#Charles E Gannon

[dzgrizzle]

I’m reading a novel by one of my favorite science fiction authors and I was unsure how one of the alien words was pronounced, so I messaged him and got a reply within five minutes. Sometimes it feels like I’m living in a science fiction novel — one where a cat is glaring at me as I read.

[abookishidentity]

Books finished in October 2024

-Fire With Fire by Charles E. Gannon started September 30, 2024 and finished October 4, 2024- 3/5 stars. This book was a bit boring. If the book focused more on first contact then it would be more interesting. I just felt bad for the main character the entire time. He was cryogenically frozen for like 13 years and forever being manipulated by these two dudes for most of the book. I also didn't like that there was a woman who was in the same boat and they essentially used her and put her together with the main character. That bothered me. Not going to finish the rest of the series

-The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey started October 4, 2024 and finished October 7, 2024- 5/5 stars. I enjoyed this series so much. I wish the final book wasn't $40 and less than 200 pages? Anyway Felix was able to save his best friend in this book. Would have loved them to tearfully reunite with each other but his friend saying "Fix" and then passing out is good enough.

-The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman started October 7, 2024 and finished October 10, 2024- 4.5/5 stars. This is an excellent start to a series. I need to read more of this series. It's such a cool world.

-The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz started October 11, 2024 and finished October 13, 2024- 4/5 stars. I am glad I read this book. It had such cool ideas and such interesting characters. The world buidling was super interesting too. Need to check out more of Annalee's books.

-The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown started October 14, 2024 and finished October 16, 2024- 4.5/5 stars. This book was excellent. As soon as the book of doors was revealed to let you travel through time (spoilers) it became much more interesting. This is like the third book in which in order to change the future the character has to live in the past for a while. Utterly fascinating though. Don't see the point of a character of getting her memory wiped only for her to be tortured for information and slowly learning back her memory anyway? Also you can show a man is evil without making him racist and misogynistic right?

-Velocity Weapon by Megan E O’Keefe started October 17, 2024 and finished October 20, 2024- 3/5 stars. This book was a little long for my taste. Three stories taking place. The main character, her brother, and this woman who is in a gang of tech thieves? I didn't really care for the final side of the story. She didn't interact with the two other characters. It seemed pointless. Book became much more interesting when it was revealed that the AI rogue robot ship lied to the main character and it wasn't 200-300 years later but merely like 2 years. Not going to continue the series.

-Wicked reread by Gregory Maguire started October 20, 2024 and finished October 23, 2024- 4/5 stars. I reread this book because the musical movie is coming out soon and there will be more stuff from the book in it. Just dont' know what they would include. The book is a lot more raunchier than I remember. Still a good book though.

-Apostles of Mercy by Lindsay Ellis started October 24, 2024 and finished October 27, 2024- 4/5 stars. This book was better than the second book at least. I thought Cora was going to leave with Ampersand to space in the last book but this book picks 18 months later and they are still on earth. I know this is my own fault but I am getting sick of reading sci fi in which the earth is doomed. Ahh well at least this book didn't end with genocide.

-A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske started October 28, 2024 and finished October 31, 2024- 4.5/5 stars. Oh this book was quite good. I like the magic system in this book. Felt for the main character who was magicless and was thrust into the world because of a clerical error. I don't usually read books in which the romantic pairing is with two men but it was quite entertaining and interesting to read. Maybe its the aroace in me but these men only knew each other for a week before they had sex with each other. And after they nearly died twice. Still it was written very well. I need to read the other two books in this trilogy. Maybe the two men appear in it again.

-Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor started and finished October 31, 2024- 3/5 stars. Short book. Interesting characters and world building. Should read more of Nnedi's work.

[lizabethstucker]

Baen Free Short Stories 2013

4 out of 5.

A selection of fifteen short stories published in 2013 by Baen Publishing, free at their website. A mixture of science fiction and fantasy with an occasional outlier.

The stories are, for the most part, interesting and enjoyable reads. While not every story appealed to me, and a few were extremely confusing, I don't regret giving them all a read. Some of my particular favorites include "Eleutherios", "Dog's Body" (I immediately downloaded the first Shifter book after finishing this story), and "Murder on the Hochflieger Ost". FYI, "Sweothi City" is military adventure, while "Murder on the Hochflieger Ost" is a pre-World War I spy mystery, neither science fiction nor fantasy.

Contents/Individual Ratings

"Eleutherios" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. 4.5 "Seven Miles" by T. C. McCarthy. 3.5 "To Spec" by Charles E. Gannon. 4.5 "Skyspark" by Ryk E. Spoor. DNF (I just couldn't connect with this novella.) "The Krumhorn and the Misericorde" by Dave Freer. 3.5 "Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden" by Wen Spencer. 3.5 "Haunts of Guilty Minds" by John Lambshead. 4 "The Lamplighter Legacy" by Patrick O'Sullivan. 3.5 "Dog's Body" by Sarah A. Hoyt. 5 "The Sorcerer of Daigawa" by Jon F. Merz. 3 "Sweothi City" by Larry Correia. 4 "Out of True" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. 3 "Mars Farts" by Ben Bova. 3.5 "The Virgin of Hertogenbosch" by David Drake. 3.5 "Murder on the Hochflieger Ost" by Frank Chadwick. 4.5

[ldknightshade]

tags list!

metalocalypse!

