Hard Science Fiction
Hard Science Fiction is an area of science fiction that put's emphasis on the scientific or technical details and/or on the technical accuracy. It's essentially the quintisential science fiction and defines the whole genre itself. Many authors who create "hard science fiction" have a technical or scientific background.
Books Reviewed
-
![Braking DayAdam Oyebanji]()
Science FictionWhen we colonise space, I hope that we send out the brightest and the best. These people will represent the absolute best that humanity has to offer, but what happens if the journey is a long one? The bright young things are not going to live to see the destination in 150 years, but their great-grea...
-
![The ThisAdam Roberts]()
Science FictionSocial Media has changed the world we live in today by accelerating the polarisation of opinion. No longer is a debate a two-way conversation between people discussing their own point of view, but a slanging match in which neither side can see the others’ point of view. Until the last couple of year...
-
![Bear HeadAdrian Tchaikovsky]()
Science FictionWhen we colonise the planets will they send out the best and the brightest? I’m not so sure as many of the best and the brightest will be quite happy on Earth leading a succes sful life. Converting the likes of Mars into a liveable environment will be dirty, cold and dangerous work. It is more l...
-
![Alien ClayAdrian Tchaikovsky]()
Science FictionThere is no doubt that Tchaikovsky is a prolific author - I'm counting at least 38 novels and many novellas and short stories. Every few months, there seems to be a new book on the horizon. But that regularity of releases doesn't seem to impact the quality of his writing or the sharpness of his visi...
-
![Three Eight OneAliya Whiteley]()
Science FictionAs a someone who studied history, I am fascinated by the past, but also the evolution of studying the past. History as we know it adapts and changes with the current way of thinking. Sometimes you must sit back and remember that things were different back then, that opinions and attitudes were just...
-
![The Fractal EpisodesAllen Stroud]()
Science FictionWhat differentiates a short story series from episodes? Allen Stroud’s The Fractal Series comes in a collection or can be read separately. There are twelve individual stories, that sounds like a short story collection, but there is a difference as they all take place within the Fearless universe tha...
-
![New Year, New You: A Speculative Anthology of ReinventionChris Campbell]()
Science FictionWhat makes a bunch of short stories gathered together a collection? It could be the works of the same author, or it could be some sort of theme that means they are all derived from the same place. A collection's origins can significantly impact the type of stories you are about to read. Is it an est...
-
![PromiseChristi Nogle]()
Science FictionI set a high bar set for science fiction short story collections that is in no way the fault of any modern author. Unfortunately for them I read The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury at an influential age. I rate a collection against the creepy science fiction/horror tones that Bradbury was able to cr...
-
![Starship AlchemonChristopher Hinz]()
Science FictionHaving read more than a few S tarship loads of science fiction in my time I am particular about what type of aliens I like. I have a fondness for the Star Trek tactic o f gluing some plasticine to the forehead of a humanoid but in today’s fiction I like something truly alien. What does that...
-
![Liege-KillerChristopher Hinz]()
Science FictionScience Fiction does not have to be epic. It can tell a small story about a single person or family as they struggle against a strange new world, but sometimes you want to read a stonking great space opera where an individual's actions can alter worlds. Liege-Killer by Christopher Hinz is one such...
-
![Fractal NoiseChristopher Paolini]()
Science FictionI have never wanted to travel to space. THUD. Not only would it be physically challenging, but also mentally tough. THUD. The knowledge that the only thing between you and the infinite void is a sheet of metal. THUD. The great expanse making you question your tiny existence and the insignificant lif...
-
![InspirationDavid Churcher-Muria]()
Science FictionThere are all diverse types of people that make a successful working environment. If everyone were the same, we would all be doing the same thing and loads of stuff would not get done. Some people like to stand out in the crowd and pitch ideas, others are happy to lead. Engineer may be the second in...
-
![Dark DwellerGareth Worthington]()
Science FictionThe problem with being zipped away by some alien entity and then shown how the Universe works is that no one will believe you on your return. Imagine your friend returning from their lunch break to say that they have just been told that the world is going to end in two days unless we all follow thei...
-
![JumpnautsHao Jingfang]()
Science FictionWriting a futuristic science fiction novel will allow you to explore strange new worlds but can also be used to explore our past and culture. Reading a wide range of stories from different people, from different parts of the world is a gift that will keep giving your entire life. There has been a lo...
