Podcast appearances and mentions of robert j. sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer, lovingly dubbed Canada's Dean of Science Fiction by the Ottawa Citizen, joins us to talk about how the sci fi industry has changed over the years, and how to use themes to craft a story readers will connect with.//Draft2Digital is where you start your Indie Author Career//  Looking for your path to self-publishing success? Draft2Digital is the leading ebook publisher and distributor worldwide. We'll convert your manuscript, distribute it online, and support you the whole way—and we won't charge you a dime.  We take a small percentage of the royalties for each sale you make through us, so we only make money when you make money. That's the best kind of business plan.  • Get started now: https://draft2digital.com/• Learn the ins, the outs, and the all-arounds of indie publishing from the industry experts on the D2D Blog: https://Draft2Digital.com/blog  • Promote your books with our Universal Book Links from Books2Read: https://books2read.com  Make sure you bookmark https://D2DLive.com for links to live events, and to catch back episodes of the Self Publishing Insiders Podcast.

On Wednesday April 9, 2025, Mark had a pizza lunch at Lucifers Pizza on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. It was a place recommended by friend of the podcast Nikki Guerlain. In addition to agreeing that this was fantastic pizza (with wonderful staff), Mark, Kevin, and Rob had a conversation about Writers of the Future, and various aspects about the business of writing and publishing.   Links of Interest: Robert J. Sawyer's Website Kevin J. Anderson's Website Writers of the Future Website Lucifers Pizza Website Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections EP 353 - Tao Wong on The Toronto Indie Author Conference Alex Lifeson's Speech on Behalf of Rush at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Mark's YouTube channel Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Jets / WHY ARE SO MANY ARENAS NAMED AFTER THE SAME COMPANIES (1:40); Overdue library book returned to UBC after 64 years (6:10); Like the late-returned book in BC, what's something you took a while to get back? Or took a while to give back? (9:20); Not just travel concerns to the U.S., but concerns about working in U.S., being detained, being harassed, being questioned (17:45); Weekly Wednesday Jets chat (26:35); Late returns (37:20); Border nightmare - Manitoba man buy's collector car in Texas, when it arrives at the border, HUGE tariff. It remains across the border (41:50); Robert J. Sawyer book 'Quantum Night' from 2016 includes the United States annexation of Canada (51:20).

Le Canadien Robert J. Sawyer est dans notre podcast ! Après quelques années sans publication, l'auteur le plus primé du Canada fait son grand retour aux éditions Gallmeister avec la trilogie de L'éveil. Merci à Audrey Allaire pour sa traduction. Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Send us a textMarty speaks with Hollywood writer and director James Kerwin about Quantum Consciousness in his sci-fi film noir ‘Yesterday Was a Lie', as well as in Robert J. Sawyer's books 'Quantum Night' and 'The Downloaded.  We do a bit of a deep dive into the role of consciousness in the foundations of quantum mechanics, discussing the Copenhagen interpretation, the Many Worlds theory, and the Penrose/Hameroff Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory.  We go all the way from the quantum superposition of subatomic particles to the possible emergence of collective consciousness, and the possibility of consciousness playing a central role in creating objective reality.  We also talk about James' favorite books and movies, as well as his current project – a new film he is developing called Contre-Coup.James Kerwin:Webpage:https://www.jameskerwin.com/Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_KerwinFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/jameskerwin/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thejameskerwin/IMDB:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0450123/Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

Robert J. Sawyer is one of the world's science fiction luminaries, and a great source of Canadian pride as one of our most prolific, successful and decorated science fiction authors.  In the following conversation Rob discusses his book 'Quantum Night', which explores the social and philosophical consequences of an empirical test for consciousness, self-awareness and conscience.  He tells us about the science of evil i.e. the science of psychopathy, and we discuss philosophical zombies as well as the very timely political consequences of blind followers and psychopathic demagogues. We also talk about the disappointing and negative effects of artificial intelligence, the multi-dimensional landscape of the human psyche, and the use of science fiction as an early warning system for the future.https://www.sfwriter.com/Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

Born in 1975, I fell in love with reading and with sailing at a young age. I had two dreams in life: to write a novel and to sail around the world. In 2009, I finally completed my first novel. My seventh published work, WOOL, became an international bestseller and has been translated into nearly 40 languages. My career as a writer has taken me all around the world; I've met amazing readers everywhere I go, and I've seen some extraordinary places. Now I'm embarking on a journey to complete my second dream, that of sailing around the world. This website is a history of both of those dreams. His website is HughHowey.com. ROBERT J. SAWYER Bestselling Author, Writers of the Future Judge – Biography Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, called “the dean of Canadian science fiction” by The Ottawa Citizen, has won all three of the science fiction field's top honors for best novel of the year, the Hugo, the Nebula and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, as well as eleven Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (Auroras). The ABC TV series Flash Forward was based on his novel of the same name. Maclean's: Canada's Weekly Newsmagazine says, “By any reckoning, Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors ever.” Sawyer's novels are top-ten mainstream bestsellers in Canada. His twenty-three novels include Frameshift, Factoring Humanity, Calculating God, Wake and the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy: Hominids, Humans, Hybrids. He's often seen on TV, including such programs as Rivera Live with Geraldo Rivera, Canada AM and Saturday Night at the Movies, and he's a frequent science commentator for Discovery Channel Canada, CBC Newsworld and CBC Radio. Sawyer holds an honorary doctorate from Laurentian University and has taught writing at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, Humber College, the National University of Ireland and the Banff Centre. He edits Robert J. Sawyer Books, the science fiction imprint of Red Deer Press. He was born in Ottawa in 1960, and now lives near Toronto with his wife, poet Carolyn Clink. He has served as a judge since 2005. “The list of past winners and runners-up reads like a Who's Who of the last quarter century of the SF/F field. And the physical anthologies—packed with brilliant stories and thoughtful essays, all wonderfully illustrated by the artist winners—is always a joy to behold: a terrific book, and a terrific launch to the careers of the latest batch of the very best new writers in the field.” —Robert J. Sawyer Find out more at: www.sfwriter.com

Marty and Holly discuss our upcoming theme of Sci-Fi Fungi with interviews of science fiction authors Benjamin Percy and Mike Carey, along with mycologists Dr. Alex Moskaluk from the University of Guelph and Kaitlyn Kuehn (KK) from the Flora Funga Podcast.  We'll be discussing space fungi from cometary debris in Ben Percy's book 'The Unfamiliar Garden', the zombie fungus Codyceps in Mike Percy's book 'The Girl With All The Gifts'.  And we'll be structuring our conversations around Merlin Sheldrake's popular science book 'Entangled Life', which delves into the apparent motor-controlling abilities of the zombie fungus Cordyceps, the mind-altering effects of Psilocybin, as well as the genesis of land-based ecosystems from the symbiosis of fungi with algae in lichen.  Along the way we also introduce an upcoming interview with returning science fiction author and friend of the show Robert J. Sawyer about his books 'Quantum Night' and 'The Downloaded'.  Then we go on to introduce our next theme of the Multiverse, in Mike Carey's Pandominion duology - 'Infinity Gate' and 'Echo of Worlds', and Micaiah Johnson's 'The Space Between Worlds' and 'Those Beyond the Wall'.  Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

2024 Writers of the Future Workshop instructors, Jody Lynn Nye and Robert J. Sawyer, discuss how they can't give back very readily but can pay forward. We discuss what Jody and Rob along with the other judges do to pay forward. Because these winners are the writers we will be reading in the future.