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jeffrey combs posting!

moved to: @jeffrey-combs

sometimes the question/vic sage will have this tag due to voicing him in justice league unlimited

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personal tags!

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additional tags!

asks ✮ gpoy ✮ my ocs ✮ friends ocs ✮ others ocs ✮ writing ✮ media literacy ✮ purity culture ✮ moral relativism

will update as necessary!

[paulsemel]

In my new interview with sci-fi writer Charles E. Gannon, he discusses "Protected Species," the seventh installment of his "Caine Riordan" series. https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-protected-species-author-charles-e-gannon/ 📖🪐👽

[scifi4wifi]

An Interview with Multiple Nebula Nominee Charles E. Gannon

An Interview with Multiple Nebula Nominee Charles E. Gannon

First of all, you are a multiple Nebula nominated author, you worked with other authors, you are a game designer, a professor of English Literature, a recipient of five Fulbright fellowships and Travel Grants, you worked with Discovery Channel, NPR, NASA, DARPA, NATO…. Do you sleep?

Not as much as I would like. Seriously.

Your Caine Riordan series has been nominated for Nebula award 4 times…

[samueldays]

Sam Reviews: Books from this summer

Speaking of reading, this summer I slurped up lots of miscellaneous free book offerings from ÆtherCzar's Super Summer Book Sale. Here are some quick reviews, sorted into four tiers, mostly from memory and potentially inaccurate.

Best of the lot:

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin, by L. Jagi Lamplighter. Young witch goes to magic school. Sort of like if Harry Potter had been written by C.S. Lewis. Better cast, better antagonists, better world-outside-school-country. This was the freebie giveaway that caused me to buy the greatest number of subsequent books by the same author.

Time Traders (with Galactic Derelict), by Andre Norton. Constrained time travel fic where the protagonists are trying to blend in and not disturb the timeline while playing spy games (US vs RU) among the Beaker people and looking for signs of aliens.

Would read again:

Cobra, by Timothy Zahn. Somewhat predictable supersoldier program fighting aliens and then facing home problems, but well executed. Author probably better known for Thrawn.

Trilisk Ruins, by Michael McCloskey. Space archaeology. Feels like fanfic of some big name scifi (Trek?) with names swapped and bits erased to make it sellable. Decent plot, weak setting, replaceable characters.

Fire with Fire, by Charles E. Gannon. The second half of this book is a pretty good story about meeting several aliens and having tense negotiations. The first half is a shaggy dog story about the protagonist's origins and I wish it had been condensed into a flashback chapter.

Oath of Swords, by David Weber. Swords-and-sorcery fantasy, quite 90s and D&D-ish, I liked it but might not recommend it as much as some other books here.

How Black the Sky, by TJ Marquis. Pulp fantasy but it's extra pulpy and heavy metal and everyone has names like "Axebourne" and "Deathgrip" and "Ice-Eyes the Flayer" and they ride bloodhoofs instead of horses and the kids play hurtball. Goofy, but original and entertaining.

The Empire's Corps, by Christopher G. Nuttall. In a declining space empire, a corps of soldiers is sent into semi-exile on a fringe world, with an outcast professor in tow, and they work to settle in and sort out the place. Overly fond of name-dropping Thomas Kratman as in-universe military author.

A Hymn Before Battle, by John Ringo. Humanity's first contact is learning that a conflict-shy galactic federation of aliens is at war with the Designated Antagonist, and we get recruited to be the war-happy frontline. Deep plot lurks in the background.

Nightland Racer, by Fenton Wood. What if you were a washed-out racecar driver brought back for one last great trip by a government program that gave you a nuclear-powered car and a mission of driving into the Twilight Zone, but it threw you into the far future where Earth is being oppressed by an evil sun that has usurped the regular sun, while factions of posthumans make war in the cold darkness.

Not to my taste, but:

Freehold, by Michael Z. Williamson. A fairly generic Planet Libertarianism wank with a bisexual female protagonist who reeks of author fantasy. Try Corcoran's Aristillus series instead if you want libertarian separatism.

Fire Ant, by Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee, USMC (Ret). Underdeveloped, unfinished-seeming book about space pilot.

The Divine Space Pirates, by C.S. Johnson. Space opera romance with star-crossed lovers and amnesia plot. Couldn't get halfway through before tossing it aside. I'm sure someone very different likes it.

Rawjack, by TJ Marquis. Superheroes ("Innates") have recently appeared in an otherwise fantasy setting, but an evil group of wizards is trying to reassert magical supremacy by taking away superpowers. Gimmicky.

Don't bother:

Faith & Empire, by Carlos Carrasco. I was promised Scifi Space Catholics by the art and opening, but what I got was extremely soft space opera mil-fic where the fleet commander (space is an ocean) says "Slow to one-half C" in a space battle, the religion feels copypasted rather than lived, and who the fuck names a ship Torquemada?