-
![Dare to KnowJames Kennedy]()
Science FictionIf you could find out your exact time of death down to the last second, would you take up the option? For some it could be liberating, they will pack their lives until the last moment. For others, their death will become even more of a looming presence as it draws ever near. In James Kennedy’s Dare...
-
![Within WithoutJeff Noon]()
Science FictionI have conversations with my colleagues and a surprising number of them are dismissive of Science Fiction as being too farfetched and complicated. This is not true, as it is such a wide genre. There are Sci Fi books that will cater for readers who only want a touch of the unreal, but there are also...
-
![If We Cannot Go at the Speed of LightKim Choyeop]()
Science FictionStarting a new book can always be daunting, but I have a special trepidation for short story collections. They can be vast, full of stories that are loosely linked. Trying to find themes and remember all the stories can feel impossible when considering a review. However, you sometimes get a more cur...
-
![AwakenedLaura Elliott]()
Science FictionScience has taken humans to amazing places, prolonged our lives, made living better, but it has also created great harm. Have some diseases been developed in a lab then released, on purpose or by accident? Perhaps legitimate research led to tragic mistakes. In the world of Laura Elliott’s Awakened ,...
-
![Interstellar MegaChefLavanya Lakshminarayan]()
Science FictionI enjoy it when the publishing community gets together and decides to proclaim there is a new subgenre. These are a collection of books that have already been written but are now herded into a common bracket. Romantasy and Cosy Fantasy are doing great, and I have read a few of these. Low stake conse...
-
![For the Benefit of MankindLiu Cixin]()
Science FictionThe Trolley Problem is an interesting mental exercise that asks you would you let one person die to save many? To do so you would have to divert the trolley from the path of the five and be culpable for it hitting the one. In theory it makes sense, the many not the few, but could you really pull tha...
-
![A View from the StarsLiu Cixin]()
Science FictionLike many science fiction fans, I have been swept away by the recent influx of Chinese writers that have been translated. Many of these writers are only new to us but have established careers back in China. The most prominent is the Hugo Award winning Cixin Liu. I have enjoyed the style of stories f...
-
![PlutoshineLucy Kissick]()
Science FictionThe concept of humankind travelling to other planets to colonise has been a staple of science fiction for decades and as the world in which we inhabit becomes increasingly tricky for humans to live on, the novels are set to keep on rolling. Some are action pieces, some concentrate on the colonists t...
-
![Rory Hobble and the Voyage to HaligogenMaximilian Hawker]()
Science FictionI remember being a young science fiction reader and scouring the shelves of my local library looking for works designed for my age group. The only one I ever remember getting my hands on was Batteries Not Included by Seth McCoy. The modern 8–14-year-old reader has so much more choice, from differe...
-
![The Mountain in the SeaRay Nayler]()
Science FictionOne of the biggest problems to overcome when writing science fiction is how do humans communicate with an alien race? They may speak a different language or may not even have mouths in which to make noises. The Universal Translator is a popular cheat, or fundamental maths that should be universal, b...
-
![The Price of Memory and Other StoriesSally Mcbride]()
Science FictionI do enjoy a set of short stories. There are typically two types that you can get, a collection, or a theme. The Price of Memories and Other Stories by Sally McBride is a classic style collection of an author’s works brought together over years into a curated whole. Are there themes that imbue the s...
-
![Edge of the Known WorldSheri T Joseph]()
Science FictionThe future is uncertain but as long as there are people on the planet, there will be drama. The cities could be crumbling and the seas boiling but a few people gather in the same cave for protection, and it will be mere hours before they are arguing, falling in and out of love and not getting on wit...
-
![The Distant Stars Are My Only FriendsStephan George]()
Science FictionAs a species we are doing a good enough job of messing up our own chances of survival, but what if I told you that we could also mess up another distant planet too? In Stephan George’s The Distant Stars Are My Only Friends , Arax is a traveller who does not go into space, but instead projects his co...
-
![RabbitsTerry Miles]()
Science FictionAre you playing the game? Made you look. The idea of a metagame that embroils a hero is not a new one, but it is hard to pull off. The amount of financial resources and secrecy that is required to convince Michael Douglas to jump off a building is beyond what the average person can afford, unless yo...
-
![The Last HumanZack Jordan]()
Science FictionHumans always think we are special when it comes to science fiction. Somehow, we are better than the multitude of other alien races out there. How many times has Kirk used “this human emotion called love,” to win the day, or how often has an invading alien army been conquered by “the common cold”? I...
Book of the month