Nagyon súlyos nulladik napi hiba van az Android magjában Android Portál     2024-08-08 08:38:35     Mobiltech Android Linux Az Android biztonsági frissítései ebben a hónapban 46 sebezhetőséget javítanak, beleértve egy magas súlyosságú távoli kódfuttatási (RCE) hibát, amelyet célzott támadásokban kihasználtak. A nulladik napi sebezhetőséget CVE-2024-36971 néven követik nyomon, és egy használat utáni felszabadítási (UAF) gyengeség a Linux kernel hálózati útvonalkezelésébe Végünk, ha az Atlanti-óceán meridián körforgása összeomlik PlanetZ     2024-08-08 07:49:39     Tudomány Az új kutatások szerint az AMOC 2037 és 2064 között összeomolhat. Az AMOC alapvető fontosságú az északi félteke éghajlatának szabályozásában. Összeomlása komoly éghajlati és ökológiai következményekkel járna világszerte. Az összeomlás elkerülése érdekében kulcsfontosságú az üvegházhatású gázok kibocsátásának csökkentése és a fenntartható technológi Ingyenes lett a WordStar 7, a DOS legnépszerűbb szövegszerkesztője ITBusiness     2024-08-08 06:16:14     Mobiltech Kanada Windows A WordPerfect előtt a WordStar volt a legnépszerűbb szövegszerkesztő. A DOS rendszerre készült utolsó verzió egy rajongó, Robert J. Sawyer által azonban újra elérhetővé vált. Sawyer, a kanadai sci-fi író a WordStar 7.0d verziót csomagolta össze néhány hasznos eszközzel, beleértve a modern Windows rendszeren futtatható DOS emulátorokat, így most bár Hatalmas kandelábert terveznek a Holdra Rakéta     2024-08-08 08:36:05     Tudomány Mesébe illő terv, de a százméteres utcalámpa nem csak megvilágítaná a holdi éjszakát, de számtalan egyéb funkciója is lenne. Sziget Fesztivál: Tatabánya méretű hálózati kapacitással készül a Yettel a zökkenőmentes mobilozásra Digital Hungary     2024-08-08 11:13:00     Mobiltech Fesztiválok Tatabánya Sziget Fesztivál Yettel Szerdán elkezdődött a Sziget Fesztivál, Európa egyik legnagyobb könnyűzenei és kulturális rendezvénye, amely évente több százezer látogatót vonz. Az ilyen nagy horderejű események a mobilhálózat erősítését is igénylik, hogy az képes legyen kiszolgálni a hirtelen megnövekedett használatot a területen. Hogyan készül egy mobilszolgáltató egy időszakos A vállalati munkaállomások többségén megragadt a Windows 10 Bitport     2024-08-08 09:43:00     Infotech Windows Már csak 470 napjuk marad a cégeknek, hogy Windows 11-re váltsanak, mert 2025. október 14-én megszűnik az operációs rendszer támogatása. Pumped Gabo metaverzumos kísérlete nagy ígéretekkel indult, de végül kirántotta a szőnyeget a befektetők alól Telex     2024-08-08 05:01:20     Tudomány Befektető Pumped Gabo Előzetesen Magyarország legelső igazán nagyszabású NFT-projektjeként hivatkoztak a Pumped G-re, de a beígért dolgok egy része állítólag meg sem valósult, egy másik részük már nem elérhető, az alkotók pedig felszívódtak. Okosabb és drágább is lett a Google Chromecast utódja Player     2024-08-08 09:00:44     Infotech Generáció Google Böngésző Chrome A Google tévéokosító eszközének új generációja, a Chromecast utódjának tekinthető Streamer többet tud az elődjénél, és ennek meg is kérik az árát. A vártnál is nagyobb bukást lett a Humane AI Pin 24.hu     2024-08-08 13:58:04     Infotech Mesterséges intelligencia Már többet váltanak vissza, mint amennyit vásárolnak a Humane mesterséges intelligencia által vezérelt kitűzőjéből. A világ legősibb naptárát fedezhették fel Liner     2024-08-08 07:20:59     Tudomány A szakemberek azon a véleményen vannak, hogy a faragványok a világ legkorábbi, ún. luniszoláris naptárát alkotják. Humanoid robotpincér csapolt italokat egy amerikai stadionbárban okosipar.hu     2024-08-08 07:03:16     Infotech Cégvilág USA Mesterséges intelligencia Robot Stadion Texas Baseball A mesterséges intelligencia (AI) vezérelte szervizrobotokra specializálódott nevadai Richtech Robotics a napokban hivatalosan is bemutatta ADAM fantázianevet viselő vendéglátó robotját a Texas Rangers Major League Baseball stadionjában – írta a Robotics & Automation News. Az egyedülálló AI-képességekkel és finom, emberi mozgáshoz hasonló mozdulatok A kínaiak kifejlesztettek egy intelligens robotcápát Gyártástrend     2024-08-08 10:50:27     Tudomány Kína Robot Cápa Az öt méter hosszú, 350 kilogrammos robothal figyelemre méltó pontossággal tudja leutánozni egy valódi cápa mozgását. Hetente kétszer indítanak járatokat az űrbe a Virgin Galactic új űrrepülőgépével Rakéta     2024-08-08 12:00:13     Tudomány Közlekedés Világűr Űrállomás Unity Míg a VSS Unity-t körülbelül havonta egyszer tudták használni, addig a Delta-osztályú űrrepülőgépek már hetente többször is szállíthatnak utasokat az űrbe. A Virgin Galactic egy globális hálózat kiépítését tervezi a világ számos pontján található űrállomások bevonásával. A további adásainkat keresd a podcast.hirstart.hu oldalunkon.

Nagyon súlyos nulladik napi hiba van az Android magjában Android Portál     2024-08-08 08:38:35     Mobiltech Android Linux Az Android biztonsági frissítései ebben a hónapban 46 sebezhetőséget javítanak, beleértve egy magas súlyosságú távoli kódfuttatási (RCE) hibát, amelyet célzott támadásokban kihasználtak. A nulladik napi sebezhetőséget CVE-2024-36971 néven követik nyomon, és egy használat utáni felszabadítási (UAF) gyengeség a Linux kernel hálózati útvonalkezelésébe Végünk, ha az Atlanti-óceán meridián körforgása összeomlik PlanetZ     2024-08-08 07:49:39     Tudomány Az új kutatások szerint az AMOC 2037 és 2064 között összeomolhat. Az AMOC alapvető fontosságú az északi félteke éghajlatának szabályozásában. Összeomlása komoly éghajlati és ökológiai következményekkel járna világszerte. Az összeomlás elkerülése érdekében kulcsfontosságú az üvegházhatású gázok kibocsátásának csökkentése és a fenntartható technológi Ingyenes lett a WordStar 7, a DOS legnépszerűbb szövegszerkesztője ITBusiness     2024-08-08 06:16:14     Mobiltech Kanada Windows A WordPerfect előtt a WordStar volt a legnépszerűbb szövegszerkesztő. A DOS rendszerre készült utolsó verzió egy rajongó, Robert J. Sawyer által azonban újra elérhetővé vált. Sawyer, a kanadai sci-fi író a WordStar 7.0d verziót csomagolta össze néhány hasznos eszközzel, beleértve a modern Windows rendszeren futtatható DOS emulátorokat, így most bár Hatalmas kandelábert terveznek a Holdra Rakéta     2024-08-08 08:36:05     Tudomány Mesébe illő terv, de a százméteres utcalámpa nem csak megvilágítaná a holdi éjszakát, de számtalan egyéb funkciója is lenne. Sziget Fesztivál: Tatabánya méretű hálózati kapacitással készül a Yettel a zökkenőmentes mobilozásra Digital Hungary     2024-08-08 11:13:00     Mobiltech Fesztiválok Tatabánya Sziget Fesztivál Yettel Szerdán elkezdődött a Sziget Fesztivál, Európa egyik legnagyobb könnyűzenei és kulturális rendezvénye, amely évente több százezer látogatót vonz. Az ilyen nagy horderejű események a mobilhálózat erősítését is igénylik, hogy az képes legyen kiszolgálni a hirtelen megnövekedett használatot a területen. Hogyan készül egy mobilszolgáltató egy időszakos A vállalati munkaállomások többségén megragadt a Windows 10 Bitport     2024-08-08 09:43:00     Infotech Windows Már csak 470 napjuk marad a cégeknek, hogy Windows 11-re váltsanak, mert 2025. október 14-én megszűnik az operációs rendszer támogatása. Pumped Gabo metaverzumos kísérlete nagy ígéretekkel indult, de végül kirántotta a szőnyeget a befektetők alól Telex     2024-08-08 05:01:20     Tudomány Befektető Pumped Gabo Előzetesen Magyarország legelső igazán nagyszabású NFT-projektjeként hivatkoztak a Pumped G-re, de a beígért dolgok egy része állítólag meg sem valósult, egy másik részük már nem elérhető, az alkotók pedig felszívódtak. Okosabb és drágább is lett a Google Chromecast utódja Player     2024-08-08 09:00:44     Infotech Generáció Google Böngésző Chrome A Google tévéokosító eszközének új generációja, a Chromecast utódjának tekinthető Streamer többet tud az elődjénél, és ennek meg is kérik az árát. A vártnál is nagyobb bukást lett a Humane AI Pin 24.hu     2024-08-08 13:58:04     Infotech Mesterséges intelligencia Már többet váltanak vissza, mint amennyit vásárolnak a Humane mesterséges intelligencia által vezérelt kitűzőjéből. A világ legősibb naptárát fedezhették fel Liner     2024-08-08 07:20:59     Tudomány A szakemberek azon a véleményen vannak, hogy a faragványok a világ legkorábbi, ún. luniszoláris naptárát alkotják. Humanoid robotpincér csapolt italokat egy amerikai stadionbárban okosipar.hu     2024-08-08 07:03:16     Infotech Cégvilág USA Mesterséges intelligencia Robot Stadion Texas Baseball A mesterséges intelligencia (AI) vezérelte szervizrobotokra specializálódott nevadai Richtech Robotics a napokban hivatalosan is bemutatta ADAM fantázianevet viselő vendéglátó robotját a Texas Rangers Major League Baseball stadionjában – írta a Robotics & Automation News. Az egyedülálló AI-képességekkel és finom, emberi mozgáshoz hasonló mozdulatok A kínaiak kifejlesztettek egy intelligens robotcápát Gyártástrend     2024-08-08 10:50:27     Tudomány Kína Robot Cápa Az öt méter hosszú, 350 kilogrammos robothal figyelemre méltó pontossággal tudja leutánozni egy valódi cápa mozgását. Hetente kétszer indítanak járatokat az űrbe a Virgin Galactic új űrrepülőgépével Rakéta     2024-08-08 12:00:13     Tudomány Közlekedés Világűr Űrállomás Unity Míg a VSS Unity-t körülbelül havonta egyszer tudták használni, addig a Delta-osztályú űrrepülőgépek már hetente többször is szállíthatnak utasokat az űrbe. A Virgin Galactic egy globális hálózat kiépítését tervezi a világ számos pontján található űrállomások bevonásával. A további adásainkat keresd a podcast.hirstart.hu oldalunkon.