Recruit (The United Federation Marine Corps), by Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee, USMC (Ret). This is a very straightforward boy-joins-corps-and-becomes-a-man tale, no twists, one frill, entirely forgettable and indistinguishable from a hundred like it. Extruded Book Product and author indulgence.

The Brutal Sword Saga (Omnibus 1), by James Alderdice. It's cast as a gritty fantasy novel, but the protagonist might as well be a Warhammer Space Marine for the way he keeps carving through everyone and everything, garbed in the finest plot armor, taking wounds of plot-convenient severity.

[cmplus-me]

Caine's Mutiny

New Post has been published on https://ebook-mania.net/caines-mutiny/

Caine's Mutiny

A new entry in the critically acclaimed Caine Riordan science fiction series by three-time Nebula nominee Charles E. Gannon! Science fiction on a grand scale. Prequels Raising Caine, Trial by Fire and Fire with Fire were all Nebula Award finalists. Charles E. Gannon is also the winner of the Compton Crook Award.Caine Riordan, fresh from serving as envoy to the aliens known as the Slaasriithi, has been given yet another daunting task: apprehend raiders that are terrorizing a distant planet.As difficulties mount, Caine becomes aware that the mission his superiors sent him to perform may not be the one they actually hope he will achieve. Which means Caine may be forced to choose between honoring a promise to friends or following orders—a choice that could ultimately put him in front of a board of inquiry. Or a firing squad.At the publisher’s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).About Raising Caine: “Raising Caine unveils a lot of thought-provoking ideas but ultimately this is a space opera adventure. There are space battles, daring emergency landings, desperate quests, hand-to-hand combat, and double-and-triple crosses. It’s an engrossing read. You owe it to yourself to read the two previous books in order. Then enjoy Raising Caine. It’s an intergalactic thrill-ride.”—Fantasy and Science Ficton Book and Audiobook Reviews”This is science-fiction adventure on a grand scale.”—Kirkus”Gannon’s harrowing . . . military space opera (following Trial by Fire) builds well on his established setting . . . Gannon’s signature attention to developing realistic alien worlds makes this installment satisfying.”—Publishers Weekly“. . . an incredibly active book . . . as our protagonists are confronted by the beautiful, terrible, and sometimes lethal variety of the universe and its inhabitants. . . . a whole mess of fun . . . that manages to be scientifically accurate while refraining from excessive wonkiness. Those who value meticulous world-building . . . will certainly have their needs met.”—BN Sci-Fi and Fantasy BlogAbout Nebula-nominated second entry, Trial by Fire:“I seriously enjoyed Trial by Fire. This one’s a tidal wave—can’t put it down. An excellent book.” —Jack McDevitt on the prequel”Gannon’s whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first (Fire with Fire) . . . The charm of Caine’s harrowing adventure lies in Gannon’s attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review” . . . definitely one to appeal to the adventure fans. Riordan is a smart hero, up against enormous obstacles and surrounded by enemies. Author Gannon does a good job of managing action and tension to keep the story moving, and the details of the worlds Riordan visits are interesting in their own right..”—Analog ” . . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era of Analog Science Fiction will remember. Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel to Fire With Fire, it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action.” —Daily News of Galveston CountyAbout Compton Crook Award-winner for best first novel,Fire with Fire:“Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds—someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint.”—David Weber “If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact.”—David Brin”The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it.”—Jerry Pournelle”[T]he intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning.”—SF CrowsnestAbout Starfire series hit, Extremis, coauthored by Charles E. Gannon:“Vivid . . . Battle sequences mingle with thought-provoking exegesis . . . ”—Publishers Weekly”It’s a grand, fun series of battles and campaigns, worthy of anything Dale Brown or Larry Bond ever wrote.” —AnalogAbout Charles E. Gannon:”Chuck Gannon writes the kind of science fiction we all grew up on: rousing, mind-expanding, pulse-pounding sagas of spaceships and aliens. He’s a terrific writer, and we’re lucky to have him.”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula award winning author of Quantum Night and Flashforward”[A] strong [writer of] . . . military SF . . . [much] action going on in his work, with a lot of physics behind it. There is a real sense of the urgency of war and the sacrifices it demands.” —Locus

Download EPUB

[hwwswebtv]

Do You Have the Marque of Caine? Sci-fi Author Chuck Gannon: an interview on the Hangin With Web Show

Host and Award Winning Author & Journalist GW Pomichter talks with Science Fiction Author

Charles E. Gannon during an in-studio Skype interview between Melbourne Florida

and Annapolis Maryland.

The Hangin With Web Show is sending out a SPECIAL THANKS to our friends & partners who help

support the show and the fabulous creators we bring to the limelight, including Hearts Helping Others of Central Florida, Yvonne Mason the lovely host of Off The Chain, Space Coast Comixx, Famous Faces & Funnies, IndieOriginals, Coggler Emporium, Krypton Radio, @JBauerArt and Foxwood Wine Company…you guys are awesome!

