Results: J.J.S. Boyce

definitive hard SF epic

STARPLEX by Robert J. Sawyer

BY J.J.S. Boyce

According to his introduction from the 2010 edition, Robert Sawyer’s Starplex marked a turning point. Starting with his next novel, the Ontario writer would start publishing the type of present-day or near-future science fiction he is best known for today, with ordinary women and men dealing with perhaps one or two extraordinary changes in circumstance in an otherwise familiar world. But before this literary shift, he would write one final definitive hard SF epic.

Sometimes, the movies get it right.

Top 5 Film Adaptations which Equal or Surpass the Original

BY J.J.S. Boyce

“It wasn’t as good as the book.” How often do we hear these words from at least one of our fellow movie-goers as we are exiting the theatre? It seems to be taken as a given that any film based on a book is sure to fall short, particularly when the written version already has an established cult following. We went through it with Harry Potter, Ender’s Game, and now The Hobbit.

Bleeding genres in myth, legend, and science fiction

Bleeding of Genres: Myth and Legend

BY J.J.S. Boyce

We’re all swimming in culture, all of the time. Humans are natural story-tellers. Even on an individual level we have those defining stories of the time we did X or saw Y. And any fictional world that is expected to be taken seriously, whose inhabitants are to be accepted as real people, must have its own stories and art and culture and political views. It’s not enough to make a passing mention of it. We need to see some of it.

Review: The Sunless Countries

The Sunless Countries: Book Four of Virga

BY J.J.S. Boyce

In four books Schroeder has had four completely different main characters, in four completely different locales within Virga, with four completely different (immediate) plots. There’s a larger story, but Schroeder has almost been building it up by sonar. We’ve been getting a sense of larger, looming events by a series of glancing blows — collisions between our many protagonists and the greater story, as they pursue their own ends. But with Book Four, The Sunless Countries, one gets the distinct impression that we’re almost at the main event.