2024 Writers of the Future Workshop instructors, Jody Lynn Nye and Robert J. Sawyer, discuss how they can't give back very readily but can pay forward. We discuss what Jody and Rob along with the other judges do to pay forward. Because these winners are the writers we will be reading in the future.

Time for another regular episode of the podcast, and this time we have more interview goodness from the Hugo- and Nebula-winning SF writer Robert J. Sawyer. We had so much fun talking to Rob about his new novel The Downloaded (see episode 40) that we decided to gather up the more general parts of our discussion into a separate segment. So here you will hear talk of Planet of the Apes, science fiction conferences, and much much more. We also have a mostly Star Trek quiz, but with a few Star Wars questions thrown in to trip Phil up. And the usual recommendations of past/present/future SF. For more detail, check out the show notes at: https://101sf.blogspot.com/2024/05/off-on-tangent-more-interview-fun-with.html

Time for a new episode of the podcast. This time Colin and Phil meet the Hugo- and Nebula-winning author Robert J. Sawyer, to discuss his new novel The Downloaded. You may recall we reviewed the Audible Original full-cast audio version of The Downloaded a couple of episodes ago (you can find it here). We were keen to find out how the book version differs from the audio version, so we invited Rob onto the show to discuss. And what a discussion it is!  Also in this episode, we have listener responses to our "to be a fan" episode, and our usual ramble through the past, present and future of SF. For the full show notes, check out our website at 101sf.blogspot.com

In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario.One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth's first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction.The Downloaded debuted in a six-month exclusive window as an Audible Original narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser promoted by national TV and radio ad campaigns. This print edition is coming out immediately after Audible's exclusivity ends and is being supported by a six-city cross-Canada author book tour.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/houseofmysteryradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we review The Downloaded, the new novel by multi-award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer. It's an "Audible Original", meaning that it's been published first as an audiobook - and not just any old audiobook. This has Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser as one member of a full cast. We also have a quiz and our usual run-through of recommendations of past, present and future SF. For more info, check out our shownotes at 101sf.blogspot.com

A chat with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer about his latest novel, The Downloaded, now available as an Audible original audiobook and coming in print from Shadowpaw Press on May 7, 2024. Websitesfwriter.com Amazon linksAmazon.comAmazon.cahttps://youtu.be/H5pURHwuGg0 Publisher's book page Robert J. Sawyer's Amazon Page About the Book The new novel by Canada's top … Continue reading "Episode 151: Robert J. Sawyer – The Downloaded" Source

This episode contains: Welcome to our post-Christmas episode. We discuss how the world's going to hell, personally and socially. Devon thinks hating the year that's gone by is a meme but Steven and Ben present there reasons why the world is actually burning down. We then move on to discussing our Christmas's and Ben not doing his homework. Also, Ben made a youtube video for his mom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JckIYYXhw98 Ben then teaches us all about Kwanzaa. Ben reminds us that all holidays are “made up.” In the spirit of Umoja we celebrate unity. https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/umoja.html   100 Positive News from 2023: Despite not planning on doing science on this episode, Ben felt guilty about not doing his homework an so brought some science:  Elimination of malaria close in Ghana Child mortality rate (probably) lowest ever Big drop in aids deaths World's largest solar farm activated Most new electricity was renewable First green cement that can be used for buildings First fossil fuel-free flight over the Atlantic Women finally allowed to vote everywhere, Vatican City was the holdout More people than ever have clean drinking water Seven countries progressed to a higher income group Largest ever re-introduction of an “extinct in the wild” species Paris river to become swimmable for first time in 100 years Scientists find plastic-eating microbes Oryx back from extinction First Arab woman in space https://www.gapminder.org/news/100-positive-news-from-2023/   Science Fiction: Steven and Devon both watched some movies. Ben did not however, but he still gives us his summary of the movies based on the trailers. Steven saw Rebel Moon: Part 1: A Child of Fire. Ben thinks a child emerges from a lava planet, who then leads a ragtag group of minors against a fascist government from another planet. Steven says he got about 80% correct. Rebal Moon is Star Wars. That's all. Zach Snider outdoes himself with the slomo. We note that there will be a directors cut. Devon saw Oppenheimer. Ben thinks this is a science film about the man that worked on the atom bomb. Devon gives a not so brief summary of the movie and ultimately recommends it. Devon also talks about the book The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer. Devon also saw The Creator. Ben thinks the AI attack LA and then become monks, then there's a new AI in town in the body of a human child. Then humans want to destroy it as the perceive it as a threat. Devon then gives us his honest opinion that the movie is not that good.   See Y'all Next Year! 2024 IS GOING TO BE THE BEST

Ron's Amazing Stories is a captivating podcast that combines the love for audiobooks, storytelling, and listener submissions. In this episode, Ron shares his passion for mystery fiction, recommends a thrilling science fiction audiobook, and features listener-submitted adventure stories. One of the highlights of the episode is Ron's recommendation of The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer. Set in the year 2059, this science fiction audiobook takes listeners on a journey where survivors of a global cataclysm face the imminent threat of an asteroid collision. Ronald's enthusiasm for this book is evident as he describes the immersive experience created by the narration and the innovative use of Dolby Atmos technology. The podcast also showcases the power of storytelling through listener submissions. Ron shares a chilling tale of a doppelganger encounter, which was submitted by a dedicated listener. This segment allows the audience to become active participants in the podcast, fostering a sense of community and engagement. Featured Story - Cold Equations Our featured story is a fascinating bit of science fiction. If you are familiar with the first space flights of the 1950's you know just how important fuel conservation was. You were allowed so many burn-cycles before the mission was a failure. But what if the mission only allowed for failure? What if there was only enough fuel for one outcome and hundreds of lives depended on it? That is the premise of the tale Cold Equations. It first aired on X-Minus One in August of 1955. Other Stories Include - Blood On My Hands, Review - The Downloaded, Why are you just standing there, That's My Name, Cold Equations, and Johnny Is It True - Santiago Ron's Amazing Stories Is Sponsored by Audible - You can get a free audiobook and a 30 day free trial at . Your Stories: Do you have a story that you would like to share on the podcast or the blog? Head to the main website, click on Story Submission, leave your story, give it a title, and please tell me where you're from. I will read it if I can. Links are below. Program Info: Ron's Amazing Stories is published each Thursday. You can download it from , stream it on or on the mobile version of . Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on . Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this . Social Links: Contact Links:

The Stuph File Program Featuring sci-fi writer, Robert J. Sawyer, author of The Downloaded; Professor Sheldon H. Jacobson; & science writer Andrew Fazekas, author of National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky and National Geographic's Stargazer Atlas: The Ultimate Guide To The Night Sky Download Canadian sci-fi legend, Robert J. Sawyer, has his 25th novel out, called The Downloaded. But what's unique is, for the first six months of its release, it's only out as an audio book via Audible. The biannual time change is once again upon us, meanwhile the debate over why we still have to do this rages on. Sheldon H. Jacobson, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, proposes a simple compromise between Daylight Saving and Standard time. Science writer, Andrew Fazekas, The Night Sky Guy, author of National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky and National Geographic's Stargazer Atlas: The Ultimate Guide To The Night Sky, is back to talk about the use of AI in space exploration. (Patreon Stuph File Program fans, there is a Patreon Reward Extra where we give some love to Venus; learn about kilonova explosions that can kill us all; plus, just how old is the Moon?). Now you can listen to selected items from The Stuph File Program on the new audio service, Audea. A great way to keep up with many of the interviews from the show and take a trip down memory lane to when this show began back in 2009, with over 800 selections to choose from! This week's guest slate is presented by Bilal Butt, the afternoon host at Montreal's CHOM 97.7, "The Spirit of Rock".  He's also in to voiceovers, event hosting, music production.

Award-winning science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer joins us to talk about his latest book, The Oppenheimer Alternative, where the group of scientists who created the atom bomb must now work together to save the world. Hosted by Crystal Sarakas. Produced by WSKG Public Media.

Chatting With Sherri welcomes back best selling & award winning author; Robert  J Sawyer! Science fiction writer and futurist Robert J. Sawyer is a member of the Order of Canada, he lives in Mississauga, Ontario (just outside Toronto). Rob is one of only eight writers in history — and the only Canadian — to win all three of the world's top Science Fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award  and he's the first author in thirty years to receive a Lifetime Achievement Aurora Award.  In June 2016, Rob was inducted into the Order of Canada, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Canadian government. The Oppenheimer Alternative -On the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, Hugo and Nebula-winning author Robert J. Sawyer takes us back in time to revisit history…with a twist. While J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the A-bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a bomb based on nuclear fusion—the mechanism that powers the sun. Teller's research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the year 2030, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire inner solar system—including Earth. As the war ends with the use of fission bombs against Japan, Oppenheimer's team, plus Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun, stay together—the greatest scientific geniuses from the last century racing against time to save our future.   Robert has been a judge in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest since 2005 as one of the many ways he pays it forward. This show was recorded earlier this year but was delayed due totechnical difficulties.

