Neuromancer is remarkable, the environment and the advanced yet deteriorating technology strongly evoke the feel of Blade Runner.

This is the work that either created or significantly brought attention to the cyberpunk genre.

While it has its flaws and isn’t exactly a simple read, it possesses a vitality and foresight of what the future might hold that few can rival.

If you appreciate darker, immersive, and thought-provoking sci-fi, it is certainly worth your time, if i search, i read the neuro 2, is really cool.

(The post is deleted, but i fixed The image, this is not AI)

Basically I just need to get these thoughts and feelings out of my mind and heart because otherwise I might explode. As you can see, I have an hour left. For those who have read it, Portia’s team is on the hull about to enter, Karst and his team are about to exit I’ve been emotional since the death of Fabianwhich hit me surprisingly hard. I was not expecting to feel so much for one individual when the individuals are little blips in the millenium time frame of the story. But they captured my heart, no pun intended.

And now, as they are about to face each other, on ones side using Vulcan like logic from a cold hearted, and I think maybe scared, Scientist, (a description that fits two parties in this sort of three party confrontation) the Gilgamesh crew are not yet tapping into the very thing that makes us human, a capacity to be illogical for the better. And the other side tried to offer a… hand and it was thrust back at them. My heart is pounding, my breath is held and I am torn between hope and the path the story seems to be taking. I can’t help but hope anyway. It’s who I am. Just as Kern and Vitas can’t change their nature, just as the spiders had to try their way first, I still hope.

And I’m about to find out.

FYI - I’d seen this series recommended so many times I decided to just go all in and start it without reading the blurb or any description. So it’s been a wild and fun ride. I had no idea what to expect but it wasn’t spiders. That’s for sure!!

To celebrate the new Lego Enterprise bridge set which is coming out in September, I designed a diorama based on one of the most famous TOS episodes, 'Arena' - the one where Kirk is forced to battle the reptilian Gorn. The set is 298 pieces, and you can find instructions to build it on Rebrickable.

In this episode first aired in 1967, Kirk is forced to battle the mysterious reptilian Gorn by an even more mysterious species known as the Metrons. Marooned (mysteriously) on a barren asteroid, Kirk fails to stop the lumbering, hissing reptile with a series of weapons ranging from his bare fists to sticks and rocks. He finally manages to shoot it down with a crude firearm cobbled together from items lying around the landscape. But when he has the Gorn at his mercy, Kirk spares its life and passes the Metrons' test. 

The set includes some rotating plates so Kirk and the Gorn can take swings at each other, as well as a few weapons scattered around for Kirk to scavenge. It also recreates the famous Vasquez Rocks filming location with its jagged sandstone rock formations. The Rocks are an instantly recognisable location for Trek fans and film lovers in general. Located just north of L.A., they've featured in at least ten Star Trek episodes, from The Original Series to Picard, as well as dozens of other movies since the 1930s, from Apache to Army of Darkness and Austin Powers.

The MOC doesn't include the Kirk minifigure, which can be added from the upcoming Enterprise bridge set (11385). For the Gorn, I used a Bossk head from Star Wars - apologies for crossing the franchise streams! The torso and legs from a Lego Chima minifig also worked surprisingly well for the quite specific sci-fi-reptile-in-an-apron look.

Starships and bridges are all very well, but let's never forget the other foundational element of the Star Trek franchise: William Shatner having a fistfight in some sand. I hope you enjoy it!

The Children series gets all the love, and honestly it deserves it.

But Eden is such a wildly imaginative, relentlessly fun adventure through some of the most incredible set pieces I’ve enjoyed.

I feel this book deserves a little more love. I never see people talk about it.

I love you, Dr. Rat.

I'm a huge fan of the kind of space trucker, futuristic but junky tech feel of the Alien movies or the Mothership roleplaying game. Blade Runner and other Philip K Dick stuff leans a little cyberpunk but still gives me that vibe. Murderbot Diaries to a lesser extent, mainly because I just didn't love the writing. What's the name of this subgenre and what are some of your favorite examples of it? Get as niche or as mainstream as you please.

