MetaFilter posts tagged with fiction and scifi

69 Must-See SciFi Sights in the U.S.

Four-Eyed Girl — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:51:50 -0800

SciFi Wire lists 68 science fiction sights that can be found in the U.S. The sights include the "Ghostbusters headquarters," Captain Kirk's future birthplace, and Mothman museum.

Cat food.

crossoverman — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:26:06 -0800

Welcome to District 9. Director Neill Blomkamp turns his sci-fi short "Alive in Joburg" into a full-length feature film - examining xenophobia in an allegory of Apartheid, set in a slum recalling District 6 of Cape Town in South Africa.

Science Fiction VS Scifi

GavinR — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:34:03 -0800

Harlan Ellison tears up the debate and J. Michael Straczynski speaks up on the topic. Oh, yeah there is also Herb Solow as well and his wife Yvonne (WTF) speaking on the subject "Science Fiction" over "SciFi". None of them saw SyFy coming back in 1997, that's for sure! (SLYT) Also, here is the Newsweek article mentioned at the start of the segment.

We don't need another Neo

yeloson — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:06:11 -0800

There's been more and more rumblings lately about the inclusiveness (or lack thereof) of diversity in the circles of sci-fi and fantasy. Pam Nole's classic Shame essay hits a lot of points and while the Carl Brandon Society has been fighting the good fight for some time, more and more people are gathering their own projects, such as Transcriptase or Verb Noire to create spaces and publishing arenas less biased. Are these even necessary? It seems the fans think so.

Nebula Best Short Story Nominees 2008

Artw — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:29:41 -0800

StarshipSofa has podcasted all of the Nebula Best Short Story Nominees for 2008, following on from podcasting all but one of the 2008 BSFA short story nominees. Previous StarshipSofa.

We Know You Are Out There

aheckler — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:33:35 -0800

We made a mistake. That is the simple, undeniable truth of the matter, however painful it might be. The flaw was not in our Observatories, for those machines were as perfect as we could make, and they showed us only the unfiltered light of truth. The flaw was not in the Predictor, for it is a device of pure, infallible logic, turning raw data into meaningful information without the taint of emotion or bias. No, the flaw was within us, the Orchestrators of this disaster, the sentients who thought themselves beyond such failings. We are responsible.

Contracting SyFyllis

crossoverman — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:33:18 -0800

Sci Fi has a new name. Now it's SyFy. The Sci Fi Channel is distancing itself from its geek demographic by rebranding its network. The former SyFy Portal website (a nerd news outlet) has been rebranded "Airlock Alpha" after selling the name to an "undisclosed recipient".

Flowers For Algernon - The Blog

Asparagirl — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:41:08 -0800

Daniel Keys' classic 1959 Science Fiction story "Flowers for Algernon", which takes place in a series of diary entries, has been posted online as a blog. Of course, you'll need to read it backwards, from the earliest entry to the latest, to avoid giving away the ending... [via]

A Web of Geeks, Every One of Which Knows a Lot about Something

Navelgazer — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:32:38 -0800

Vegging Out vs. Geeking Out. Romance as the MSG of film. The bifurcated careers of Lucy lawless, Sigourney Weaver, and Hugo Weaving. Characters making smart decisions vs. stupid decisions. Neal Stephenson discusses Sci-Fi/Speculative Fiction as a literary genre at Gresham College. (Warning: requires Flash 9)

Rapid Offensive Unit Xenophobe will no doubt be pleased

Artw — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:00:35 -0800

Edinburgh author Iain M. Banks, creator of the post capitalist space faring society The Culture and it's oddly named ships, has long been the UKs top science fiction writer, but has never had more than a toehold in the US (in part through lack of availability, in part due to lack of promotion and in part due to some pretty awful covers. That could change: Matter, his latest, has been heavily promoted in the US and sports a cover nearly identical to the UK edition. This week Orbit are releasing US editions of the two earliest Culture novels, with the third following in July, which could mean a complete release of all the novels in the US in order. More Banks: Slashdot review of Matter Guardian Books author profile Interview in The Australian The odd story behind a Banks interview in The Sun Iain Banks and Ken MacCleod (audio/video) The Banksoniain fanzine National secular society: Honorary Associate: Iain Banks Iain M. Banks' "Culture" references in Bungie's Halo Why I write - Iain Banks Iain Banks on clean, green living Iain M. Banks’s Consider Phlebas and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