This is the second half of the conversation begun in our last episode, between science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.  We start with a quick re-cap on Boltzmann Brains and then spend quite a bit of time considering the problem of having a sample size of one, when it comes to the existence of life in the universe, as well as the existence of intelligent, technological alien life we hope to find on another planet some day.  We also contemplate fungible atoms (!), confirmation bias, appropriate skepticism and learn what might constitute both an intelligent and an interesting message to aliens.  Finally, Arik assures us that we need not worry about the dark forest, there is nothing to fear from our alien neighbours: they are not coming here to eat us.  Robert J. Sawyer:  Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com) Robert J. Sawyer - Wikipedia Robert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com) The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | Goodreads Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)  Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | Goodreads Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

In this episode we present our first conversation between a science fiction author and a scientist, both of whom we've spoken to before.  We have with us Robert J. Sawyer, star of our very first interview in our second episode where we discussed his book The Oppenheimer Alternative, and Arik Kershenbaum who we spoke to in our last episode about his book A Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy.   We discuss the possibility of evolving intelligent dinosaurs in Robert's 'Quintaglio Cycle', and consider the unexpected, non-mammalian forms of intelligence we've discovered in parrots and ravens.  We consider the impossibility of evolving telepathy as a form of communication, by means of baby parasites controlling the smoking habits of their mother hosts.  We also talk about other kinds of evolutionary impossibilities such as the single oceanic organism in Stan Lem's 'Solaris' and the interstellar being made of dust and gas in Fred Hoyle's 'The Black Cloud'.  Finally we debate the value of Okham's razor in philosophical notions of parsimony, when it comes to deciding whether the universe is incredibly unlikely but real, or just the fantasy of a Boltzmann Brain dreaming up the rich diversity of phenomena we observe.  To be continued in Episode 8!Robert J. Sawyer:Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com)Robert J. Sawyer - WikipediaRobert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com)The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | GoodreadsScience Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | GoodreadsBuzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

Robert J. Sawyer, the Dean of Canadian Science Fiction, which the Ottowa Citizen dubbed him. He's won all three of the science fiction field's top honors for his best novel of the year – the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W Campbell Memorial Award. As well as 11 Canadian science fiction and fantasy awards, the Auroras. If any of you remember seeing the ABC series Flash Forward, it was based on his novel of the same name.

Robert J. Sawyer, the Dean of Canadian Science Fiction, which the Ottowa Citizen dubbed him. He's won all three of the science fiction field's top honors for his best novel of the year—the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. As well as 11 Canadian science fiction and fantasy awards, the Auroras. If any of you remember seeing the ABC series Flash Forward, it was based on his novel of the same name.

Bonus Episode! In June of 2020, we produced a podcast episode about J. Robert Oppenheimer. It was part of a series we called "Author Research in Action" where we invited two guests—one an award-winning author, and the other a subject matter expert. We stepped back let them interview each other and we recorded their conversation. Considering the movie Oppenheimer—The story of the American scientist and his role in the development of the atomic bomb—is currently in theaters, we thought it appropriate to revisit this episode.   Reference Librarian Helen Hokanson hosts a discussion on the Manhattan Project and so much more. Los Alamos National Laboratory Program Manager and Senior Historian, Alan Carr is paired with author Robert J. Sawyer, who's written a new SciFi/historical fiction/thriller called THE Oppenheimer Alternative.  Our recommendations:    There are more than 240 Booklists on Oppenheimer in our catalog One of our Librarians produced a list titled: Thanks Oppenheimer! Another of our Librarians created a list that acknowledges the cultural impact of both the Oppenheimer and Barbie movies: Barbenheimer 2023

In the world of speculative fiction…some of your favorite authors…selected these stories for you to read.24 Award-winning Authors and IllustratorsBonus Short Stories by Kevin J. Anderson • L. Ron Hubbard • S. M. StirlingArt and Writing Tips by Lazarus Chernik • L. Ron Hubbard • Kristine Kathryn RuschEdited by Dean Wesley Smith • Jody Lynn Nye16-page color artwork • Cover art by Tom WoodCheck out the stories Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, Nnedi Okorafor, Robert J. Sawyer, Kevin J. Anderson, Jody Lynn Nye and others chose as the best new voices of the year.Be amazed. Be amused. Be transported … by stories that take you by surprise and take you further and deeper into new worlds and new ideas than you've ever gone before.Twelve captivating tales from the most exciting new voices in science fiction and fantasy accompanied by three from masters of the genre.You will love this collection of the best new voices in science fiction and fantasy because, as Locus magazine puts it, “Not only is the writing excellent...it is also extremely varied. Hot new talent.”Get it now.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/houseofmysteryradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“An imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.” —Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the basis for Christopher Nolan's movie OppenheimerWhile J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the atomic bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a weapon based on nuclear fusion — the mechanism that powers the sun. But Teller's research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the mid-21st century, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire planet Earth.Oppenheimer combines forces with Albert Einstein, Hans Bethe, Freeman Dyson, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Leo Szilard, John von Neumann, and Kurt Gödel — plus rocket scientist Wernher von Braun — in a race against time to save our planet.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/houseofmysteryradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the movie, Oppenheimer is about to be released this Friday, there's speculation that the detonation of the atomic bomb may have created a tear in the space-time continuum. Could it be possible that we jumped into a parallel universe? Furthermore, there is evidence of a 1945 UFO crash about 20 miles from White Sands, NM where the first explosion of the atomic bomb took place. This downed craft actually predates the Roswell UFO incident by 2 years. Could there be a direct correlation? Tonight on Ground Zero, David Masters talks with award-winning science fiction writer and author of The Oppenheimer Alternative, Robert J. Sawyer about THE OPPENHEIMER OPTION. #GroundZero #ClydeLewis #Oppenheimer https://groundzeromedia.org/7-17-23-the-oppenheimer.../ Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis is live M-F from 7-10pm, pacific time, and streamed for free at groundzero.radio and talkstreamlive.com. There is a delayed broadcast on our local Portland radio station, KPAM 860, from 9pm-12am, pacific time. To leave a message, call our toll-free line at 866-536-7469. To listen by phone: 717-734-6922. To call the live show: 503-225-0860. For Android and iPhones, download the Paranormal Radio app. For additional show information, go to groundzeromedia.org. In order to access Ground Zero's exclusive digital library which includes webinars, archived shows/podcasts, research groups, videos, documents, and more, you need to sign up at aftermath.media. Subscriptions start at $8/month. Check out the yearly specials!

