SF Universe

Category: Science Fiction – General

  • Remembering Frederik Pohl (1919-2013)

    Back in June, this blog marked the first anniversary of the sad and untimely death of one of my favourite SF authors, Iain M. Banks, who we lost to cancer last year at the age of only 59. This month marks the first anniversary of the death of yet another of my favourite SF authors,…

  • Remembering Frederik Pohl (1919-2013)

    Back in June, this blog marked the first anniversary of the sad and untimely death of one of my favourite SF authors, Iain M. Banks, who we lost to cancer last year at the age of only 59. This month marks the first anniversary of the death of yet another of my favourite SF authors,…

  • The Age of Innocence – \”Sensawunda\” and the Older Science Fiction Fan

    Older sci-fi/SF fans (or \”fen\”, to give them their correct title), almost all have an incredibly developed Sense of Wonder, more often referred to in the SF world as \”sensawunda\”, that wide-eyed innocence and boundless enthusiasm, that willingness to see beyond the mundane world around us and embrace the infinite potential and possibilities of the…

  • Remembering Iain M. Banks (1954-2013)

    This month marks the first anniversary of the passing of science fiction author Iain M. Banks, who died on June 9th, 2013. He was taken from us at the tragically young age of only fifty-nine, after many months battling against terminal cancer. His death robbed the science fiction world of one of its greatest authors…

  • Remembering Iain M. Banks (1954-2013)

    This month marks the first anniversary of the passing of science fiction author Iain M. Banks, who died on June 9th, 2013. He was taken from us at the tragically young age of only fifty-nine, after many months battling against terminal cancer. His death robbed the science fiction world of one of its greatest authors…

  • Reading Science Fiction

    Reading Science Fiction literature has always been one of my main interests in life, and I\’ve been reading \”proper\” science fiction since I first signed out H.G. Wells\’ The Time Machine from the local library at the tender age of about eight or nine years old (circa 1969-1970). I usually prefer older (classic) SF, pre-\”New…

  • Reading SF: Short Fiction for Beginners

    When is a short story not a \”short story\”? Surely everything that isn\’t a novel is a short story, isn\’t it? What\’s all this novella and novelette business, then? And what the heck\’s a short-short story? For newcomers to reading SF, the terminology and categorization of short fiction can be a bit confusing. Well, technically…

  • What Do I Look For in a Good SF Story?

    I know that everyone has their own views on what makes a good SF story and what doesn\’t, and I\’ve obviously got a few opinions of my own. As with most things, it\’s obviously all a matter of personal preference. Indulging my own completely subjective views, here\’s what I look for (or don\’t) in an…

  • Frederik Pohl (1919-2013)

    Back in June of this year, I made a blog posting about the tragically sad and untimely passing of one of my favourite SF authors, Iain M. Banks, who we lost to cancer at the far, far too young age of 59. He was merely the latest in a long line of all-too frequent announcements…

  • Iain M. Banks (1954-2013)

    I was really saddened to learn of the death of science fiction author Iain M. Banks on June 9th. It wasn\’t really a surprise, given that he\’d announced to the world two months before that he had terminal cancer. But most of us thought he\’d be with us for a few more months at least,…