2025

Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell

The novel “Timewyrm: Revelation” by Paul Cornell was published for the first time in 1991. It’s No. 4 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing.

The Seventh Doctor has lost track of the Timewyrm and heads the TARDIS to the village of Cheldon Bonniface, in the late 19th century, where an old acquaintance lives. While the Doctor is playing chess, Ace is attacked by a small astronaut and, fleeing, soon realizes she has ended up on the surface of the Moon, where she suffocates.

Reality also shifts for the Doctor, who realizes that what looked like his friend is actually Hemmings, whom he met in the timeline where the Nazis won World War II. Returning to the TARDIS, he discovers he’s on the Moon in 1992. What’s real?

The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg

The novel “The Man in the Maze” by Robert Silverberg was published for the first time in 1968.

Charles Boardman leads an expedition to the planet Lemnos, where Richard Muller, a diplomat who nine years earlier had established his home in the middle of an ancient, huge labyrinth, exiled himself. Boardman’s goal is to reach Muller, but the labyrinth is full of deadly traps.

To limit the risks, Charles Boardman uses a series of drones built directly on his spaceship. They enable finding many traps, yet some men die trying to reach the labyrinth’s center. Ultimately, young Ned Rawlins is the one who encounters Richard Muller, an event not by chance but planned by Boardman to exploit the boy’s innocent appearance to gain Muller’s trust.

Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

The novel “Hunters of Dune” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson was published for the first time in 2006. It’s the seventh book in the Dune saga and follows “Chapterhouse Dune”.

The crew of the enormous no-ship named Ithaca continues its efforts to outrun the mysterious Enemy who seems determined to capture it. Scytale, the Tleilaxu master held prisoner on the Ithaca, has one last trick up his sleeve to improve his situation.

Murbella continues the complex work of creating a united sisterhood that includes the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres who have agreed to follow her. There’s a lot of internal friction and external enemies that make the situation tense on Chapterhouse. Murbella seeks to understand the nature of the Enemy and at the same time strike at the Honored Matres who are still independent, starting with those on Tleilax.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The novel “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir was published for the first time in 2021. It won the Dragon Award at the 2021 Dragon Con and the Japanese Seiun Award.

Ryland Grace wakes up in a bed, with a series of life-support systems connected to his body. He doesn’t even remember his identity, and his first thought is that he was in a coma. Two bodies in beds in the same room indicate that this isn’t a hospital, and his perceptions of gravity suggest he’s aboard an accelerating spaceship.

Slowly, Ryland Grace starts recovering his memories, albeit fragmentarily. He remembers being a teacher, a profession he chose after a negative experience as a biology researcher. He also recalls being involved in a project aimed at finding a way to save humanity after the discovery that the Sun is emitting less energy, a phenomenon caused by strange microorganisms.

Views of the reproduction of the original shape of the Yunxian 2 skull

An article published in the journal “Science” reports the results of a study of the fossil skull cataloged as Yunxian 2, which attributes it to the species Homo longi. A team of researchers examined a reproduction of this skull made after performing a CT scan, an operation that was needed to try to restore it to its original shape because the fossil is crushed.

The result was compared with 100 other hominin specimens, revealing a combination of traits, some close to those of Homo erectus and others much more similar to those of Homo sapiens and the species called Homo longi. In the end, the researchers concluded that this skull belongs to an early Homo longi.