Books: Sci-Fi Fantasy

Zoltan Istvan’s new novel The Transhumanist Wager has been compared to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. (See, for instance, Giulio Prisco’s review.) But to what extent are the books alike, and in what respects? To be sure, the story and the writing style are gripping, the characters are vivid, and the universe created by Istvan gave me an experience high... (See the whole review)

Our most likely future is somewhere between Brave New World and 1984.  It is clean and bright, rather than the post-industrial recycling center of cyberpunk, because an unofficial and unelected power center simply surpassed and usurped the inefficient nation states.  They know what is best.  Memory implants and omnipresent cybernetic personalities ... (See the whole review)

I just got an email from Charles, who created this graphic novel based on Ayn Rand's Anthem.  I haven't read it, but it's a good idea.  That book in particular seems appropriate for a visual presentation.  The author says he coordinated with ARI on this project, so it seems like it will be a fair interpretation.  If anyone has read it yet, please l... (See the whole review)

This precursor of Atlas Shrugged anticipated the election of a Socialist Labour government in the United Kingdom. First published in 1907, action takes place about 1918 and a few years later.  Ernest Bramah Smith wrote adventure and detective books, dime novels.  This work shows many of the those features.  The workmanship is uneven.  The story was... (See the whole review)

Luto Pternam's Mask Factory manufactures shock troops and assassins to maintain the static totalitarian society of Lisagor on the Planet Oerlikon. His latest "creation" is a conditioned assassin with two unique abilities. The morphodite can initiate Change, a biochemical process that leads to regeneration and sex change. And this morphodite has ... (See the whole review)

"If I lead us into this war, we will lose. A great many people will die for nothing. The result will be a world enslaved by the Imperial Order. If I don't lead our side in battle, the world will still fall under the shadow of the Order but far fewer people will die. Only in that way will we ever stand a chance." "By losing? You want to lose ... (See the whole review)

A re-telling of the Arthurian legend from the point of view of its female characters, primarily from that of Morgaine, a priestess of the pagan cult of the Mother Goddess at Avalon, this lengthy and very well developed story vies with Atlas Shrugged in its complexity of plot and characterization. Not so sexless as Tolkien nor as impersonal as some... (See the whole review)

Ficciones is not the type of book that one usually finds recommended on an Objectivist forum. It doesn't have heroes who overcome injustice and persecution — instead Borges plays with reality within 17 short stories. In almost all his stories he warps, morphs and transforms reality in a very intriguing and imaginative way. In one story ther... (See the whole review)

This is a recent collection in the Marvel Visionaries series (others include Stan Lee and Jim Steranko). ... (See the whole review)

Story of purity versus change part 3: ORIGIN is the story of Marvel Comic's most popular character next to Spiderman, the mutant Wolverine of the X-Men. Wolverine's popularity is partly due to the quest for his forgotten past, and that origin has been "the greatest story never told" in comics. Editor in Chief Joe Quesada found Marvel to have lo... (See the whole review)

THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) ... (See the whole review)

A plague kills all the adults, leaving children to fend for themselves.  This is the story of how Lisa figures it all out, using reason.  She attacks each problem in turn and ultimately takes control of enough of the city to ensure the survival of the group that clusters around her.  This is Atlas Shrugged for children.  Instead of a given ... (See the whole review)

Having sent the League up against London's worst in the first volume, Moore takes matters to a whole new level in the League's next adventure. The story opens on Mars as humans John Carter (hero of a series of pulp fantasy novels by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs) and Gulivar Jones (from Edwin L Arnold's separate though conceptually similar st... (See the whole review)

In late 1890s London, Mina Murray, ex-wife of Jonathan Harker (from Stoker's Dracula), Captain Nemo (Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea/The Mysterious Island), Alan Quatermain (Ryder-Haggard's King Solomon's Mines etc), Dr Griffen (Wells' Invisible Man) and Dr Jekyll (Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde) are bought together by Campion Bond on behalf of his... (See the whole review)

In the year 2753, after unparalleled technological and economic advancement within the Intergalactic Protectorate, reaction has set in, as a group of environmentalist mystics seeks to usurp the mechanisms of government. A scientist on the Protectorate’s outskirts discovers a planet with an entirely new sentient life form, devoid of sight of the ext... (See the whole review)

This is Heinlein's lost first novel which was originally rejected by publishers because it was too philosophical.  He eventually gave up on it, instead stealing many of the ideas for his later works.  Heinlein's copy was destroyed, but a copy was recently discovered in a friends garage and is now published for the first time in 2004.  Honestly, it ... (See the whole review)

This "children's" book is probably the single most horrifying and depressing thing I've ever read... even more so than George Orwell's 1984.  It revolves around a falsely utopian nightmare society that provides its wonders at a chilling cost.  Although Lowry does employ a bit of fantasy in just a few places, her story is still a very effect... (See the whole review)

"The Watchmen" is set in a unique universe where superheroes have been banned and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. The story starts off as a murder mystery and grows into a tale of truly epic proportions. Alan Moore paints a largely dark picture of humanity and weaves a story that is so intricate it absolutely demands your full attention. ... (See the whole review)

This is one of the milestone comic stories of this era. Written by Frank Miller, the story shows a brooding, old and retired Bruce Wayne. The world is in chaos and Bruce Wayne decides to take back the world by donning the mantel of the Bat. But his second coming is met with opposition from all classes, the mutant gangs and its leader, the Gotham Ci... (See the whole review)

This is a brilliant comic book series that takes the insult, "not if you were the last man on earth", and makes an eerie Twilight Zone series out of it. In the story, a mysterious plague has selectively killed off all the males of all animal species on earth, except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey.  Now, Yorick seeks to reunite with his ... (See the whole review)

This is the first novel in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, comprised so far of eight books following the life of Richard, The Seeker of Truth.  Wizard's First Rule begins with Richard as a simple woods-guide, but quickly transforms into a face-paced action/fantasy read that spans a massive continent made up of three realms of varying magical qual... (See the whole review)

This Hugo and Nebula award winning masterpiece captures the world from a small child's point of view amazingly well.  Ender is a little boy who is smaller than everyone else his age and smarter than most everyone else of any age.  His very existence is due solely to the hope that he might one day save the world.  He is persecuted by his jealous cla... (See the whole review)