This is Sci-Fi #4: The Collapsing Empire, Starship Troopers, and More

This is Sci-Fi is a sampling of science fiction news across the mediums. From movies to books, to real life, and any bits in between that I can think of to list. This is by no means a comprehensive list of what’s happening, but it should whet your appetite!

Science Fiction Movies

Movie Suggestion of the Week:

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman was released in 1958. Its one of those movies that I think everyone needs to watch, just so you can say you experienced the … specialness … of a movie with a title like this. I kind of want them to remake it. I have a feeling this is one of those movies you could never make good, no matter how much money you poured into it. But it is so bad it’s good!

Synopsis: When an abused socialite grows to giant size because of an alien encounter and an aborted murder attempt, she goes after her cheating husband with revenge on her mind.

In Theatres Now:

Synopsis: The first human born on Mars travels to Earth for the first time, experiencing the wonders of the planet through fresh eyes. He embarks on an adventure with a street smart girl to discover how he came to be.

Starring:  Britt Robertson, Asa Butterfield, Janet Montgomery | Rating: PG-13

The Space Between Us has been in theaters since Feb. 3. It’s currently got a 6.3 rating on IMDB (meh), and a whopping 17% score on Rotten Tomatoes (ouch!)

The Main Campus has a good review of The Space Between Us

Featured Sci-Fi Art

Diggers by JerryBoucher on DeviantArt

I apologize if you have tryptophobia. I do, and my scalp crawled looking at this picture. But it was also too much of a nifty little sketch to pass up showing you all!

Science Fiction Books

(covers go to Goodreads)

Science Fiction New Releases: (Top 3)

All Our Wrong Todays: “You know the future that people in the 1950s imagined we’d have? Well, it happened. In Tom Barren’s 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and moon bases, where avocados never go bad and punk rock never existed . . . because it wasn’t necessary.

Except Tom just can’t seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world, and that’s before his life gets turned upside down. Utterly blindsided by an accident of fate, Tom makes a rash decision that drastically changes not only his own life but the very fabric of the universe itself. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a dystopian wasteland.

But when he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career, and—maybe, just maybe—his soul mate, Tom has a decision to make. Does he fix the flow of history, bringing his utopian universe back into existence, or does he try to forge a new life in our messy, unpredictable reality? Tom’s search for the answer takes him across countries, continents, and timelines in a quest to figure out, finally, who he really is and what his future—our future—is supposed to be.” – Goodreads  — Read my review here.

Last  Day on Mars: “It is Earth year 2213—but, of course, there is no Earth anymore. Not since it was burned to a cinder by the sun, which has mysteriously begun the process of going supernova. The human race has fled to Mars, but this was only a temporary solution while we prepare for a second trip: a one-hundred-fifty-year journey to a distant star, our best guess at where we might find a new home.

Liam Saunders-Chang is one of the last humans left on Mars. The son of two scientists who have been racing against time to create technology vital to humanity’s survival, Liam, along with his friend Phoebe, will be on the very last starliner to depart before Mars, like Earth before it, is destroyed.

Or so he thinks. Because before this day is over, Liam and Phoebe will make a series of profound discoveries about the nature of time and space, and find out that the human race is just one of many in our universe locked in a desperate struggle for survival.”- Goodreads

The Stars Are Legion: “Somewhere on the outer rim of the universe, a mass of decaying world-ships known as the Legion is traveling in the seams between the stars. For generations, a war for control of the Legion has been waged, with no clear resolution. As worlds continue to die, a desperate plan is put into motion.

Zan wakes with no memory, prisoner of a people who say they are her family. She is told she is their salvation – the only person capable of boarding the Mokshi, a world-ship with the power to leave the Legion. But Zan’s new family is not the only one desperate to gain control of the prized ship. Zan finds that she must choose sides in a genocidal campaign that will take her from the edges of the Legion’s gravity well to the very belly of the world.

Zan will soon learn that she carries the seeds of the Legion’s destruction – and its possible salvation. But can she and her ragtag band of followers survive the horrors of the Legion and its people long enough to deliver it?” – Goodreads

Women in Science Fiction – Non-new releases from fantastic female sci-fi authors

Science Fiction on the Web

• Mur Lafferty recently did a guest post on John Scalzi’s The Big Idea segment talking about her rules for clones.
• Interested in reading The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi? Tor has the prologue and first three chapters available to read for free.
• Sci-Fi Addicts says these are 20 modern science fiction authors you must read.
• Michael Kleen addresses the fascism aspect of Starship Troopers in this thoughtful post.
• Edge and Tesseract Books have an open call for submissions.
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX is launching a superbug into space. (Isn’t this how the zombie apocalypse starts?)
• Unbound Worlds has a great guide on getting started reading the various science fiction and fantasy subgenres.
• Movies You Haven’t Seen talks up Edge of Tomorrow rather well.
• I can’t claim to be a huge Stephen Baxter fan, but Fell From Fiction is and gave “Stone Spring” a great write up.
• Interested in Ghost in the Shell? There’s another trailer out already.
• If you like Alistair Reynolds, there’s a bit of an excerpt from the Locus interview on their site.

There you go, ladies and gents. Hope you found at least one thing interesting!