Today, we're looking at the final episode of Star Trek Continues. "To Boldly Go. Part 2." So how does this episode hold up against other series finales such as "All Good Things" and "What You Leave Behind". And how well does this episode tie together Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There's a lot to talk about, including some cool stories shared with me by director James Kerwin. Audio Player control at bottom of page. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I'm Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars. And I am a Nerd. This is episode 107 of the podcast. Today, we're talking about the final episode of Star Trek Continues. “To Boldly Go, Part 2.” bringing our coverage of this show to a close.   The description on IMDB reads The iconic mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to an end, as Kirk and his crew battle the ultimate adversary.   This teleplay was written by Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. With story by Vic Mignogna, Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on the 13th of November 2017.   We pick up in a very tense situation from last episode's great cliffhanger. Kirk is unwilling to relinquish his bridge. He, Spock, and Uhura all try to fight back. To no avail. Even the security officer's phasers are useless against Lana's powers.   And then the big surprise twist happens. Smith's eyes go silver. She is uplifted as well. This was nicely foreshadowed in the last episode where they mentioned that she was holding Garry's hand when they passed through the barrier. I felt then, that she was holding something back. She uses the same lightning force powers that Lana was using. We saw Gary Mitchel and Elizabeth Denher use them in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. She forces Lana and Sentek to retreat to the Kongo.   So … it seems Smith wasn't quite so unaffected as she claimed. I think this is a very cool development. But it raises a lot of questions. Where does Smith sit in the esper scale? Has she always been affected, but has been hiding it, or have her powers only just now manifested. And if so, why?   Kirk asks security to escort her to sickbay. At first, she's taken aback. After all, she's one of the good guys right. She helped them against Lana. But after a moment of thought, she relents. It's probably a good idea. She understands the potential threat she represents. She sees things from Kirk's point of view. Maybe she'd even do the same thing in his place. She voluntarily goes with security.   The big question is, why are they just sitting there. Why have they not destroyed the Enterprise and her crew? McCoy has the answer. It takes time for uplifted  espers to grow in their powers. Perhaps they're biding their time until they all reach full strength.   Bones has a medical defence that might help with the illusions. Scotty recommends keeping their distance as the espers don't have unlimited range with their powers. The Kongo's engines are offline. The crew must have shut it off before they were overpowered. Maybe the espers don't know how to get them going again.   Kirk hasn't slept for two days. McCoy doesn't argue. Usually Kirk would be wrong, but not this time. He needs to keep going. I'm not sure McCoy is right, actually. As Riker says in Best of Both Worlds, you can't fight the enemy at the same time you're fighting your own fatigue. Lack of sleep impairs human decision making. I know my mind is absolutely useless after putting in a day of work, and Kirk has been going much longer than that. Yes, the situation is critical, but for the moment, it's quiet, This might be the perfect time for Kirk to catch 30 minutes of sleep while the enemy regroups. Of course, there's a lot to accomplish while they have this time. Coming up with defences, a plan of some sort. There are no good or easy answers, which is probably why McCoy is not arguing with him.   In five years, 73 people have died under Kirk's command. He remembers the exact number. Of course he would.   McCoy says “we'll stop them” but that's not the point. “At what cost, Doctor?” Kirk asks. That's what's really on his mind. It's fitting for Kirk to reflect back on the cost of his five year mission as it's nearing its end. Especially at a moment like this, when it looks like that cost is about to skyrocket. But there's more to it, as we'll soon discover.   McKenna goes to see Smith. Everyone is afraid of her. Understandably. Contact with Gary, at the time of his uplifting left some residual energy in her. She didn't uplift at the time, probably because she doesn't have the psi rating necessary. But her proximity to the barrier now has reactivated that residual energy enough to uplift her.   Smith has developed telepathy. She can read McKenna's mind. She can feel the power flowing through her, but she claims to not be dangerous. She would never hurt anybody.   But McKenna can't know that for sure. Gary shows early signs of megalomania quite quickly. Denher much less so. She still retained her humanity despite temptation to the contrary. Why?   Was it that Denher was intrinsically a better person? What is because Denher had a lower psi rating than Gary? If that's the case, it looks good for Smith as she seems to have a lower rating still.   So far, it's looking like Smith has a good chance of keeping her humanity long term. But there are no guarantees here. We just just don't know.   Charvanek comes to see Spock. It seems she is still trying to pursue a relationship with him. A relationship he was tempted to enter into in the past, but resisted.   She asks Spock to come with her when her ship departs. The mission of the Enterprise is almost over. His job is complete. It's a logical time to make a change in his life. She tempts him with the promise of unification between Romulans and Vulcans. A promise that will consume him a century from now. But why would a Romulan commander want reunification? She is as he would want her to be, not as she truly is. This is not Charvanek. When Spock resists the illusion, it disappears.   Other illusions are being used against the crew. An order to Checkov to lower shields and head into the barrier. Even Kirk's preoccupation with the deaths of crew under his command.   I'm glad these moments were included. The greatest weapon Lana's espers have is their mental abilities. Their ability to confuse and manipulate the crew of the Enterprise. They should be using it every change they get. Probably a lot more than we see on screen. With that many espers, and so many on board the Enterprise susceptible to them, it's actually a miracle they don't blow up their own ship.   This is one weakness I see in Deep Space Nine, actually. Now DS9 is my favourite of all the Star Trek shows, and I love everything to do with the Dominion War and the changelings. But their greatest strength was not the military might of their ships, or the fighting acumen of the Jem Hadar. Their greatest weapon was the ability to infiltrate the Federation. We saw a little hint of the potential they possessed in Homefront and Paradise Lost. And that was only 4 changelings. They should have used these infiltration tactics a lot more during the war. We know the blood screenings were not entirely effective. The Federation wouldn't have stood a chance.   The reason I bring all this up is just to praise this episode for including these scenes.   The battle begins. The Kongo fires on the Enterprise. The starboard nacelle is damaged. The Romulans join the fight but then move off.   The espers might need a minute to recharge their powers.   The nacelle needs 30 minutes to repair. Kirk orders a risky cold restart. The esper's powers cannot deflect multiple simultaneous strikes. But two vectors will not be enough. Three would do the job, but they don't have a third ship….or do they?   Kirk orders the crew to prepare for a risky procedure. One they have never before attempted. Scotty will re-start the engines. They will separate the saucer from the Stardrive. Spock will command the saucer. Kirk, the secondary hull.   Obviously, this is something that TNG did, but TOS never did.  I was already aware that Gene Roddenberry had intended that the TOS Enterprise be able to separate. They didn't really have the budget to make it a reality until Encounter at Farpoint. What I didn't realise, until it was pointed out by James Kerwin, is that Kirk referred to the process, which they called “Jettisoning”, not “Separating” in two different TOS episodes. “The Apple” and “Savage Curtain”.   Spock points out that it will be very difficult to re-integrate the ship after this. But not impossible I like this approach. It shows that while yes, the original Enterprise COULD separate the two sections, it wasn't a routine operation like on the Enterprise D. It's a last resort. Not necessarily indeed to be undone. Kirk describes it as “jettisoning the stardrive section.” So it's not the same as in TNG.  I like this a lot.   This gives the final episode of Star Trek Continues quite an epic feel. Now they can conduct a three-pronged attack on the Kingo.   And it's working. The Kongo's power is decreasing.   Kirk is commanding the stardrive section from Auxilary control, which was seen from time to time in the original series. The set was built for episode 3 “Fairest of Them All”.  Director James Kerwin shared a story with me. The Auxilary control set was re-assembled for the finale, not having been used in a couple of years. But the buttons and lights on the helm console had deteriorated due to humidity and dust. They no longer worked, and they had to film in two days.   Kermin checked the travel manifest and realised that Grant Imahara, who played Sulu, was flying in that day. Grant was an electrical engineer by trade. Kermin called him on his mobile phone and said “Grant, I'm so sorry, I know you have a day off before you need to film, but could you please come to set now and try to repair the auxiliary control helm console? He gladly did so and made it work beautifully. So when we see Sulu pressing the aux control helm buttons, and the lights on the console flashing, that was Grant's work.   The Kongo hails the Enterprise. We hear some ominous music. Music that is very reminiscent of the score from Star Trek The Motion Picture. A very nice touch.   This episode was the third time Andy Farber wrote and recorded original music for the show. Starting to integrate some themes from The Motion Picture was a deliberate charge from Mignongna to Farber. This episode is, afterall, the missing gap between TOS and TMP. A handing of the torch. What he did was incredible. He weaved these different styles of music together in an impressive and wonderful way. You hear it clearly during the saucer separation.   What made this extra special was the inclusion of Craig Huxley. This man has deep connections to Star Trek. He played Peter James Kirk - the nephew of James Kirk, and also appeared in the episode “and the children shall lead.” He invented a very unique musical instrument that featured heavily in the score of Star Trek The Motion Picture. The blaster beam. The longest stringed instrument ever. You probably know what I'm talking about. The score for TMP had these deep resonant sounds like nothing you've heard before or since. Those sounds came from this unique instrument. Jerry Goldsmith discovered this instrument and wanted to use it in his score. It was also used in Star Trek 2 and 3, and even Back to The future and Alien. I was surprised to hear that, because to me, those sounds are uniquely synonymous with The Motion Picture.   They brought Huxley back to perform some blaster box for the score of this episode, and man does it make a difference. It impacts me on such an emotional level, because of the link to The Motion Picture.   The Kongo's original crew, including their captain, are alive in the cargo bay. Lana is going to use them as leverage to negotiate.   They want McKenna to beam aboard the Kongo, in exchange for the Kongo's captain. If she doesn't they'll decompress the hanger deck. It's a classic prisoner exchange, like in Generations. But who will it benefit most? McKenna is willing to go. Sentek gives only one minute. Spock tries to contact Kirk but Uhura can't get through the interference.   McKenna is trained in mediation. She can find a way to a win-win situation.   Spock is in command. He has to make a decision. This could be a deception. The Kongo crew may not even be there. McKenna urges Spock to listen to his feelings, rather than his logic. Interestingly, I would have thought that his emotions would want him to protect McKenna, his friend. But he relents and agrees to the exchange. Mckenna for Captain Azmi.   This raises the important question of why they want McKenna so much.   As soon as McKenna beams away, it is revealed that the lifesigns were an illusion. There are no crew to be saved. Sentek lied. When Spock confronts him about this, saying Vulcans never lie, Sentek says they both know that is not true. And I can't argue with that. They now have a valuable hostage. One for whom Spock has affection. And that may be motivation enough for the espers wanting the exchange.   Lana orders Spock to stand down or McKenna will die. Spock agrees.   The Kongo warps out of the system.   Can things possibly get any worse?   Lana brings food to McKenna, which gives her the opportunity to try to reason with her. McKenna says there is room for everyone in the Federation. She'll do all she can to help them find acceptance. Lana points out that time after time, humanity has turned its back on self-improvement. After all they've done, Lana knows there is no place for her and her people in the Federation. She may be right. I can't imagine many in the Federation would be keen to welcome these people, given the danger they possess.   Lana sees her and her people as humanity's successors. She doesn't want to assimilate into the Federation. She wants to replace it.   With help from the Romulans, the Enterprise has been re-attached into one piece. They're now in pursuit, but they're a long way behind.   Starfleet has requested help from both the Klingons and the Romulans. Both have said no. McCoy's medical defence is ready to help them focus. This is important for the story, because otherwise, sooner or later, someone on the ship would succumb to an illusion. The good guys have to have a chance to succeed at some point. Uhura has a way to circumvent the esper's subspace disruption, so they'll be able to communicate and coordinate.   The Enterprise will be working with the Exeter and the Potempkin. The only other two constitution class ships in service.   Spock apologises for his recent decision. Kirk confirms he would have done the same thing in his place. Smith wants to help. Kirk isn't convinced it's a good idea. Her power is growing quickly. But is her ego growing with the power? There seems to be no evidence of that so far.   Five years ago, Smith watched Kirk make impossible choices to protect his crew. That set something in motion in her.  