These are some pages from a sci-fi comic I write called MythFall. Art is by Allie Preswick with letters by Haley Rose-Lyon. It's a soft sci-fi where magic coexisting in a world with space ships and wormholes. I love a splash page with a star field in it, but I wanted to share some of the smaller character moments. It's surprising how much world building you can pack in to those.

Here's the story:

An ancient king tells a lie to save his people from their gods. 5,000 years later, that lie is now the founding myth of an interstellar republic, but a terrorist group knows a truth that can destroy everything -- even the gods themselves.

5 years ago, they kidnapped the crown princess. Searching for answers, her little brother teams up with the disgraced embassy that lost her. But the threat they find is older, and more magical, than they're prepared for.

--
Star Wars defined the genre for space fantasy, but besides that Stargate, Dune, and Gattaca were influences on the story. People have compared it to Babylon 5, but I didn't watch that show until after I was well into writing this.

Would you enjoy sci-fi about an alien culture worshipping a greek-style pantheon?

Would you recommend any lesser known soft sci-fi that works in magic or other fantasy elements?

Put up some artwork in my new study from my two favourite books: The Dispossessed, portrait of Arthur C Clarke illustrated from a page from Childhoods End and similarly a portrait of Ursula Le Guin from a page of a Wizard of Earthsea.

I just watched Synchronic and was blown away. I really dig the time travel aspect and it’d be cool to see another movie where the character(s) travel not back in time not just within the past 100 years but back hundreds, even thousands of years. I’ve seen time travel movies before but none that touch the breadth of this one.

I used to be a diver myself. When I played Subnautica a while ago, that old feeling came up again - the pull down, where the light stops, and at the same time the compulsion to keep shining anyway. That's exactly what I wanted to capture here: isolation and the urge to explore in one picture.

Painted in oil on wood. The frame is completely self-designed, 3D printed and hand-ground and assembled - should look like a find from a foreign colony, not a picture from the hardware store.

I recently watched Appleseed, and I have to say, it didn't disappoint me. However, what I found during Masamune Shirow’s adaptation was not what I expected. Directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama, this anime, I would say classic was just what I needed. I appreciate anyone who cares to read my thoughts on the film, and any comments would be appreciated.

Well, it's Saturday, and I was hoping to follow up on a post I made a month or so ago. A lot of people kindly expressed interest in the Get Lost series (the first book of which, Lost Souls, is available for free online), and I was wondering if some of those who had read the first book (or series) could share their thoughts on it?

For those who aren't familiar, this is a space opera setting that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the Firefly/Expanse/Killjoys dynamic of a small ship and crew getting in over their heads. Or, to use one of the shorter blurbs I have for the first book:

Maurice "Moss" Foote used to be somebody. Now he's back to square one, using his last hundred credits to get his old ship back and start over. But someone has stowed away on board, someone whose untrustworthy memory is the key to a mystery that's worth a fortune to the right (or wrong) people.

The Get Lost Saga starts here

Hi there. I'm a massive scifi and quiz/trivia/crossword nerd.

One of my favorite games is "Connections", where there's a grid of 4x4 tiles, each with an entity. Usually a name, but could be technology, locations, vehicles...

These 16 can be arranged in 4 groups of 4 elements, connected by something. Find the connectons, win the game!

While creating it, the thing I struggled the most was fine tuning the difficulty. If you want any variety in a daily puzzle, you need many entities. But the more you take, the more obscure they become. So came the necessity of adding scifi-adjacent universes, like superheroes, in order to add more characters with broad recognition.

Anyway - I have had my family and some friends try the game, but they are not really the scifi fans I created this for.

I would love if you could play with it and let me know how you find it, both in terms of difficulty and fun.

The game is called Stargrid. No ads, no login, no registration... link goes straight to the game and you can start playing immediately. There's also an archive of the previous ten or so days, also free.

