Author: Steph P. Bianchini
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BloodLight: The Apocalypse of Robert Goldner. A review
There are two things about this odd yet fascinating book worth mentioning straight away. The first is that, albeit featuring a seventeen-year old boy,…
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SF Classics – The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) is a fantasy novel by Gene Wolfe. It is the first of four volumes in The Book of…
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Wanderers. Why Erik Wernquist’s short movie is so amazing
If you were dreaming about the day we are going to leave and explore the Solar System, take space elevators down to Mars and…
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NaNoWriMo – Mission accomplished (wow)
Here I am. Just finished validating my draft of 50,932 words. I barely believe I made it – but those words came somehow out…
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Virtual Reality, Zero-G and yet more wonders: NASA has it all.
When thinking about VR (Virtual Reality) a lot of things come to mind – to me, videogames are the first, followed by other, more…
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Does size matter for life? Giant and tiny exoplanets
Post number five in the exoplanet series, covering this time the important aspect of size. (In case you are interested to other variables examined so…
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SF Classics – The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman is a military science fiction novel, telling the story of William Mandella, a soldier of the United…
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Guest post. City of Bones, City of Ashes – A review
This is a guest post by Chango (for contributing posts here have a look at this). The original version of these two book reviews,…
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SF heroes and villains – a portrait gallery
I have been an avid manga reader (and anime fan) since childhood, and what I loved the most was to pick my hero and follow…
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A busy year for bacteria
This is definitively the year of bacteria in terms of scientific discovery and ground-breaking experiments. It was only a few months ago that a new strand…
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SF Classics – Steel Beach by John Varley
Steel Beach (1993) by John Varley, is a sci-fi novel where humans now live on the Moon after an alien invasion. Steel Beach, this…
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Seven hours of terror for space lovers – Rosetta on stage (again)
This November week brings us an exciting space event to follow, unique in kind. ESA’s spacecraft Rosetta, that has successfully reached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last August,…
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Writing about space and physics for other blogs / 3
The usual update about my latest published articles on other blogs/magazines – these ones on from Serious Wonder. This time I have only included the…
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When SF and science work together: Dyson spheres and black holes (thanks, Interstellar).
That SF has anticipated and/or even come out in first instance with some of the most creative ideas now seriously considered for scientific research is nothing new.…
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SF Classics – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell is a novel that needs no introduction. Difficult to imagine a dark, dystopian book that had a stronger…
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NaNoWriMo – Challenge accepted
Here I am: after a lot of thoughts about it since last year, and a very persuasive writer friend of mine, I have done…
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Star Gallery: the beautiful Pleaides
If there is a space object I have always found incredibly beautiful is the star cluster of the Pleiades – alternatively called M45, or…
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SF Classics – Ringworld by Larry Niven
Ringworld (1970) by Larry Niven, is the first of a series of stories – including prequels and sequels – set in a version of…
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Let the right one in – by John Ajvide Lindqvist. A review.
Vampires, we know, are a popular brand at least since John Polidori’s Lord Ruthven, allegedly inspired by Lord Byron during a fateful night at Villa Diodati I have…
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A technical wonder: NASA Spitzer’s 360-D Map of the Milky Way
If there is something difficult to realise is how vast space is. No matter how hard we try, as humans we lack mental categories…
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SF Classics – The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
The Player of Games (1988) by Iain M. Banks is a SF novel belonging to the Culture series. It features the most skilful and…
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The visitor from the Oort Cloud
This Sunday Earthians will witness something truly unique, estimated to happen maybe once every million years: a comet the size of a small mountain will…
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The importance of a correct worldbuilding: Lagrangian points
Astrophysics has to make sense, especially in a SF book. When designing your fictional worlds you need to make sure things can survive on their own,…
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SF Classics – Helliconia Summer by Brian W. Aldiss
Helliconia Summer (1983) by Brian W. Aldiss is the second instalment of the Helliconia Trilogy, set on the Earth-like Helliconia. The planet, orbiting a…