[deehollowaywrites]

What is surprising, however, is that the five of the six indie finalists are very different from the other finalists in style, subgenre, etc… They’re all either military leaning space opera or outright military SF of the “Pew pew” type, which isn’t traditionally something the Nebula electorate tends to go for, though there are exceptions, e.g. Charles E. Gannon and Jack McDevitt who got several nominations for military and action adventure science fiction a few years ago. Furthermore, all six nominated indie authors (one story had two authors) plus one hybrid author are members of a Facebook group for indie authors called 20Booksto50K.

Given recent history of SFF awards and recent and ongoing conversations in Romancelandia, this is worth a read.

[tonkiyy]

Starfire name

#STARFIRE NAME SERIES#

#STARFIRE NAME FREE#

Uploading images is another really easy way to help out - see the Special:Upload page!.Every wiki has two list of articles that need help called "Stubs" and "Wanted Articles".Check out Help:Starting this wiki if you're setting up the wiki.If you are new to wikis, check out the tutorial, and see Help:Contents.Find out more about the wiki on the About page.To write a new article, just enter the article title in the box below. Gaming miniatures stands bases initial subforum miniatures too many subforums to list here.Quick Start Miniature Rules, modified from 5th and 6th edition Starfire for miniatures / Ultra Starfire & Solar Starfire.Quick Start Rules - Final (version 201302), adapted from 6th edition Starfire = Solar Starfire.Quick Start Rules - Advanced (version 201209), adapted from 6th edition Starfire = Solar Starfire.Solar Starfire Training Scenarios: Phase 1, adapted from 6th edition Starfire = Solar Starfire.Quick Start Rules (version 201206), adapted from 5th and 6th edition Starfire / Ultra Starfire & Solar Starfire.

#STARFIRE NAME FREE#

Free quick introductory gaming : from the Downloads page, click the SEARCH button, and find :.

Subform fan fiction There are many other fan fiction web sites not listed here, that are external from the SDS forum.

Can be found on SDS Legacy Supplement CD. There are articles by David Weber and Steve White and many others.

Nexus magazines published by Task Force Games.

Gannon, Shared World Starfire, Baen booksĪdditional historical details can be found in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd editions of Starfire games, gaming supplements, and related publications.

David Weber, Subforum Starfire, Baen books.

? will be published by Baen (2016 March) ? Fantastic Fiction ? forthcoming ? forthcoming ? TBD 2015 ? ( cryptic tag line ) “Things are about to get messy-messier than they’ve ever been.”Ĭharles E. Gannon, copyright 2016, Advance Reader Copy Unproofed, Imperative, Imperative - eARC, by Steve White & Charles E. Gannon is collaborating with Steve White on book 7 :ħ. The fighting continues as the Arduans and the Grand Alliance learn more about each other, and try to reach across their challenging communications gap.Ĭharles E. Extremis, Extremis - eARC,by Steve White and Charles E. Exodus, Exodus - eARC, by Steve White and Shirley Meier, copyright 2006.Įvacuating their civilization from their sun going nova to seek a new home world, the xenophobic Arduans have a cultural clash with the Grand Alliance, and both must fight for survival.Ħ. The Terran Republic fights for independence against the overbearing power and corporate control of the Terran Federation.ĥ. Insurrection, by David Weber and Steve White, copyright 1990. Trapped behind enemy lines, Survey Flotilla 19 makes friendly diplomatic contact with a traumatized but powerful empire, The Star Union (of Crucis), who join the Grand Alliance with renewed determination to resume their fight against the Arachnid menace.Ĥ. The Shiva Option, by David Weber and Steve White, copyright 2002. The Stars at War II, by David Weber and Steve White, printed July 2005, is an omnibus consisting of these two novels : The Shiva Option, and a revised and expanded version of Insurrection, copyright 2005.ģ. The Fourth Interstellar war begins when the Grand Alliance engages in mutual self defense against the horrific onslaught of the Arachnid Omnivoracity in their quest for more protein sources.ī. In Death Ground, by David Weber and Steve White, copyright 1997. Nearly a century after the First Interstellar War, the fanatical Theban Church of Holy Terra now emerge to liberate the Holy mother home world of the apostate Terran Federation from their sinful alliance with the satanic Khanate of Orion.Ģ. Crusade, by David Weber and Steve White, copyright 1992. The Stars at War, by David Weber and Steve White, printed August 2004, is an omnibus consisting of the following two novels :ġ. This wiki is designed to be a comprehensive encyclopedia of the military science fiction created by David Weber and Steve White.Ī partial fictional history of the Starfire universe can be enjoyed by reading these books in the following order.Ī.

#STARFIRE NAME SERIES#

The wiki about the Starfire novel series that anyone can edit

[abookishidentity]

Books I recently checked out of the library

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst- Checking out all science fiction books from the library isn't smart otherwise I will judge them against each other. I found this book by the new science fiction/fantasy section. When I picked it up, it mentioned mentioned libraries and librarians and I'm a sucker for those. I just hope that the romance storyline isn't annoying. I'm currently 60 pages in and so far it isn't.

Willful Child by Steven Erikson- This is the type of book that appeals to me. The main character sounds like a mess and the alien species sound interesting. There's also an intriguing sounding AI.

How Long Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin- I like anthology books. They are fun. I have read N.K's work before and so I thought this book would be good to read.