“You got gun in my blade!” “You got blade in my gun!”

cmgonzalez — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:17:18 -0800

Imagine a world without lightsabers—where, instead, every big Star Wars finale consists of a 10-minute slap fight. Thank the maker we’ll never have to witness such a spectacle, because magical and impossibly high-tech weapons are staples of nearly all of our favorite entertainments! ToyFare Magazine presents the 50 Greatest Fictional Weapons of All Time.

A Webzine of Astonishing Tales

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:18:57 -0800

Flurb! Issue 2 of the Webzine of Astonishing Tales -- edited by Rudy Rucker, featuring 'demented and counter-cultural' stories from luminaries of the cyberypunkery like Charles Stross, John Shirley, Mark Laidlaw (who also wrote the story for Half Life 2), Richard Kadrey, one of MeFi's favorite snark-targets, Cory Doctorow and others besides -- is out. [found via the RU SIRIUS podcast] [Previously: Issue #1]

Steam Wars

jonson — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:19:35 -0800

Steam Wars is the many decades long dream project of writer/illustrator Larry Blamire. Essentially the story of three soldiers set in a Victorian era war that features giant Jules Verneseque steam-powered mechrobots, the story has kicked around in Blamire's imagination since the 1970s. In an attempt to get the story made into a movie, he's put up a site with concept sketches, full color art & even faux memorabilia from the ficticious wars.

...maybe new ideas will come.

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 07 May 2006 23:37:45 -0800

A talk given by Matt Webb on fictional futures, and a whole lot besides. Just some text and some pictures, but he takes you on a most excellent brain adventure, from Italo Calvino to a map of all the biochemical reactions on Earth to Vannevar Bush’s machine, the Memex with dozens of stops in between. One of my favorite parts -- and the coolest use of RSS I've ever seen -- is a tool to subscribe to your personal lightcone. [via]

Tintinnabulation

plexi — Wed, 26 May 2004 20:54:37 -0800

PDU-1 A Novella of the Remote Future.

Latro, Cerebrus, Suns New, Long and Short - Gene Wolfe

y2karl — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 00:49:02 -0800

We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. When soldiers take their oath they are given a coin, an asimi stamped with the profile of the Autarch. Their acceptance of that coin is their acceptance of the special duties and burdens of military life--they are soldiers from that moment, though they may know nothing of the management of arms. I did not know that then, but it is a profound mistake to believe that we must know of such things to be influenced by them, and in fact to believe so is to believe in the most debased and superstitious kind of magic. The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all.

Gene Wolfe - Now step within Father Inire's mirrors....

Rare Science Fiction

starscream — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 10:43:22 -0800

Looking for that rare science fiction first edition? The Barry R. Levin Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature store just might have the volume you seek.

y2karl — Wed, 10 Apr 2002 01:42:51 -0800

A Few Words About Jack Vance. Gersen entered a hall with a floor of immaculate white glass tiles. On one hand was the display wall, characteristic of middle-class European homes; here hung a panel intricately inlaid with wood, bone and shell: Lenka workmanship from Nowhere, one of the Concourse planets; a set of perfume points from Pamfile; a rectangle of polished and perforated obsidian; and one of the so-called "supplication slabs"* from Lupus 23II.
* The nonhuman natives of Peninsula 4A, Lupus 23II, devote the greater part of their lives to the working of these slabs, which apparently have a religious significance. Twice each year, at the solstices, two hundred and twenty-four microscopically exact slabs are placed aboard a ceremonial barge, which is then allowed to drift out upon the ocean. The Lupus Salvage Company maintains a ship just over the horizon from peninsula 4A. As soon as the raft has drifted out of sight of land, it is recovered, the slabs are removed, exported and sold as objets d'art.
(Not for season ticket holders to The Short Attention Span Theater -More within)

ordinaryworld — Tue, 15 May 2001 04:10:39 -0800

Network Predatech It's around 2025 A.D. and the IMC is all-powerful. Can a devoted band of courageous hackers make a difference?