Sci-Fi

After a few spy thrillers, I wanted to go back to Sci-Fi and this is John Scalzi’s turn:

What’s the Old Man’s War Series?

The Old Man’s War is the name of the first published book by sci-fi author John Scalzi, and the name of the series of novels that take place in the same universe.

This is a Military science fiction story that began with a 75-year-old soldier in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) named John Perry. Like his colleagues, Perry gets rejuvenated into a young and enhanced body before being sent to combat in the Galaxy. His chances of survival are low.

Read More »Old Man’s War Series in Order: How to read John Scalzi’s books?

In order to expand the scope of the blog, I thought the I could start to cover author and not only book series. So here we go, let’s start with Kurt Vonnegut. But first…

Who is Kurt Vonnegut?

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer who published his first novel in 1952, a few years after the war during which he was captured by the Germans.

He soon became for his anti-war stance that transpired in some of his most famous work, as well as his dark humor and his sometimes unconventional exploitation of science-fiction tropes.

Vonnegut is known today as one of the most important and influential writers of the 20th century.

Read More »Kurt Vonnegut Must Read Books: A Reading Guide

If you are into good sci-fi on TV, you probably are watching The Expanse on Amazon Prime Video. This series is based on the novels by James S. A. Corey and it’s still ongoing with a new one announced for this year and probably a few more after that.

What is The Expanse series about?

Created by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, The Expanse is a sci-fi series – a space opera – that takes us to a future where humans have started migrating into space.

In the beginning, Ty Franck developed the world of The Expanse as an idea for a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Abraham saw the potential for a book series and they started writing it, each author taking charge of specific characters.

The story begins approximately 200 years after mankind started colonizing the solar system and deals with the political, cultural, and economic themes in the wake of a scientific discovery that will change the universe. The peace between Earth and Mars is in jeopardy and the belters, the peoples of the Asteroid belt who provide the system with essential natural resources see an opportunity to gain leverage, being exploited mercilessly by the governments of the two planets.

With tension rising, James Holden and the survivors of his ship are trying to find out why they were attacked. What they discover will redefine the power structure of the system but many lives are at risk.

Read More »The Expanse Books in Order: How to read James S. A. Corey’s series?

If you like Douglas Adams, go check out the holistic detective Dirk Gently.

What is The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy about?

Originally created by English author and screenwriter Douglas Adams as a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy–or H2G2 for short–was also adapted into stage shows, comic books, a TV series (in 1981), a computer game (in 1984) and finally in a feature film (in 2005). But we are here to talk about the novels.

The story revolves around Arthur Dent, the last surviving man following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

Rescued by his friend Ford Prefect, a human-like alien writer for the travel guide The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dent explores the galaxy with Ford and encounters Trillian, another human formerly known as Tricia McMillan, the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford’s eccentric semi-cousin and the Galactic President, and the depressed robot Marvin the Paranoid Android.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy developed into a “trilogy” of five books that sold more than 15 million copies. Every year since 2001, on 25 May, Towel Day is celebrated as a tribute to Douglas Adams.

Read More »The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Books in Order: How to read Douglas Adams’s classic Sci-Fi series?

Like a lot of people, I read Dune and I thought it was awesome. Then, I didn’t want it to stop, so I keep on reading. Two books later, it was not as good as it was at the beginning, so I took a break.

After a long while, I thought I might pick up where I left off, thinking it would be easy. Wrong, things get more complicated the further you go in the series. So, I tried to compile what I found and this is the result.

What is the Dune series about?

Well, it’s a classic and a franchise. Written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965, Dune is a science-fiction epic set in a distant future where the one who controls the “spice” controls the universe — it’s the over-simplistic way to introduce the story.

Dune takes us to a feudal interstellar society in which noble houses controlling individual planets had pledged allegiance to the Padishah Emperor. The story began with young Paul Atreides whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis where you can find the only source of the “spice” melange. Politics, religion, ecology, and technology collide when forces of the empire plot against each other in order to seize control of Arrakis.

Dune was adapted as a movie in 1984 by David Lynch, and in 2021 by Denis Villeneuve. It was also adapted as a TV miniseries (two in facts) by the American Sci-Fi Channel in 2000.

Read More »Dune Books in Order: How to read Frank Herbert Sci-Fi classic?