Fire With Fire by Charles E. Gannon- Not much to say about this one. I think I picked it because it sounded up my alley.

[scifigeneration]

Why Altered Carbon is not about the future – and nor is any other science fiction

by Gavin Miller

Netflix

The hopes and dreams of the technological movement known as “transhumanism” have been brought into the media spotlight thanks to Netflix’s new science fiction series, Altered Carbon (based on Richard Morgan’s 2001 novel).

Transhumanists believe that our species will soon undergo a technological evolution into a new and superior form. While there is no single template for transhumanism’s imagined future, there are a number of recurring motifs, such as enhanced cognition, improved bodies and extended lifespans. Sometimes the emphasis is on enhanced biology; sometimes on the supplementation or replacement of the body by technology.

Altered Carbon plays with the ingredients of one transhumanist vision in particular. This is personal immortality through the transferal of the individual human mind into a computer program, which may then be indefinitely preserved and duplicated through a succession of different bodies. And so one could easily think of Altered Carbon as simply an elaboration of the transhumanist worldview – a prophecy of the near future presented in popular entertainment for a mass audience. This assumption is certainly encouraged by promotional coverage, which invites cast members to predict technological developments of the next 200 years.

But is Altered Carbon, or any other work of science fiction, really an attempt to foresee the future? In fact, science fiction has a more important job to do: not to show us the future, but to show us our present-day reality afresh. The real aim of science fiction is to make the everyday world become strange and unfamiliar.

SF futurology

Admittedly, the futures imagined in science fiction sometimes come true (although often they don’t). Science fiction writers told stories about going to the moon before anyone actually went there. They told stories about artificially intelligent machines before these were invented. And so on. This means readers may try to rummage through science fiction for prophetic images, especially of future technologies. Such supposed prophecies needn’t be endorsements, of course. The dystopian vision of Altered Carbon might, for instance, be construed as a warning that we need “to be thinking about the cost of pursuing technological immortality”.

Such a predictive model of science fiction has been popular with military technologists, who have thought of the genre as a crystal ball showing the future of warfare. The cultural historian (and latterly science fiction writer) Charles E Gannon has shown, for instance, how Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (1959) informed the thinking of US military planners, who were inspired not only by its technology, but also by its new model of the infantry as highly-trained elite troops. This way of reading science fiction is also encouraged by science fiction authors like H G Wells and Arthur C Clarke, because they also wrote non-fiction – what we might now call “futurology” – in which they tried to forecast the future.

But while science fiction sometimes turns out to be accurate futurology, this doesn’t mean prediction is essential to the genre. Although some science fiction technologies – such as rocketry or computing – have been carefully grounded in scientific possibility, many have not been. There is only the barest scientific explanation (if any) for many science fiction devices. Think of faster-than-light travel (warp drives), teleportation, telepathy, time travel, and connected parallel universes.

The body-swapping gadgetry of Altered Carbon is no different. The premise of AI, mixed with the new experience of consumer computing (copying and backing up files), and finished off with a veneer of technological jargon (“cortical stack”), gives an illusion of technological depth and solidity to its daydream of disembodied consciousness. Such far-out, make-believe technologies seem believable because science fiction writers cleverly imitate the language and style of scientific and technological writing.

Distortion of the present

So if science fiction doesn’t try to predict the future, what is the point of its various make believe images of the future?

Above all, science fiction uses make believe futures to show our own world in a cleverly distorted way. This allows us to see it afresh – as if our own culture were that of a foreign land – forcing us to ask uncomfortable questions about what we take as natural, right, inevitable.

War of the Worlds 1927 cover. Wikimedia Commons

Although this view dates from around the 1970s, it reflects a much longer tradition of science fiction. Wells’s The War of the Worlds (1898) shows Victorian London – the heart of a world empire – being ruthlessly conquered and exploited by a technologically superior civilisation. The story invites its readers to question the ethics of imperialism.

Other, more recent works question the naturalness of the roles doled out to men and women, and the reality of sex and gender themselves. Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) imagines a future society in which pregnancy happens outside the body in special machines, and where men take on equally the hard work of caring for babies (thanks in part to technology that allows them to produce breast milk). There’s even a gender-neutral pronoun (the all-purpose “per” instead of “he” and “she”). Piercy’s novel forces us to recognise our assumptions about the importance and reality of sex and gender. The book is not rigorously grounded in biology and linguistics – but this doesn’t matter.

Altered Carbon borrows images from transhumanism and uses them in a similar, genre-specific way. Its world helps us articulate the class divisions of our own society: the wealthy elite, who can live forever in a succession of bodies, are an intensified representation of present-day inequalities, including access to advanced healthcare.

By making our everyday world into something strange and alien, science fiction hopes that we will question and change our society. Science fiction does not invite us to be prophets, but anthropologists making sense of a complex and troubling foreign culture – which we may eventually come to recognise as our own. And so when reading or watching science fiction, look for the moments when the future seems shocking, repulsive, and alien to everything you hold dear. Ask what these moments correspond to in your world.

