How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, chapter 5

The writers's self-image. Writers have to simultaneously believe the following two things:

1. The story I am now working on is the greatest work of genius ever written in English.
2. The story I am now working on is worthless drivel.

[Believing 1 as you're sending and 2 as you're editing, etc.]

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, chaper 1

You know when you think you shouldn't bother to create something because it's already been done 1 million times?

The novelty and freshness you'll bring to the field won't come from the new ideas you think up. Truly new ideas are rare, and usually turn out to be variations on old themes anyway. No, your freshness will come from the way you think, from the person you are; it will invariably show up in your writing, provided you don't mask it with heavy-handed formulas or clichés.

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, chapter 1

The Infinite Boundary

...whatever is published within the field of science fiction and fantasy is science fiction and fantasy, and if it doesn't resemble what science fiction and fantasy were twenty years ago, some readers and writers will howl, but others will hear the new voice and see the new vision with delight. 

What the Astronaut Said

This article made me re-evaluate the value of what I do:


The woman I was shaking hands with had been through the NASA training gauntlet. She had a PhD. She flew fighter jets. She would go to space one day. Me, I make up stuff about aliens and talking computers. It was a joke compared to her.

But the astronaut looked between me and my mom, and she said, “What you guys do gets us up there.”

Keep reading over on Tor.com

Jak and the Wormhole

Heroes can be found in the most unlikely of places. Perhaps we all have it within us to do great things, but may simply lack the circumstances or the reason to be heroic.

Killjoys

Love it. It's not at all like Firefly, except that it's about people living and working in space. You know, normal stuff. But in space.

Not to mention a refreshing lack of drama.

The Garden of Statues

This book is beautiful, the contents intriguing; and this story, which could have been really obvious, was not.

---

'Where is she?' Tarmin yelled at the statue. 'What have you done with her?'

Of course, the statue did not reply.

Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

Really enjoyed Stargate-LOTR with the space orcs, and the space elf who fought the Wraith and 10,000 Wraith Darts with SG-1 and the Atlantis team and Doctor Carson Beckett in New New York and then destroyed The One Infinity Gauntlet Ring (sort of).*

*Please read, as intended, with humour/humor.

Falling Skies, episode 2.4

I've never been happier to be an adult.

Tomorrowland (2015)

I want to go.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, chapter The Last War

The observations in this!

"If you have a fractured bone, and I've broken every bone in my body, does that make your fracture go away? Does it hurt you any less, knowing that I am in more pain? [...] Feelings are relative. And at the root, they're all the same, even if they grow from different experiences and exist on different scales."

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

I love it when I reach the halfway point in a book and suddenly I can hardly put it down. And this is so, so good!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, chapter 2

Now this is the sort of sci-fi I like. Adventures and exploring and interesting people, all set in a spaceship.

It was one of my favourite parts of Firefly too.

Orphan Black

Got addicted. Bit late I know. SO good. Along a similar vein to Fringe, Dollhouse, Dark Angel, but nothing like any of those.

Station Eleven, chapter 55

I've read a lot of apocalyptic stories, watched the world end in so many ways, but this is my new favourite. Jumping time and character has become bit of a trend, but Mandel did it so effortlessly it seemed only natural. I could have read this book for much longer.

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind

This just came into the shop. It's mine now. It's so beautiful.

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor

I suppose, if you're going to break the rules, you might as well shout it from a tower.

Still preferred it when Christmas was the beginning of the new Doctor, not the end.

The Day of the Doctor

OH that was some good Who. Serious goosebumpage. Best moment was Chris followed by Peter (that is, Eccleston and Capaldi - I wasn't expecting either). Also, everything else.

Doctor Who: The Last Day

Oh, that's a bit sad guys.

The Day of the Doctor: A Preview

So, two nights ago, this happened (and made me very happy).