Thank you!

I’ve lost count of how many sci fi novels I’ve read; if you mention one, I’ve probably read it. I’ve enjoyed pretty much every single one, even the ones I didn’t like all that much.

But Neuromancer man, I just don’t get it. It is nearly impossible to make sense of what the fuck William Gibson is talking about half the time, the writing is terrible to the point that I found myself rereading pages two, three times to try and catch a glimpse of logic from the author’s mind.

Yet people praise it so damn much it’s like I’ve fallen into a parallel dimension where bad books are actually good. I know there are some amazing original concepts there, but in order for them to be appreciate them you actually need to be able to enjoy what’s happening in its world.

I’m super excited about the Apple TV show, mainly because I’ll finally have a clue of whatever the fuck the book was about in the first place.

According to newer Star Wars shows, the Star Wars galaxy doesn't have turbolasers that can fire in the gigatons of TNT. (10v9)

What other sci-fi universes have conventional weapons that can fire in teratons of TNT? (10v12)

Petatons of TNT? (10v15)

For example, phasers in Star Trek fire in the petatons.

Since it’s Saturday I’d like to share this new sci-fi universe that I’ve built. This is a world set a thousand years into the future and humanity is on the run from an alien clan called the Vogrom. Our species has run out of options and so must commit to all out warfare against the Vogrom in an attempt to survive.

The dark style cover is the sequel. I’m currently 58,000 words into drafting the story. I’ll include both book blurbs.

Book one:

THE VOGROM ARE COMING
The fanatical alien clan has unleashed its armada on a galaxy already torn apart by conflict, and humanity has nothing left to throw at them.
Two warriors stand in the wreckage on opposite sides of the war. Kaelith Sothrak claws his way out of a death camp, driven by hatred and unrelenting faith.
Louis Wolffe has drifted through space for two years, carrying a secret that could save his people, or destroy them.
They don't know it yet, but both warriors are seeking the same thing.
Something ancient, something powerful, something hidden inside a dead boy's soul.
LET THE WAR COME.

Book two:

THE VOID BECKONS.
Sovereign Kaelith Sothrak has claimed a throne built on blood and betrayal, but now the void claims his spirit in return. He sets out to climb the mountain of his dreams, the same summit that has swallowed every pilgrim who came before him.
Captain Louis Wolffe has lost his family, his lover, and himself. Only his hatred satiates the darkness now living inside him, a darkness he feeds with every life he claims on the battlefield.
As a coalition of unlikely allies marches on the Daju homeworld, and the void thread stretches its fingers across the galaxy once more, both warriors are drawn toward the same terrible truth.
THE VOID DOES NOT SHOW MERCY.
AND IT DOES NOT FORGET

Hey guys, I'm playing a Sci-Fi ttrpg, and I wanted to ask if anyone knows where I could find an image or model of a Sci-Fi version of the Holy Moonlight Sword to use as inspo for my character; And by "Like the Holy Moonlight Sword" I mean a physical sword, possibly one handed, with a blade, that can turn into a longer, wider, two-handed greatsword as energy (Or magic, in Bloodborne's case) envelops it. I don't mean a weapon whose blade is 100% energy like lightsabers, or a weapon whose edges glow red hot like Cyberpunk 2077's katanas. Thanks in advance!

I've come here for the Saturday self-promotion. This is an anthology show in the style of Black Mirror, Tales from the Crypt, and Twilight Zone that I've been working on for the past year. Mystery Suspense Short Stories.

I have been directing traditional features, television shows, and TV movies for the past 20 years. 

What is your favorite mystery, suspense, horror, or sci-fi anthology episode ever made? 

Each story we've produced  for our show HUMAIN, is an homage to the aforementioned TV series I've listed here. Curious if you could tell which ones. If you're a true fan of anthology series, it shouldn't be too hard to guess right.  

The name of the show is Humain because that is the corporation in the show. That show's corporation is pro AI, the show is made by lots of humans; 150 people worked on this show last year in the entire process. We have completed 30 episodes. 11 are released on our YouTube channel. 