He showed her what it means to serve.   Originally a yeoman, Smith left and got her commission so she could return to the Enterprise and serve her crew. This is what she's meant to do - help. Either Smith is a very good actor, or she is still herself. Still a good person. It's a great speech and a very nice character moment for Smith.   If things weren't already bad enough, it seems the Exeter and Potempkin have both been destroyed. They fired on each other. The espers powers of illusion have grown significantly. Probably greater even than what Gary's were before he died.   This episode is doing a fantastic job of taking the tension and ramping it up further and then further.   Uhura and Spock have come up with another way to shield the Enterprise from the illusory power of the espers. It will be limited, but might buy them some time.   But without the other two ships, time to do what?   When they see the Kongo on screen, we hear another booming note from the blaster beam. So effective.   Smith is going to try to use her powers to force her way through the Kongo's shields in order to beam over there.   Kongo has started firing. Spock has located McKenna. Smith is on it. The scene where she storms into the Kongo engine room and throws the espers aside is awesome. She has become a powerful superhero and I love it. Who would have thought, looking at the character in Star Trek's second pilot, that she would end up here. But now it's two against one, and their powers have had a lot more time to grow than hers. As they zap her, her eyes seem to dim. So she starts to fire all her power into the ship's engines. The espers run. Her eyes fade to normal. Her lifesigns are gone. She used the last of her energy to burn out the Kongo's systems.   And this brings the story of Smith to an end. She dies a hero. She fulfils her dreams. She is able to serve in the most powerful way, doing what nobody else could have done.   When I think back on this episode, I always remember another death, that we'll talk about shortly. But after this time through, Smith's death will stick with me just as much, maybe even more. This death is just as emotionally impactful. This is the moment when the good guys win.   James Kerwin really enjoyed shooting Smith's sacrifice. He and actress Kipleigh Brown had been working together on film projects for many years, and both started working on Star Trek Continues at the same time, episode 3. He was glad to give the character an honourable send-off.   Not only did Kipleigh Brown write the previous episode, “What Ships are For”, she also wrote Smith's farwell speech to Kirk.   The Romulans are firing killing shots at the Kongo. But they still have someone over there. The Romulans, like their Vulcan cousins, it seems, are very pragmatic in this situation. They're not willing to risk the galaxy just for McKenna.   The visuals of the damages Kongo with it's decks exposed looks awesome. Reminds me of the remastered effects in The Doomsday Machine.   Even Charvanek,who is still aboard the Enterprise, doesn't approve of Tal's actions. Now the Romulan ship is firing at the Enterprise too.   The Enterprise takes some very significant damage. Casualty reports coming from all over the ship. As the saucer is mangled, and sparks flare all over the bridge, we get an epic sense of disaster you wouldn't see in any other episode of TOS. This is the finale. It all ends here. This nicely gives an added reason for the ship to undergo a major refit prior to TMP.   Charvanek disables the weapons on her ship, relieving Tal of his position.   The Kongo hails. They're in bad shape. Even Lana has lost the silver from her eyes. “Well fought, Kirk,” she says. “For a moment we knew the freedom of infinity.”   Their reactor is building up. Scotty needs a minute to beam McKenna out. He doesn't get it. He's half got her, but having  trouble re materialising her. It looks like Spock has done it, but it still doesn't work. Spock's emotions come out as he hits the console.   McKenna is still standing there, shimmering, allowing them to have a tearful goodbye.   Kirk apologises and thanks her.   Spock approaches. It's a painful moment for him. She says something to him, although it isn't overly apparent to me in this scene. We get hints of music from Star Trek 2. Fitting. This scene really tears me apart. McKenna herself seems to have a quiet acceptance of her death. She has a smile that seems to say “Thanks for trying.” She is remarkably brave in the face of her imminent death. Were I in her situation. I'd probably be horrified. McKenna fades away. Dead. It makes narrative sense that McKenna would die in this episode. Over the course of this fourth season, she has become an important part of the show. Part of this family. It makes no sense that she wouldn't be around in the movies. It's logical that she would die. I guess the same is true for Smith. And in a story of this magnitude, there needs to be loss. There has to be a price for victory.   In the end, McKennma's death was kind of senseless. She wasn't able to make a difference, although it does serve an important story purpose as we'll see in a minute. But Smith's death was critical to their victory. They never would have won without her. In a very real sense, she is the hero of this story.   The Enterprise crawls home on its hands and knees. She has come home. But it's not the triumphant moment they had anticipated. Their recent losses, how close they came to disaster, it all weighs heavily on them. Kirk's log is spoken with a very sombre voice. We see the spacedock in orbit, where she'll stay until her refit is complete and Kirk takes her out to confront V'ger.   We see a TOS shuttle fly over the golden Gate Bridge in a scene that otherwise could have come from the motion picture.   Admiral Nogura, who we hear about in the motion picture, but never see, congratulates Kirk on completing his five year mission, and on saving the galaxy. It's cool to have that character appear in this episode.   In the show, we didn't see the Enterprise crew saving the entire galaxy. They tended to deal with smaller scale issues most of the time. But it's very fitting that they have faced and overcome such a threat in their final story.   Kirk still feels the cost acutely. Based on Kirk's experiences with McKenna, Kirk calls the experimental counsellor program a success. It should continue. Starfleet ships from now on will have counsellors on board.   Kirk looks at a series of models, from Cochrane's Phoenix, to the NX-01, We see the USS Discovery, the constitution class, and finally, the constitution refit, as the TMP theme starts to play.   I get goosebumps.   Now, potentially, Discovery shouldn't be seen here, as that ship was classified when it travelled into the future. Of course, Discovery season 1 was brand new when this episode was made, so that canon hadn't been established yet. Personally, I think it's not out of the question for an admiral to still have a crossfield class model in his office. It was still a part of Starfleet history. Nogura would have been active in Starfleet during the time of Discovery. And I think it's worth it for the emotional resonance of seeing it in the lineup. It's nicely ties old and new Trek together.   The Enterprise will be refit from the keel up. The crew will be given promotions. And the Federation council has voted to reinstate the enterprise Delta as the official insignia of Starfleet.   Kirk says Scotty always thought it reminded him of the port and starboard warp signatures of Cochrane deceleration. I can't help but wonder if this is a nod to the novel Star Trek Federation. To Kirk, it's an arrow. Rising upward and outward.   I was never a fan of the alternate insignias for other ships, and I believe, neither was Rodennberry. I remember reading somewhere, and I don't remember where, so take this with a grain of salt, but I seem to remember Roddenberry wanted the crew of other ships to have the familiar delta, but the costume designer kept making new insignias, probably because he wanted to express his creativity.   For me, this is a part of canon I tend to try to ignore. It's clear that in most of Star Trek, the delta is intended to be the logo for all of Starfleet, and always has been. But, those alternate insignias are part of canon. And they were further canonised by both Enterprise and Strange New Worlds. Later Star Trek established the delta was used as the general Starfleet logo both prior to Kirk's five year mission, and again afterwards.   James Kerwin resolved this by having Nogura say that in honour of the Enterprise, they were RE-establishing the delta as the official starfleet logo.   This episode makes it all work here in a fitting way.   Kirk is questioning whether his time has ended. He is not the same person he was. He's suffered a lot of loss. His preoccupation with the loss of people under his command may have been brought on by the espers, but these feelings are real. He expects more of himself than he's able to give any longer. He could never be happy with that.   This makes him more receptive to what Nogura is about to offer him.   We see the Enterprise crew assembled in the same room where Kirk briefs them in TMP. It's fascinating seeing those colourful TOS uniforms in a background plate that looks like it's taken directly from TMP. I do love the transitional moments like this.   Kirk emerges in his motion picture admiral uniform. Like most people, I'm not a big fan of the TMP uniforms, but the one exception is Kirk's admiral uniform. I like that a lot. I kinda wish the movie had just used that uniform for everyone.   Kirks makes a speech. He has been promoted to admiral and chief of Starfleet operations. That's the bad news. The good news is that they will continue to reach deeper into the stars. Explore more new worlds. Venturing further into the final frontier.   Our greatest adversaries, he says, are ourselves. We have much to learn about what's out there, but also about what's in here. The experience with the espers has cemented that lesson.   Now the music goes full TMP.   The next thing the episode needs to do is set up where McCoy and Spock will be at the start of the movie.   McCoy says he's done. He's seen enough death. What he hasn't seen is his daughter in five years. He's leaving Starfleet and going home. I feel that McCoy's departure hasn't been as well set up as Spocks, which we'll get to in a minute. But his reasons are sound. Particularly the family thing 5 years is a very long time to not see your child. We don't know the exact details of his family in the prime universe canon, but it has been established through the years, particularly in books, that McCoy had a family. The Kelvin movies made his marriage and divorce canon. I can't begin to imagine not seeing your child for five years, but I applaud him for doing something about it now. This works really quite well for me, but I think it would work even better had there been a little more foreshadowing through the season. Seeing McCoy start to lament the lost time with his daughter. Realising how great that cost had become.   Of course, this isn't the end of their friendship. And there's a nice little nod to Drake. There's an acknowledgement of the awkward but strong friendship that exists between Spock and Bones when he invites Spock to join them.   Spock tells Jim what McKenna said to him before she was lost in the transporter beam. “Forgive yourself.”   A difficult thing. McKenna encouraged Spock to pay attention to his emotions. He did so. He made an emotional decision, ignored his logic and allowed her to beam over.   That decision cost many lives, including hers.   Spock doesn't know how to deal with the guilt and regret he's feeling. All he knows how to do with emotions is suppress them. And that leads him to make the decision to undergo the Kholinar. He will purge all his remaining emotions.   This whole Kholinar thing seemed to come from nowhere in The Motion Picture. So Spock's arc in this episode makes a whole lot of sense. It retroactively makes Spock's arc in TMP even better. I absolutely love what the episode does here. It's brilliant character work.   Kirk will see his two friends at dinner. But there's one last thing he has to do. He goes to the bridge of the Enterprise. Now shut down and empty. And he looks at it. Says goodbye. While Kirk says goodbye to his command, we say goodbye to a bridge that we will never see again - not in this form.   It's a powerful scene. It holds similar emotional resonance as the poker scene at the end of “All Good Things.”   The episode hangs there. Gives Vic the time just to look and react.   We finish with a captain's log. Kirk's last. At least for now.   Then we pull back on a shot of the Enterprise in spacedock, as the music becomes very TMP sounding.   There is no music over the ending credits, just the ambient sound of the bridge.   This episode does everything a series finale should do, and it does it in style. We had a huge story with epic stakes. Powerful impacts for our characters. A sense of full-circle as we link back to the beginning, and a setting up for what will come after.   I'd put this one right up there with the best of the Star Trek Finales, “All Good Things” and “What you Leave Behind.” This is certainly orders of magnitude better than “Endgame.”   I've loved Star Trek Continues as a whole, but this final two-parter epitomises the reasons I love this show so much.   I have to give a huge congratulations to the cast and crew. To everyone who made this labour of love a reality. This show has a special place in my heart, and I'm deeply grateful to those who created it.   I would like to acknowledge the tragic passing of actor Grant Imahara who played Sulu. He passed away on the 13th of July 2020 at just 49 years of age   I'd like to say a huge thankyou once again, to James Kerwin for reaching out to me, and generously answering my questions and sharing some cool stories. Thanks, James.   Here ends my coverage of Star Trek Continues.   So what next? Well it seems crazy not to jump right into Star Trek The Motion Picture after this. I've covered all the TNG movies on the podcast, but I haven't covered the TOS movies. So I'll make my way through them.   I also have some ideas of things I can do along the way. I've been thinking of revisiting the original Transformers cartoon from the 80s, which I have powerful childhood memories of. See if there's anything in them worthy to discuss as an adult. I'd likely cover more than one episode in a podcast, and probably not go into as much recap detail as I've been doing with Star Trek. The idea is something I can do a little more off-the-cuff. Something that will take less time as I try to focus more on the fiction writing.   I'm also thinking of giving periodic updates on my reading of DC Comics, using the DC Universe Infinite app.    Anyway, there's plenty more to come, so I hope you'll find something of interest in the future of Nerd Heaven.   Until next time, Live Long and Prosper. Make it so.  

