Tag Archives: hard science

Take a Ride on a Torchship

Torchship
Karl K. Gallagher
print $9.99
ebook $4.99

I’d like to thank Karl Gallagher for sending me review copies of his Torchship trilogy, of which Torchship is the first volume.  I’ll definitely be reviewing the rest of the trilogy.

I had posted something about wanting to read more old fashioned science fiction, and he emailed me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing his trilogy. At first I declined due to other commitments, but then I thought it over and decided to accept his offer. I’m glad I did. This was a fun book.

Gallagher has imagined a future in which artificial intelligence becomes a reality, but it’s not a utopia. The AI’s try to wipe out humanity. They are partially successful. Earth and a number of colony worlds fall. The others take different paths to protect themselves. Some have computers along with extremely harsh laws against anything that even resembles AI, as in automatic death penalty harsh. Some forbid computers altogether. How would you like to pilot a starship using tables and a slide rule? Continue reading

Benford and Niven’s Bowl of Heaven

bowlofheaven_NS_20pBowl of Heaven
Gregory Benford and Larry Niven
Tor mass market paperback, $8.99
ebook $7.69 Kindle $8.99 Nook

You know you’re getting behind on your reading when a book you bought as soon as it appeared in hardcover is out in paperback before you get around to reading it.

I’ve been a fan of large scale, big idea science fiction almost as long as I’ve been reading science fiction.  That means I’m a fan of both of the authors of this novel, although I’ve read more Niven than I have Benford.  But I enjoy them both.

So when a collaboration between them came out, I grabbed it pretty quickly.  Not surprisingly, they’ve come up with a large scale artifact I’ve not encountered before. Continue reading