sci-fi Archives - Page 6 of 7 -

0016: Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

By Patrick Baird December 1, 2022Episodes

We discuss unusual co-workers in Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith and the value of well-developed characters interacting with each other. Links: Wikipedia: Cordwainer Smith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer_Smith Game of…

0015: Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin

By Patrick Baird November 24, 2022Episodes

A planet full of diamonds? What could go wrong? We discuss Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin - famously the author of The Cold Equations - and the problem-solving story.…

0014: The Sci-Fi Origins of the Modern Zombie Myth

By Patrick Baird November 16, 2022Episodes

The concept of the walking undead goes back over a hundred years. But what are the origina of the modern zombie myth, and what role did science fiction play? Links:…

0013: Gernsback’s Legacy: The Science Fiction Ghetto

By Patrick Baird November 9, 2022Episodes

What was Hugo Gernsback's legacy? Did his brand of science fiction save the genre, or was Brian W. Aldiss right that he ruined it? Links: texts Trillion Year Spree: The…

0012: When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie

By Patrick Baird November 2, 2022Episodes

This week we explore When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, the best-selling novel from 1933. We go on to discuss its influence on other science fiction and…

Halloween 22: A Walk in the Dark, by Arthur C. Clarke

By Patrick Baird October 30, 2022Episodes

In this special Halloween episode, we read an excerpt from A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke. Followed by each of us sharing favorite scary campfire stories we…

0011: Corpus Earthling, by Louis Charbonneu

By Patrick Baird October 26, 2022Episodes

What if the voices in your head really were plotting against you? We discuss Corpus Earthling by Louis Charbonneau, where alien rocks plot to take over Earth. The novel is…

0010: Armageddon 2149 A. D., Buck Rogers

By Patrick Baird October 19, 2022Episodes

It's been 94 years since the first story featuring the character which would become known as Buck Rogers appeared. That story's influence on the popularity and acceptance of science fiction…

0009: Galactic Gadgeteers

By Patrick Baird October 12, 2022Episodes

A contest to engineer the impossible is at the center of Harry Stine's Galactic Gadgeteers. Which then leads us into a discussion of military discipline, the science fiction "cozy," and…

0008: QRM Interplanetary

By Patrick Baird October 12, 2022Episodes

QRM Interplanetary by George O. Smith was his first story in the Venus Equilateral series, which was published in Astounding Science Fiction from 1942 to 1945. Venus Equilateral is a space station…