Today, we're looking at "To Boldly Go Part 1", the first half of the Star Trek Continues grant finale. See how this episode ties back to the Star Trek pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before", how it sets up everything for the exciting conclusion, and hear some fascinating new insights into the episode from director James Kerwin. Player at bottom of page http://AdamDavidCollings.com/books ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I'm Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars. And I am a nerd   This is episode 106 of the podcast. Today, we're talking about the first part of the Star Trek Continues grand finale, “To Boldly Go, Part 1”.   I got an email a few weeks ago. It was from James Kerwin. Yes, that James Kerin. Writer, producer and director for Star Trek Continues, including director of today's episode.   He reached out to me to say he'd been listening to the podcast and enjoying it. This was a huge thrill. It's very humbling to find that one of the creators of the show has been listening to the podcast, so I want to give a big shout out and thank you to him, not only for his work on the show, but for his encouragement.   And he pointed out a few fascinating things that I'd missed. Remember in episode three, I talked about how good the shuttlecraft exterior looked. It turns out, they didn't build that from scratch that was the real shuttlecraft Galileo from Star Trek The Original Series. How awesome is that?   I've made mention of Nurse Chapel a couple of times, but that wasn't actually Chapel. They made a conscious decision not to have Chapel appear on screen in this show because she should be off at Starfleet Medical getting her doctorate at this point in time, which makes a lot of sense. So it was always Nurse Burke, a character who had appeared in Star Trek comics and novels.   And Lieutenant Smith has not actually been on the Enterprise the whole time. But we'll learn more about that in the next episode.   But here's a big one I missed. The actress who plays her, Kipleigh Brown, was the writer of episode 9 “What Ships are For” I didn't put that together, but I think that's really cool.   The description on IMDB for today's episode reads To solve the utmost mystery, the Enterprise must return to where Kirk's five-year mission began. The teleplay was by Roberty J. Sawyer based on a story by Vic Mignongna, James Kerwin, and Robert J. Sawyer. It was directed by James Kerwin, And it first aired on the 18th of October 2017.   Robert J. Sawyer was the primary writer of this two-parter. He is a very famous Canadian author who wrote FlashForward, which was adapted for TV by Star Trek's Branon Braga, and Man of Steel's David S. Goyer.   When Star Trek The Next Generation was preparing to wrap and move to the big screen, they gave it a two-hour finale. This idea was pretty unheard of at the time. Lots of shows in the 90s had movie-length pilots, but not finales. TV shows tended to pitter out and end with a bit of a whimper. TNG changed all that.   But the original Star Trek never got a proper finale, like TNG, DS9, and Voyager.  Even Enterprise got a finale of sorts, which I will partially defend, though not the feature length extravaganza that others got. But things were different in the 60s. TOS had no ending. It was cancelled. Turnabout Intruder wasn't intended to be the end of the story, it was just an episode.   One of the greatest things about Star Trek Continues is that it rectifies this. It gives TOS the ending it always deserved. And it's done so well.   Much like “All Good Things”, it calls back to a lot of things from the past, but it specifically links us back to the very first episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Even the titles relate, each is part of Kirk's iconic phrase. The symmetry is beautiful.   But hold on, I hear you say. “What about the Cage? Isn't that the pilot of TOS?” Well, yes it is. Star Trek had an unprecedented  two pilots. But The Cage never actually aired in its original form during the run of the show. These days, I tend to think of The Cage as the pilot for Strange New Worlds. So in my mind, it makes a lot of sense for this episode to tie in with “Where No Man has Gone Before.”   Director James Kerwin gave me some interesting insight into the production of these episodes. They actually filmed this two-parter before they filmed the last episode “What Ships are For.” CBS/Paramount had implemented their fan-film guidelines, guidelines.    Now a show like this would have needed some substantial changes to fit with these guidelines. They were required to be less than 15 minutes or no more than 2 30 minute parts in total with no additional seasons, episodes or sequels.   CBS didn't require the show to shut down, but with these guidelines in place, and Discovery about to release, out of respect, they decided to wind down Star Trek Continues. They did a final fundraiser to complete episodes 8, 10 and 11, but there was no money to make episode 9.   But at the last minute, a generous donor gave them the money for episode 9. They shot the finale first to get it out of the way, and went back several months later to film “What Ships are For.” I'm glad that generous donor made it possible, because that last episode was pretty amazing.   The episode opens with Spock & McKenna meditating together. This is normally a very private affair, but Spock considers it an honour to teach a willing student.    Meditation is the one time that Vulcans truly acknowledge their emotions. You can see why it's so private.   McKenna's inclusion in this moment shows the level of intimacy that has grown between these two.   They will both miss these sessions when the mission is over.   We learn here about a vulcan discipline, the Dulhutnar, an alternative to the Kolinahr.  Rather than the purging of emotions, the Dulhutna is about accepting the wisdom of vestigial emotions. Spock considers there to be No chance of him pursuing either. Of course, we know that shortly after this finale, he will return to Vulcan and pursue the Kolinahr.   Spock and McKenna's relationship is special. They share private things they wouldn't share with others. Time with humans has taught Spock to value his human side. And then they hold hands. That's a huge deal. Vulcans are not comfortable with physical contact. And even for humans, holding hands is a sign of affection and physical intimacy.   The Enterprise is scheduled to return home soon. Their 5 year mission is coming to an end. The loss of The Hood crew still weighs on him. You'll remember that back in “Embracing the Winds” a mysterious life support failure cost the lives of the entire crew. A failure that Scotty was unable to explain.    I remember commenting at the time that I hoped the show would follow up on that. I couldn't remember if it did. We'll see in this episode that it is definitely followed up.   The Yorktown and the Republic were both damaged while investigating The Hood's loss. The Enterprise is being sent to the Federation colony on Aldebran III which went completely silent shortly afterward.   Admiral Thesp, a very cool looking Andorian, admits that the Federation had a secret laboratory on the planet. A supply vessel sent to investigate never returned. They detected anti-proton residue. That means Romulans.   The colony has been destroyed. The central reactor suffered a containment failure. Scotty thinks that should be impossible. He installed the safeguards himself 5 years ago, which, I suppose, gives us a glimpse of what Scotty's job was before the Enterprise's 5 year mission began.   Interestingly, Vic pronounces the word Sabotage the same way Shatner does. Sabotage. I don't know how common that is in America, or Canada for that matter, but here in Australia, we definitely say Sabotage. Anyway, I love these little bits of attention to detail. It's really cool.   The underground pandora research lab is intact but it has a scattering field so Scotty will have to beam them down outside.   The set for the planet looks very reminiscent of what we might have seen on The Original Series, and yet, kind of better, in my opinion. It's a real work of art.   I like the little elevator shaft to gain entrance to the lab. The only sign of habitation nearby. Presumably, the colony was elsewhere on the planet.   A drone appears and attacks them. The effects here are a good match for the original series. Again, better quality, but recognisable.   There's a good sense of danger to this action scene.   After they've dealt with it, a human woman, Lana, appears out of the turbolift. She's surprised to see a Vulcan. The sensors detected him as Romulan.   Lana is played by actress Nichola Bryant who famously portrayed the Doctor Who companion Peri, a character I've been known to refer to as “the whinging yank”. But in fairness to her, Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor was a bit of a prickly guy to be around.   James Kerwin was a big Doctor Who fan growing up. Colin Baker and Nichola Bryant were the doctor/companion pairing that he most remembered as a child. It was a big honour for him to work with both of them on Star Trek Continues. Colin Baker appeared in Episode 4, The White Iris, as Amphidamas. And Nichola Bryant appeared in this two-parter.  How cool is it that he got to work with them both on this show?    Lana is wearing a visor. To me, it looks similar to the one that Spock and Miranda Jones had to wear when viewing the Medusans back in “Is There No Truth in Beauty.”   But as she removes the visor, we see her eyes. The same metallic colour we saw in Gary Mitchell after he was uplifted by passage through the galactic barrier, back in the pilot episode.   