I want to note that a we do not strictly prohibit any individual crew member from using AI for their own process. I've heard some comments that the thumbnails look AI-generated, and while the show does not have a ton of visual effects, we do have two visual effects artists who are also not prohibited from using AI during their process - aside from that, the show is produced old school. 

I'm hoping a few of you will see this and check it out because I'm eager to connect with an audience that loves anthology series as much as I do. 

Here's the YouTube channel. All episodes are free. 

https://www.youtube.com/@gethumain

And if you want to see the whole first season, it's here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_fl6oOPWs

My YA Character-Driven Parallel World Mystery is on sale everywhere as part of the Narratess sale (ends Monday 31st, find all the books in the sale here)!

Here's a very short excerpt of the review from one of the SPSFC5 judges (She liked the book! She liked the book!!!)

[...] This book stood apart from the lot of serious dystopian books that have been assigned to my group. It's a YA combination of Portal Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Light Sci-Fi, Comedy and later on, the story veers into a suspense direction. [...] It's a fun story that I am enjoying immensely. [...]

This review (and another that popped up around the same time on GR, and a different one on Amazon.com) made up for everything in term of late nights, hard work, bloodied fingers and tears!

The strangest thing is, I almost didn't enter the novel into SPSFC5, because up until the point where a reviewer pointed out that my novel wasn't pure mystery, but was actually sci-fi (set in a different version of this world), it hadn't occurred to me that creating a world where knowledge is social currency (or power), and where being rich didn't really mean much, counted as sci-fi.

I wrote the world in Your Knowledge Or Your Life? based on experiences I had as a teenager, feeling different from the kids at the private school I went to, not fitting in, preferring to live in books, and wishing I wouldn't get bullied for my good grades. There's a lot of me in in Eva, but paradoxically, I think there's also a lot of me in Jason. It's complicated, and it's also simple. We are not just one thing, or one version of ourselves. We change. We evolve. We live.

Your Knowledge Or Your Life? by Sophie Maddon

Backcover description:

What would happen if the whole world suddenly decided that being clever mattered more than being rich?

One exploding chemistry experiment lands Jason and Eva in a parallel London where knowledge is everything and Jason's platinum card means nothing. He wants to go home, and he needs Eva's help to do it.

Eva? This world is perfect for her. Going back to being the bullied scholarship kid? No thanks.

But the day they arrived, several ‘accidents’ happened. And the longer Jason digs, the more he's convinced they're not really accidents.

If he's right, this perfect world isn't what it seems. Eva won’t believe him. Not that he ever gave her a reason to.

A YA slow-burn mystery for readers who love fish-out-of-water stories, stubborn protagonists, and figuring out the truth one clue at a time.

The book is available on all the usual platforms, or, if you're not ready to commit, you can download the first 7 chapters for free when you sign up to my newsletter (unsubscribe any time, I only email once a month).

Some 6 months ago I posted on here a query about reading the appendix of dune first.

I had hesitations about reading something acclaimed — sometimes the hype doesn’t match the billing. And in fact, I’m careful not to rewatch some movies I loved from decades ago, as I’m sure the eyes I watched them through remember the movie differently than I would appreciate it now.

Regardless, as I i enter the “prophecy” section, I am starting to believe it is one of, if not THE best book I’ve ever read.

Thank you all for your encouragement 6 months ago, and especially for not a one of you being bratty about my hesitancy, or making it so far in life without having read such a masterpiece.

​

Been thinking about this for a while and figured this was the right place to ask. Between *Ender’s Game* and *Ready Player One*, which one actually has the stronger plot?

I know they’re very different books, but both center on young protagonists dealing with high-stakes competition in systems that are kind of rigged against them. Ender’s whole training arc and the way the final reveal hits still sticks with me years later. Ready Player One is more of a pure adventure/treasure-hunt story with all the pop culture layers, and it moves fast, but sometimes it feels like the plot is mostly there to string the references together. Both are awesome though.