Gavin Miller is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities at the University of Glasgow.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

[paulsemel]

With "Into The Vortex," writer Charles E. Gannon is presenting the middle of his epic fantasy "Vortex Of Worlds" trilogy. But as he explains in this exclusive Q&A, this story is bigger than a trilogy...and the genre of epic fantasy. 📖⚔️

[drcisko]

Charles E. Gannon - Trial By Fire (2014) The second book in the ongoing Caine Riordan series, Trial By Fire picks up soon after the end of the first volume and deals mainly with the occupation of earth by an alien coalition as well as the resistance movement and counter-attack by earth forces. This is a really long military sci-fi book, clocking in at over 800 pages it is much more focused on one event than the previous book of the series, basically three fourths of the book cover one single battle on several fronts in exhaustive detail. Gannon is a pretty good writer and even if some moments of the book start feeling slightly dull he is smart enough to give you enough twists and interesting characters so that you know that in a couple of pages it will become interesting again. Caine Riordan, the central character in the tale is pretty awesome. He is not perfect but he is really smart, so much so that he figures stuff out at about the same time as the reader does, often in this kind of stories you spend your time shouting at the main character because he is missing the obvious, not Caine, he is never less than brilliant and that is a pretty good way to not underestimate the reader's intelligence. The story mixes Caine's personal drama with the military action ongoing throughout the book as a way to give the reader respite from what might otherwise be a pretty dry story and manages to explore the alien races to great depth making them multi-faceted and often sympathetic. A fun series up until now, and I do want to keep reading it even after some 870 pages. High praise indeed. (4/5) #charlesegannon #trialbyfire #scifi #sciencefiction #book #books #bookish #bibliophile #bookgram #bookstagram #bookporn #bookworm #booklover #bookcover (at Lisbon, Portugal) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5zYBHFiYF/?igshid=17f3pcp9fe5no

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Woodbury Lions Club hosting American Red Cross blood drives

Blood Drives in Cannon County for over 60 years.

It has been said that the Lions Club drives are the best in the Tennessee Valley Region Blood Services area, which includes all of Tennessee, parts of Kentucky, and Alabama.

The extra effort put forth by the Lions Club has little to do with it. The Woodbury Lions Club has a committee of members that work together to help insure that everything runs smoothly, along with community volunteers who like to help out.

Some of the volunteers have more experience working with blood drives that the actual Red Cross staff who go out daily working with blood drives within the area.

Committee chairmen’s Patsy and Carl Hirlston and Bobby Bogard with committee members Ken and Artie Jean McIntyre, Lois Larimer, Clyde Thomas, Nolan Northcutt, Robert Jennings, Charlie Brown, Clyde and Kitty Bush, Chris Brushaber, Danny Miller, Cliff Swoape, Andy Jacobs, Doug Combs, and Gina Mitchell, all work together along with community volunteers of Bessie Miller, Orval and Esther Gray, Juanita Burks, Cathey Parker, Betty Harder, Shirley Borren, Jane Jennings, Grace Young, Nile Young, Della Young, Robert Young, Kay Campbell, Carol Davenport, Bobbie Henline, Jim Henline, Betty Paschal, Ann Todd, Mary Sue Vinson, and Mary Nelle Hillis too create a professional staff that assist members of the American Red Cross staff.

The Lions Club assigns a task of greeting donors and signing them in, handing out water and assigning donors with a number.

Copies of the Cannon Courier are provided for donors to read before or after their donation.

Red Cross provides snacks and the Woodbury Lions Club has additional snacks such as: a one-of-a-kind trail mix, peanut butter and crackers, baloney and crackers, and cheese and crackers.

A staff works in the canteen area who assist the donors after they have donated by getting them a drink of juice, water, soda, or coffee and then sitting with them and talking. They also watch the donor to see if the donors face color changes or if their arm starts bleeding from where the donor had given blood.

Woodbury Club also keeps records of each donation and awards donors with pins and Certificates when completing gallon donations. Along with taking pictures of donors receiving awards and being pinned with a gallon donation pin, plus having members of the Lions Club calling and reminding donors of upcoming blood drives also adds a little bit more to why Cannon County Blood Drives are better and produces more regular donors than other areas which has a larger population.

Woodbury Lions Club host six blood drives a year, always the third Thursday in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Each blood drive is noon until six pm except May’s drive, which runs from 9 am until 6 pm. May’s blood drive is a donor appreciation drive, and most of the businesses in Cannon County donate door prizes.

In the last five to six years, each donor was able to win three of four items because of the generosity of the businesses and their support of the Lions Club and wanting to reward the true everyday heroes of Cannon County, those who give of themselves to help save the lives of others. In most cases, they are saving the lives of people who they do not know.

