August 2013

Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder

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The novel “Sun of Suns” by Karl Schroeder was published for the first time in 2006. It’s the first novel of Virga.

Hayden Griffin is a native of Aerie, a nation conquered by its rival Slipstream. Now his only purpose is to take revenge on the man who six years earlier caused the death of his parents, Admiral Chaison Fanning. Using forged papers he’s able to join Slipstream’s fleet but the situation gets more complicated than expected.

An artistic concept of the heliospheric current sheet (Image Werner Heil)

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In 3 or 4 months the Sun’s magnetic field will reverse. This phenomenon is cyclical and occurs once every 11 years or so so it has nothing to do with pseudo-catastrophic prophecies. However, there will be consequences throughout the solar system but not necessarily negative.

Ward Moore in 1947 (Portait in an edition of the novel Greener Than You Think)

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Joseph Ward Moore, this was his full name, was born on August 10, 1903 in Madison, New Jersey, USA. Ward Moore wasn’t a very prolific writer so he gave us just a few science fiction novels and short fiction. His most famous novel is “Bring the Jubilee”.

Doctor Who - The Seeds of Death

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“The Seeds of Death” is an adventure of the sixth season of “Doctor Who” classic series, which aired in 1969 featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. It’s a six parts adventure written by Brian Hayles and directed by Michael Ferguson.

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

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The novel “The Ghost Brigades” by John Scalzi was published for the first time in 2006. It’s the second novel in the “Old Man’s War” series, set in the same fictional universe of “Old Man’s War”.

The soldiers of the Special Forces, the elite corps of the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) who defend the Earth and the other human colonies from hostile aliens, are created in vitro using the DNA of the recruits who died before starting their service and for this reason are called Ghost Brigades.

When an alliance of three alien species against human beings are discover and the scientist Charles Boutin betrays his species, it’s necessary to take strong countermeasures. One of his inventions allows to record in a stable manner the contents of a human mind. The scientist has used it on himself to transfer his mind into a clone but he had to leave the recording before fleeing.