The first monthly Sci-Fi Session was held at Waterstone’s book shop in Gower Street, London on Monday 26 September 2017. Host Glyn Morgan (R) was joined by two science fiction authors whose work appears to be quite different: Adam Roberts (L) and Jeff Noon (centre). Adam is a lecturer in nineteenth century fiction at Royal […]
In ‘The Outer Spheres’, Charity Freestone is aided by characters who were previously antagonists. One is a special forces operative called 23, who becomes Charity’s heavily armed fairy godmother. The protean 23 is never encountered in person; Charity doesn’t even find out what she looks like. Instead, 23 appears as a giant cannon, a warship […]
Because a Super Relaxed Reality Club just wouldn’t work I was apprehensive about attending because I have a tendency to be tense. Would I be allowed in? And if I was, would there be enforced massage from a large troll of indeterminate gender wearing too much make-up and a Minion onesie? Or is that just, […]
Peter F Hamilton (L), BSFA’s Andrea Dietrich & Gareth L Powell (R) Gareth L Powell is the author of so many short stories he has lost count of them and six novels, including the BSFA Award-winning ‘Ack-Ack Macaque’. A lifelong SF reader, his degree is in humanities: a blend of subjects like philosophy and sociology […]
Jeff Noon Interview by Gerard Earley at BSFA 27 January 2016 In the early 1990s, aspiring playwright Jeff Noon was working in the SF section of Waterstones in Manchester when he came across a non-fiction book detailing the technical aspects of virtual reality, a concept that had been explored with dazzling panache by William […]
***** Makes you miss your stop ***** A bold and disturbing love story ***** Vivid and original ***** Fascinating and essential ***** Mind blowing stuff! ***** An exciting and original world Fast-paced, clever and beautifully-written, the first ‘Diamond Roads’ book ‘Sons of the Crystal Mind’ is a richly-imagined dystopian thriller that introduces the latest in a long line of cool, […]
The sub-title on the beautifully-designed cover says ‘The story of a murderer’, while the inner title page describes the tale as ‘A Golden Age Story’. The acknowledgements at the end go further and say that the Golden Age referred to is both that of science and detective fiction, with the book an ingenious and original […]
I look for all sorts of different things in SF: big ideas, beguiling strangeness or some kind of compelling otherworldly mystery. Not many novels combine all three elements as successfully as this one does. It’s been a while since I have been gripped to the last page without any clear idea of how the tale […]
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