Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed? Finally acquired a new scanner! 1. The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson (1985) From the back cover: “In the 33rd century humanity is scattered among the planets of the Solar System. Millions of lives depend on the revolutionary physics of Arthur Holywelkin; millions of … Continue reading Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLVI (Kim Stanley Robinson, Miriam Allen DeFord, Keith Laumer, an...| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Alan Gutierrez’s cover for the 1985 edition 4.5/5 (Very Good) Octavia E. Butler’s Clay’s Ark (1984) is the final published volume of her Patternist sequence (1976-1984).1 It is th…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
2 posts published by Joachim Boaz during October 2025| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading or planning to read next month? Here’s the August installment of this column. The Power of the List. I adore lists. I’ve compiled lists of science fiction stories on my site about generation ship stories, immortality (abandoned), overpopulation (abandoned), and sports and games (abandoned). I religiously update my SF Novel and … Continue reading What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXVI| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Paul Orban’s interior art for George H. Smith’s “The Last Days of L.A.” in If, ed. Damon Knight (February 1959) Back in 2021, I reviewed and adored George H. Smith’s &…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed? I apologize for the photos of my copies instead of my normal hi-res scans. My scanner died suddenly. Goodbye Dutiful and Dedicated Recorder of the SF Volumes. 1. Always Coming Home, Ursula K. Le Guin (1985) From the back cover: “Ursula K. Le Guin’s Always … Continue reading Updates: Recent Science Fiction and Fantasy Purchases No. CCCXLV (Ursula K. Le Guin, Alan Garner, Burt Cole, and a Cyberpunk Anthology)| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Note: My read but “waiting to be reviewed pile” is growing. Short rumination/tangents/impressions are a way to get through the stack before my memory and will fades. My website partially serve…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading or planning to read next month? Here’s the July installment of this column. One of my favorite forms of SF scholarship is careful identification of a intellectual genealogy–tracing what an author read and engaged in dialogue with. Authors are readers. They also can’t escape references and textual traces of what … Continue reading What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXV| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Margo Herr’s cover for the 1st edition 3.75/5 (collated rating: Good) Alien sex dolls. Carpet stain entities constructing love-nests. Underground retirement community entertainment. Jack Dann…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Today I’m joined again by Rachel S. Cordasco, the creator of the indispensable website and resource Speculative Fiction in Translation, for the fifth installment of our series exploring non-English language SF worlds. Last time we covered Kathinka Lannoy’s strange (and unsuccessful) Dutch language story “Drugs’ll Do You” (1978, trans. 1981). Please note that Rachel and … Continue reading Short Story Review: Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s “Wanderers and Travellers” (1963, tra...| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Frank R. Paul’s cover for Wonder Stories, ed. Hugo Gernsback (September 1934) The following review is the 36th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in so…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Photo of Chukwunonso Ezeiyoke’s Nigerian Speculative Fiction: The Evolution (2025) Over the last few years, I have highlighted a smattering of the vast range of spectacular scholarship on sci…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
For the Novel Reviews and Anthologies by Rating (here) Anthologies The 1972 Annual World’s Best SF (1972), ed. Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha The 1977 Annual World’s Best SF (197…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
TV Reviews Survivors (1975-1977) Season 1, episode 1: “The Fourth Horseman” Season 1, episode 2: “Genesis” Season 1, episode 3: “Gone Away” Space: 1999 (1975-197…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
This extensive index is divided into three categories. 1) Themed SF Cover Art Posts 2) Cover Art posts organized around an artist 3) Adventures in Interior SF Art and Maps SF Cover Art Posts on a T…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
(David McCall Johnston’s art for the 1971 edition) 3.25/5 (collated rating: Vaguely Good) New Writings in S-F 6 (1965) is the third I’ve read so far in John Carnell’s anthology se…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
Note: My read but “waiting to be reviewed pile” is growing. Short rumination/tangents/impressions are a way to get through the stack before my memory and will fades. My website partially serve…| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
The following reviews are the 33rd, 34th, and 35th installments of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which …| Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations
