Why I Still Get Goosebumps Watching Model Spaceships Crash Into Each Other
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, rewatching The Thing (probably the 20th time) over the weekend. Somethings about those stupid practical effects always...
Themes & Analysis
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The Sci-Fi Reboots That Made Me Question Hollywood’s Soul
Okay. Deep breath. Here goes: Look. I have some feelings about remakes and I feel like I need to get them off my chest. Every...
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When Science Fiction Made Me Question Everything I Thought I Knew
Full disclosure: having spent forty years working in the aerospace industry designing spacecraft and devouring every hard science fiction book I could find since I...
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Hard Science vs. Good Story: My Forty Years of Figuring Out What Actually Matters
Okay, look. I’ve been reading science fiction for almost fifty years now. In that time I’ve had more conversations about scientific accuracy than any halfway...
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Pixels Beat Polygons: Why I Still Fire Up My Old Sci-Fi Games Instead of Modern Masterpieces
Okay, what did I do this past weekend while most people were rushing out to play the latest AAA science-fiction title? I booted up Asteroids...
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Why Dystopian Sci-Fi Keeps Me Up at Night (And Why That’s a Good Thing)
I’ve been consuming dystopian science fiction ever since I was around sixteen years old. Want to know the truth? These novels, films, and games are...
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Why Every Sci-Fi Story I Love Eventually Asks “What Makes You Human?”
As I’ve been reshelfing books down in the stacks recently, I’ve found myself mulling over how every truly excellent work of science fiction I’ve read...
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Why I’ve Spent Forty Years Watching Sci-Fi Get the Future Wrong (And Why That’s Actually Perfect)
Science fiction has rarely been about predicting the future; it has mostly been a reflection of today – and that’s part of the reason I...
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From HAL to Samantha: How My Obsession with AI Characters Shows We’re Finally Ready to Embrace Digital Consciousness
I’ll never forget that first time HAL 9000’s smooth, unemotional tone sent shivers down my spine. I was about 15 years old and watching “2001:...
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The AI Villains That Shaped My Nightmares (And Why They Matter More Than Ever)
It is the use of the future in the stories of sci-fi to comment on the hopes and fears of today which I find so...