On May 20th, 2010 the following businesses provided door prizes for the heroes of Cannon County: A Touch of Home Flower’s & Gifts, Arts Center of Cannon County, Auto Zone, Birdsong Adhesives, Boyd’s Garage, Briar Rose Flowers and Gifts, Bromley/Jennings Automotive, Cannon County Chiropractic, Cannon Market, Captain D’s, CareAll, Cell Plus, Coco Tan & Spa, Chilangoes Mexican Restaurant, Curves, Cutting Edge Hair Salon, D J’s Pizza and Steakhouse, Family Dentistry Deason & Bucher, Farm Bureau Insurance, First National Bank, Flower Occasions, Gina’s Boutique, Hardee’s, Hayes Bros Auto Care, Hibdon’s Body Shop, Higgins Car Wash, J P’s Fine Swine Bar-B-Que, Jennings Jewelers, Joe’s Place, Legendary Cuts, Lightwriters Photography, Lions Pizza Den, The Millennium Hair Salon, Moonlite Drive-In, NAPA, The Old Feed Store, One Stop Market, Parsley’s Market & Deli, Paul Reed’s Furniture, Paul’s Auto Service, Piggly Wiggly, Potter’s Ace Hardware, Quick Shop Market, Reed’s Building Supply, Regions Bank, Roger Hindman Body Shop, Scavenger Hunt Flea Market, Scavenger Hunt Trading Post, The Scoreboard, Shirt Shack, Shotgun County Pawn & Gun, Smitty Tire Shop, Stewart’s Printing, Stone Gait Tack and Feed, Subway, West End Tobacco Store, Woodbury Auto Express, Woodbury Insurance Agency, and Woodbury Lawn & Garden. Every donor and volunteer received a promotional ink pen from DTC, a pillbox from Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Cooperation, Chap Stick from FirstBank, a value meal card from Sonic, and a 3 pound bag of stone ground corn meal from The Readyville Mill.

The Red Cross also provided promotional items and the Woodbury Lions Club provided $10 gift certificates and a grand prize of $100 gift card.

It is very hard to find another community that has so many businesses that support a civic club as much as the ones in Cannon County.

Most all the businesses give support to the Woodbury Lions Club for sponsorship of the Lions Club Horse Show, White Cane donations, and door prizes for the donor appreciation Blood Drive. Without support from the local businesses, the Woodbury Lions Club would not be able to do as much as it does within the community, state, country, and world. Local businesses are one of the leading reasons why Cannon County Blood Drives are so much better that anywhere else in the state.

Another reason and probably the number one reason the blood drives are the best anywhere is the volume of regular donors in Cannon County. In any community only a certain per cent are eligible to donate and of that per cent only about 3 to 5 percent actually donates, but the donors in Cannon County has a much higher percent.

This is not due to the Lions Club and its part, nor the businesses and its part, but it is the individual donor and the way of life in Cannon County, the way most have been raised to want to help others in need in any way they can.

The mentality of the average person in Cannon County is to serve in any way they can. This mentality is one of the reasons Woodbury Lions Club is one of the largest clubs in the state.

It is why the businesses give as much as they do, and why so many volunteers do jobs within the county for little or no pay. The parents, schools and churches within the community teach the children from an early age of the importance of giving back to the community in which they live and the lesson that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

This is why Cannon County has had over 360 donors in the past 2-½ years. Woodbury Lions Club and the American Red Cross both use fiscal years that begin on 1 July and end 30 June.

The following is a list of local heroes who gave during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Those donating Double Red Blood Cells count as two donations, the max number of times any one can give in a fiscal year in whole blood or double red cells is 6. The number that follows a persons name is the amount of pints given as of 30 June 2010.

One-time donors: Stephanie D. Alford 5, Annie L. Barton 60, Peggy S. Baxter 30, Timothy L. Bell 11, Stephen E. Blonder 10, Brenda Bogard 23, Candace Jones Bond 1, Charles H. Bowman 20, Tami M. Bragg 12, Billy D. Brinkley 3, Charles E. Brown 33, Joe R. Bryson 23, William H. Bryson 33, Stephen A. Burnett 3, Clyde W. Bush 14, Charmaine D. Cawthorn 1, Patrick A. Cecil 1, Manuel Chapa Jr. 15, Karen J. Chumbley 11, Barbara Daingerfield 44, Mary Carole Davenport 42, Paul W. Denninger 7, Bonita O. Doxey 30, Frances Edwards 1, Clint A. Fann 5, Angela M. Ford 11, Mary Frances Foster 9, Autumn M. Fly Franks 1, Tonya Gannon 4, Leslie Joe Giley 28, Nora Lee Gilliam 10, Eric M. Good 4, Donna B. Gunter 4, Marilyn E. Hale 7, Sharon L. Hay 14, Carolyn E. Barton Hemby 7, Barry D. Hibdon 33, Erin T. Higdon 5, Sharon Duggin Hindman 25, Melisa L. Hobbs 17, Shannon D. Jett 9, Fairy L. Johnson 2, Lori J. Malay 7, Perry M. Markum 5, Vicky L. Melton 34, Brittany L. Mingle 7, Angela P. Moore 18, Danielle Nicole Mosley 12, Talma S. Mosley 8, Lauren M. Nicolay 2, Rita G. Nokes 7, Misty G. Orr 1, Brittne H. Parker 4, Joseph A. Patterson 11, Brenda Faye Phillips 15, Jo Ann Pirtle 1, Joy Pope 3, Janice O. Purvis 28, Walter E. Reifschneider 19, Shantika M. Reiter 2, Phyllis S. Robinson 47, Marianne Teresa Sadler 15, Amber M. Scott 1, Kelly Edward Sissom 30, Valerie D. Smith 4, Wayne P. Smithson 26, Olivia D. Snyder 1, Teresa S. Stoetzel 6, Crystal B. Street 4, Eddie N. Taylor 41, Jamie A. Trail 2, J. D. Underhill II 2, Falischa Urban 1, Jennifer Vallieres 2, Sean N. Vance 3, Amanda J. Winfrey 1, Dorothy D. Winnett 13, Tracey L. Winters 9, and Alan D. Wollard 8.