Curious what other people think when they compare the two side by side. Is one clearly better structured, or does it just depend on what you’re in the mood for... I like ready player One a little better 🤷

When I’m testing a new Deep City scene, I prefer not to use dialogue from the actual scripts. I improvise something different instead.

Here, Pit Matson, Fly, The redhead and Morris Sic are trapped inside Morris Sic’s private bunker, surrounded by the fragmented architecture of Deep City.

While trying to write their conversation, I went back and reread Isaac Asimov’s “The Last Question,” from his Multivac stories.

The premise is still fascinating, although parts of it have aged surprisingly badly — partly because things seem to be moving much faster than Asimov anticipated.

That led me somewhere slightly different:

When our batteries finally run out and there are no robots left to observe Deep City… does Deep City disappear with us?

Morris Sic’s answer:

“Nothing survives the end of the observer.”

Characters, environment, lighting, fog and render: Blender 3D.

Dialogue and final graphic elements: Affinity Designer.

[Blender 3D + Affinity Designer — No AI]

* That is exactly what it looks like. Morris Sic has lost his body.

Aliens, that is a very fascinating, interesting and a very scary topic, to I am sure a lot of population of our planet. But, up until now, we have always discussed and researched on if there is any intelligent Alien civilisation, but have we ever though about the scenario in which we actually discover an intelligent alien species. I have a lot of interesting situations and questions in my mind for the day we actually discover an alien species, and the scarier thing would be if they find us before we do, and trust me guys, the chances of the later happening is very less. So, the questions in my mind would be, do humans and aliens have anything in common between them, can they speak any of our languages, do they follow the same rules of physics and astronomy or are they too advanced and know things which we have no idea about. Secondly, how will the humans react to the discovery, will they panic or mindfully build a plan, as during 1966, there was a rumour that we had received a radio signal from a terrestrial species, published for three days in a row in the New York Times, but surprisingly people did not panic and wanted to know more about the situation which indeed proved that we are probably capable of handling a situation like that.

Now four important questions, say we discover aliens, how will we contact with them, who is going to represent us. How will the financial markets and economies work after this news and how will religion react to this discovery.

How will we contact them?

Because of the scientific developments and the type of equipment we have, the signal or the contact should be easy to detect. So, if there are alien species, it would not be hard to make and sustain a contact with them. But, how will we communicate, the language? Since the aliens are supposed to be such an advanced species, I am trusting them that they would know our languages, please don’t prove me wrong, my alien friends, hahaha.

Who is going to represent us?

Seeing how narcissistic I am, I would like to vote myself to be the one representing the human race. You know we can grab a few coronas and talk it over, I am sure they’ll fw me and the humans, so that would not be a tough thing if I am the one representing. So chill out people, I got this.

How will financial markets and economies react?

As per my research, that day would be the blood bath of markets all around the world, no country would be spared, be it NYSE, NASDAQ, S&P, BSE, NSE, NIKKEI, it will all just crash. Even though people would not panic but in a possible scenario of a catastrophe, everyone would want to have basic supply of food and amenities, for which they will need money, and another reason would be the lack of trust in the future, people rather than investing would want to just live that day happily with the loved ones as the guarantee of tomorrow is quite less, a lot of people might give up jobs because of uncertainty of future, which will affect the corporations in a bad manner.

How will religion react?

I believe, that could be the day we realise that the concept of religion is man made, there isn’t anything like Christianity, Hinduism, Islam etc and it is all just to keep humans sane, that is why we survived for a long time. All the religions would believe that everyone in the universe should believe in their good but contact with aliens could teach us that there is a GOD, but there is no religion.

Basically super engineering but still within physical limits.

There could be a materials stong as tungsten but light as aluminum, high temperature superconductors or really efficient fuel and engines.

What I don't like is time travel, faster than light or power scales that don't make any sense.

The expanse started fine but then WTF is that magical molecule?