the main character has the same name as the author. It doesn’t really play into the story as much as you’d think) has been invited to attend a convention. Specifically, an alternate-universe
I adore short stories; it’s my favorite medium. A really good short story can convey an entire world and the backstory of the characters in the shortest amount of space, and make you care about all of it. This year’s Hugo Nominees are all excellent examples, while being as different from each other as possible. Click
You can listen to this episode on our Binary System Podcast channel at Anchor.fm! Alice isn’t Dead returns for its final season! While recapping the first chapter of Part 3 we also wander into some brief thoughts on gun ownership (spoilers: we do not want them to take your guns away) and then we jump
The Rare Earth Hypothesis means well, but it’s colossally, spectacularly, gloriously wrong. In one afternoon not too far off from today, every one of the seven billion people on planet Earth is visited by a representative from an alien race bearing a message for humanity: Prepare to be destroyed. OR…prove that you’re sentient. Convince us