Two time donors: Misty D. Bain 14, Teresa D. Bain 19, Ronald F. Born 6, Christopher B. Brandon 2, David L. Brown 3, Lacey N. Buchanan 9, Charles Ronny Burks 34, Jennifer M. Coppinger 16, James Morgan Cummings 90, Franklin Daniel 12, Edgar E. Davenport 6, Rebecca M. Davenport 68, Andrew L. Duggin 5, Joyce Frazier 2, Kenneth P. Garrett 11, Andrea K. George 4, Rodney Lee Gilliam 17, Kay F. Goff 69, Cory S. Hollandsworth 14, Christopher J. Hollenbeck 5, Pamela F. Hoskins 43, Christopher Johnson 5, Robert D. Jones 27, Thomas D. Mason 56, Tammy W. Mathis 14, Shelby J. Merriman 60, Brandon S. Mims 8, Dean More 6, Jennifer R. Mosley 5, Travis C. Prater 9, Michael T. Reed 3, Xavier P. Romero 18, Melody R. Rutledge 9, John W. Sanborn 56, Roger J. Smith 14, Darrell G. Snyder 26, McKenzie Solomon 5, Candice B. Stoetzel 13, Nancy L. Studd 9, Jessica L. Sullivan 3, Brandee S. Summers 5, Garry L. Underhill 12, James E. Weller 3, and Nile Young 45.

Three time donors: Richard D. Burks Sr. 83, Joshua W. Demembreum 4, Jeffery D. Denny 11, Russell D. Fann 33, Jo Ann Francis 54, Randy A. Gerdes 47, James W. Henline 44, Patsy Miller Hirlston 43, Debbie Renee Israel 12, Jennifer M. Johnson 8, Melanie G. Lyon 4, Ann D. McBride 53, Calvin F. Orwig 39, Alan W. Paschal 17, Jan Powell 34, Kenny Denard Sanders 5, Brittany A. Stluka 6, David L. Stone 7, Nellie F. Stone 5, Melissa L. Talley 3, Annette A. Tidwell 3, Billy R. Tidwell Jr. 5, Charie Ann Urban 4, Micki M. Vinson 74, Jack B. West 16, Michael L. Witty 41, and David W. Zabriskie 3. Four time donors: Jimmy Alexander 39, Cynthia D. Betts 39, Carmella K. Burton 13, Mary E. Duncan 42, Jana M. Gannon 62, Joan Hayes 14, Kayla E. Hindman 14, Joseph E. Hurst 16, James L. Logan 48, Gina A. Mitchell 38, Valerie L. Morton 4, Tracy A. Parker 39, Rebekah L. Parton 19, Karin P. Petty 40, James F. Sabia 44, Billy K. Tenpenny 33, Juan S. Urban 4, Travis M. Urban 5, April D. Vance 12, and Millisa A. White 17.

Five time donors: Guy Alexander Jr. 41, Jeff R. Campbell 8, Gabriel S. Cantrell 9, Rita F. Cook 12, Randal L. Curtis 52, James P. Davenport 12, Andrew B. Dimartino Sr. 84, Cheryl K. Franklin 44, Timothy H. Grandey 50, Esther E. Gray 39, Orval L. Gray 55, Herbert C. Haley 64, John Arthur Haugh 9, Roger G. Hindman 28, Sandy K. Hollandsworth 77, Timothy A. Minerd 15, Charlie Luther Mooneyham 48, Steve R. Perkerson 67, James Powers 38, and Leland J. Schwamberger 19.

Six time donors: Christopher E. Brushaber 6, Allen Wade Duggin 29, Rainey Hunt 48, Charles W. Jennings 18, Stephen R. Moss 20, Teddy L. Powers 77, Steve A. Smith 140, and Howard W. Witty 163.

The Woodbury Lions Club has received several awards of appreciation from the American Red Cross for their support of the Community Blood Program, and there is a lot of speculation as to why a small community does so well on the blood drives.

A lot of the credit is given to the Lions Club for putting out an extra effort.

Some credit is given for having good media coverage with the Cannon Courier, the Cannon Wire, and WBRY radio. Some credit is given for the support given by the businesses in Cannon County.

Any community can have a civic organization that puts forth the extra effort, and have good media and local businesses supporting them, but they don’t have the attitude and dedication of serving others that is instilled into Cannon Countians from birth until death.

The Woodbury Lions Club expresses heartfelt gratitude to all the media, businesses, and donors for exceeding the yearly goals set forth by the Red Cross based on past history.

It is so great to live among so many heroes. Likes: 7 Viewed:

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