SF Signal has an interesting article on “science fiction for people who hate science fiction,” and mentions an anthology published in 1968 which was designed to be accessible. Is short fiction the way to lure new readers, or is it better to hit them with a really good novel? And if so, which novel should…

Forbes Magazine was apparently in a weird mood recently and asked five authors to write something about the following scenario: It’s the year 2027, and the world is undergoing a global financial crisis. The scene is an American workplace. Abstract, Michael Bagnulo – This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is…

Honorverse: The Online Game is, unsurprisingly, a game based on David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. The game itself isn’t due until next fall, but the Website has recently launched and includes a game description and trailers. (And not a whole heckuva lot else. The Web developer in me is unimpressed.) As the leader of a…

Sigma is a group of science fiction writers put together by author Arlan Andrews 15 years ago. To join, authors must have at least one technical doctorate degree. The group currently includes Jerry Pournelle, Arlan Andrews, Greg Bear, Larry Niven and Sage Walker. Their mission? To advise government officials on what the future might look…

E.E. Knight, a self-described “pulp writer,” has compiled a list of blunders made by beginning authors. Obviously, some of these are a matter of taste (Ray Bradbury has made a career out of #2), but they’re worth a look if you’re trying to get your fiction published. Strange days. Stranger names: I get sf/fantasy stories…

The premise is kind of neat, involving a bank heist in an MMORPG. Charlie Stross’s latest novel Halting State starts out as a hilarious post-cyberpunk police procedural, turns into a gripping post-cyberpunk technothriller, and escalates into a Big Ideas book about the future of economics, virtual worlds, the nation state and policing, while managing to…

I got an odd blast-from-the-past-y feeling when SF Signal mentioned that Brain Twister, The Impossibles, and Supermind were all available from ManyBooks. I have these three books, with those covers and everything, about three feet away from me, as I stole borrowed them from my dad when I moved out. (Hi, Daddy! I have your…

Citing a goal to create a rigorously scientific work of fiction that turns kids onto SF, Stephen Hawking has written a kids’ science fiction trilogy called George’s Secret Key to the Universe. The first volume will be published later this year, with the other two following once a year. His co-writers are his daughter Lucy…