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Speed Redefined
Read more: Speed RedefinedLast week in my post on this website, I blogged about the vast distances between star systems and how difficult it would be to travel between them. It’s a contention of mine that those immense distances are at least one of the main factors, if not the main one, that keeps aliens from other planets…
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Suspending Disbelief
Read more: Suspending DisbeliefAs a member of the science-fiction writing community, I have to deal with a phenomenon that probably comes up in our genre more often and much more strongly than in any other genre, that of the “suspension of disbelief.” This refers to the fact that in science fiction we write stories that utilize objects, phenomena,…
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What Should Science Fiction Do?
Read more: What Should Science Fiction Do?I’m a science fiction writer. While only a very few people have read any of my works, (mainly editors and critique group members), I do have wide-ranging opinions on the subject and have presented them in this forum occasionally over the past several years. Science fiction can be a powerful medium for examining the human…
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The Prime Directive
Read more: The Prime DirectiveIf you are a fan of the television and movie Star Trek series, and dating from the earliest series of programs which are usually called “Star Trek, The Original Series,” then you are doubtlessly familiar with the concept of the “Prime Directive.” That was an order that took the form of an unalterable and non-revocable mandate from…
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Suspending Disbelief
Read more: Suspending DisbeliefIf you read much fiction, especially science fiction or fantasy, you may have heard of the phrase “the willing suspension of disbelief.” It’s used to indicate a willingness on the part of a reader to accept as real the descriptions, the materiality, the phenomena and/or the validity of a world which does not exist in this universe, and…
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A Serious Lack Of Imagination
Read more: A Serious Lack Of ImaginationI believe there is a serious lack of imagination in science fiction today. At least in one particular facet of the genre. To illustrate what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at some recent results that have come from the world of astronomy. For more than four years, the Kepler Space Telescope has been…