As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Genres

Privacy in Telepathic Societies

by
Telepathy

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Kethric Wilcox: The issue of privacy in telepathic societies, do you prefer the open invasion style of Star Trek’s Betazoid style telepaths or the regimented only with a contract and permission style of Babylon 5’s PsiCorps style or is their a happy middle ground between the two? Oooh, I like this one. My husband Mark and I aren’t telepathic, but we are together 99% of the time (by virtue of working together at home on our own business). And as such, there’s not a lot of privacy, but it works for us. But imagine if … Read more

Announcement: The Eye and the Arm, by Andrew Q. Gordon

by
Eye and the Arm, by Andrew Q. Gordon

Andrew Q. Gordon has a new Fantasy book out: After defeating Meglar at Belsport, Farrell returns to Haven to recover from his injuries, but Khron, the god of war, has other ideas. He gives Farrell a new mission: free the survivors of the ancient dwarf realm of Trellham from their three-thousand-year banishment. To fulfill Khron’s near impossible task, Farrell will need the help of his distance ancestor, the legendary wizard Kel. But Kel has been dead for a thousand years. Farrell finds information hinting that Kel is alive, so he moves his search to Dumbarten, Kel’s birthplace. To reach Dumbarten … Read more

Book Review: Saturn in Retrograde, by Jamie Fessenden

by
Saturn in Retrograde

Okay, so I’m slowly working my way through my reading list of LGBT themed speculative fiction. I have read hundreds and hundreds of mainstream fantasy and sci fi books, but I’m now giving myself a crash course (well, more of a slow motion crash, given the limited amount of reading time I have these days) in gay sci fi and fantasy. So I asked Jamie Fessenden which book of his I should read, and he turned me on to Saturn in Retrograde. I really liked this book, although I wasn’t sure going in if it fell more on the sci … Read more

Announcement: Emerald Keep, by A. Catherine Noon and Rachel Wilder

by
Emerald Keep

Torquere authors A. Catherine Noon and Rachel Wilder has a new sci fi book out: When Emerald Keeper Teeka returns to the city of Reghdad and leaves the harsh desert behind, he finds that not all dangers come from the Great Valley. The dangerous Daymonth is nearly upon them and no one can survive on the surface of the planet — but Senior Hunter Quill Mayer is trying to get to Reghdad, and Teeka, before the start of it. Even if he makes it, Emerald Keep denies Teeka’s Contract with Senior Hunter Quill, and Teeka discovers his enemy is more … Read more

Announcement: Cosmic Encounters

by
Cosmic Encounters

QSFer Nicolette deSada alerted us to a new erotic sci fi anthology she’s in: From across the universe these stories have come together to guide readers through a whole gambit of erotic pairings and interactions all with a science fiction twist. Be it mutated humans or aliens from far flung worlds there is something for everyone. Excerpt Happily Ever After… The Dwarf was looking dispiritedly through the wanted ads in The Stage when Snow White came in, shaking the cold and wet off her coat. “Anything?” she asked brightly, feigning a smile. “Not a one,” he replied glumly. “Oh well, … Read more

Fractured Fairy Tales

by
Vassily the Beautiful

Today’s topic comes from QSFer (and admin) Angel Martinez: “Fractured fairy tales. Which ones do you wish someone would retell as an lgbtqi story?” I love reading reinterpretations of fairy tales, especially those with an LGBT twist. Some of my favorites include Angel’s own Vassily the Beautiful, one Jon Keys is finishing up that retells Cinderella in a Colorado rodeo setting, and (stepping outside the LGBT community for a sec) the amazing Beauty by Sheri Tepper. So our questions today – what fairy tale, myth or fable would you like to see retold from an LGBT spec fic perspective, and … Read more

Announcement: Under Glass, by Rebecca Cohen

by
Under Glass

QSF author Rebecca Cohen has a new sci fi book out: Creating planets and guarding the stars leaves novice planet builder Kai Faewiva lonely. For members of Kai’s species who are born with an organ called a caerellon, their true love, their Sun or Moon, is identified at birth. But the novices are people who have lost their perfect love, and Kai’s Sun is long dead, killed in an accident when he was five years old. Or so everyone thought. After recovering from another bout of the unidentified illness he has battled for years, Kai returns to work. But his … Read more

Announcement: Shadowing Mace, by Cheyenne Meadows

by
Shadowing Mace

QSFer Cheyenne Meadows has a new GENRE book out: With his brother away at a conference, alpha wolf shifter Shadow finds himself paired with IT analyst Mace, the one man he can’t stand. Stuck with the partnership due to his pack leader’s order, Shadow can only count down the days until his life returns to normal. He’s a loner. Period. No matter how much his inner beast protests. Mace isn’t thrilled either, but can’t resist the temptation to push all the surly alpha’s buttons, even as he fantasizes about what could be. Flirting with danger, he’s determined to make the … Read more

Will Driverless Cars Give Us Motion Sickness?

by
Motion Sickness

We’ve heard a lot of questions about what the future of driverless cars will bring, but here is a new one: What if this great advance in transportation technology makes us motion-sick? That’s a very likely possibility, argue Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. Plenty of people — almost always passengers — already get motion-sick in cars. But Sivak and Schoettle point out in a new paper that driverless cars, by their very design, will contribute to three of the big factors that make our stomachs turn. The first is that we’re more … Read more

Falling For Your AI

by
Her

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames: “Virtual intelligence? AI? Have we discussed this? But could you have a romance between a human and software? Using virtual technology to have sex or communicate, but no physical body? Would we want to in the future? Could a good author really make readers believe it’s “real” romance?” So far tyhe best example I’ve seen of this is the movie “Her” – which very convincingly explored a near-future romance between what the movie called an “operating system” and a human. Downside – it was MF… LOL. So what do you think? I’ll defer … Read more