Ever since this phenomenon was discovered, after “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, Starfleet have been gathering people with high psi-quotients and experimenting with them. Trying to uplift them. There are 25 of them.   This sounds like a REALLY BAD IDEA   My first thought is, are section 31 involved? This woman is part of a first trial. They have already gone through the barrier. They are weaponised humans - to serve as a last resort in case the Federation is invaded by a superior force.   When Kirk questions the legitimacy of such an action, she refers to the starfleet charter. Article 14 Section 31. And there it is.   Lana makes the statement “Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely. It corrupts selectively.”   I don't believe that all power will always corrupt. I don't buy into the old adage. Lana makes a fair point - of the two espers that were uplifted in the pilot, one became a megalomaniac. The other retained her humanity. We don't really know why. Did Gary already have elements of megalomania in his personality? Was he somehow more susceptible to it than Denher was? There could have been all sorts of factors.   And that uncertainty makes this whole thing a very risky endeavour. Lana claims that psychologically unstable espers were excluded from the operation.   But they can't know for certain what might cause another Gary Mitchell. That, in my opinion, makes what they're doing too dangerous.   Kirk asks which she is, and she answers by saying she follows “Sas-tar-po-harn” This is a human spiritual movement that follows the pacifict teachings of Surak and T'Mord of Vulcan. I think this is a very interesting idea. And a logical one. In Babylon 5, when humans made first contact, there was a growing interest in alien religions among humans, the theory being that races that are more technologically advanced than we are, must be closer to God.   I can see some people thinking that way. It seems a similar thing may have happened in the Star Trek universe. After first contact with Vulcans, it's only logical that some humans may have chosen to adopt Vulcan philosophy. So this is a nice touch.   Lana explains that a cloaked ship came here and attacked the lab. It destroyed the Hallifax. The other espers have been kidnapped by the Romulans. Lana played dead with her powers so they didn't find her.   Spock surmises that Vulcans cannot be uplifted, based on his prior experience at the barrier. He was not uplifted despite his psi-abilities. If Vulcans cannot be uplifted, then neither can Romulans. But this raises a question. Do Romulans have the same telepathic abilities as Vulcans? I've never heard of a Romulan conducting a mind meld. The Romulan ancestors left Vulcan during a time of barbarism. The TNG episode “Gambit” suggests that ancient Vulcans had telepathic abilities because they constructed a telepathic weapon called The Stone of Gol. That suggests the Romulans may indeed have similar telepathic abilities to Vulcans, even though we've never really seen it. Unless there's some example I'm forgetting.   The Romulans want to use the kidnapped human espers because they can't create their own. Seems logical. The interesting thing is, they don't want to use the force against the Federation, but to overthrow their own Praetor. Apparently, the Romulan Klingon alliance has ended, and this group of Romulans oppose the end of the alliance.   Spock raises concern over taking Lana with them. Better to leave her here. Stranded. As they had intended for Mitchell.   A Romulan appears. Sentek. He is played by Cas Anvar, who played Alex Kamal on The Expanse. The Expanse had already aired a season or two by this point. I continue to be impressed with the actors that Star Trek Continues is able to get. Lana disarms Sentek. They beam out (with the prisoner) just before the explosion.   They're pursuing the Romulan ship but it'll enter the neutral zone before they catch up. Admiral Thesp orders him to enter the zone and pursue all the way to Romulus if necessary. Just get the espers back.   Kirk doesn't look too impressed with this. Among other reasons that he probably realises, this is a suicide mission, but in addition to that, it could provoke a war.   Spock asks Uhura to transmit an encrypted message. It's all a bit mysterious.   Kirk has some hard questions for Lana. Why was that one romulan left on the planet? Why didn't she use her powers to overcome him? She theorises that he is a praetorian spy hidden among the dissidents. He fled to the hills. None of her answers sound particularly convincing.   The Enterprise officially crosses the border. They are now in violation of treaty. Of course, so were the Romulans, but it seems they didn't represent the Romulan government so that will be a very weak excuse as far as they are concerned.   A bird of prey decloaks. It's not the marauder. When Spock identifies the ship, Kirk shakes his head. He knows what Spock is up to.   They are hailed by the Romulan commander from The Enterprise Incident. Played wonderfully by Amy Rydell, the daughter of the original actor to play the part in the TOS episode. She does a fantastic job, and almost convinces me she's the time-travelling original actor.   She is referred to Charvanek in this episode but was never named on screen in The Enterprise Incident. She does whisper her name to Spock but we never learn what it is. The Name Charvanek was used in a number of non-canon sources. But she's also given other names in various novels and games. She doesn't attack but her words make it clear she considers a formal declaration of war is all but inevitable due to the Enterprise's entry into the zone.   Kirk isn't impressed that Spock contacted her of his own volition. Spock admits the reason he didn't ask is because he knew Kirk wouldn't agree. How human you are becoming, Mister Spock.   Spock believes he can convince her to assist them in pursuing the dissidents, due to their previous rapport. Kirk gives him 30 minutes.   At the end of The Enterprise Incident, Charvanek was taken into Federation space and released on a world on our side of the border. It seems that Sarak was the one who negotiated the treaty that led to her return to Romulan space. It seems she was able to get her old command back. That must have taken some convincing on her part.   Spock appeals to her loyalty to the Praetor. It doesn't take much to convince her to help stop the dissidents.   The twist happens when she meets the prisoner. He is no Romulan commander that she knows, and she knows her fleet. She knows her fellow commanders. As he is discovered, Sentek beams out, apparently at Kirk's command, according to the transporter chief.   Sentek tries to sabotage engineering. In the battle, Charvanek  is rendered unconscious by something similar to a Vulcan nerve pinch.   It's nice to see Doctor M'Benga again.   McCoy has found that Sentek is actually a Vulcan who lived on the colony, and he's married to Lana. He had unusually high natural psionic ability, even for a Vulcan. They speculate that he wanted an equal for a mate. A human who could be uplifted to be his equal. They also speculate that Lana's trip through the barrier may not have been approved by Starfleet.   When Kirk confronts Lana, she explains that she sees her uplifting as a way to accelerate human evolution, which she considers to have stalled.   We get some very interesting worldbuilding. Apparently the barrier around our galaxy was artificially constructed and placed there by the preservers. I love this. It makes sense of what was a bit of a silly idea in TOS, and adds to the mystique and mythology of the Star Trek universe. It's a shame that Star Trek never explored the preservers more than it did.   When she asks why the preservers did it, McCoy speculates that “it was probably to keep us in, to prevent our violence from spreading”. This reminds me somewhat of C.S Lewis's space trilogy, which suggests that the vast interstellar distances between stars are God's natural quarantine to keep sinful humanity confined.   Lana has a different theory, that it was so that naturally superior lifeforms could be uplifted when they devised the technology to leave the galaxy. McCoy pushes back “you don't know what gods think.” It's very chilling when she replies “Yes. I do.”   The implication, of course, being that she is a god. When humans start thinking of themselves as gods, you're probably in for trouble.   It turns out, the ship the Enterprise has been following was just an illusion. Created, presumably, by Lana. But why does she want to start a war between the Romulans and the Federation? Uplifted espers seem to have very similar powers of illusion to the Talosians.   It's nice to see Sulu taking command on the bridge. He's showing a good aptitude for the job he'll eventually have.   Charvanek is still working with her old first officer, Tal. He doesn't seem interested in apologies. He's planning to destroy the Enterprise. This raises the question of where Charvanek is. If she's still on the Enterprise, he'll be killing her. More likely, she's on her ship, but left the bridge in the hands of her first office, much like Kirk has with Sulu.   We get some interesting insight into Romulan religion when the commander says he hopes that Spock's katra finds its way to Vol-to-vor. We know from Star Trek 5, that vol-to-vor is the romulan's equivalent of Eden. So it seems in their religion, it is both a place of origin as well as a destination. This is somewhat different to Christianity, where Eden and heaven are distinct.   The Romulans can't fire. They think they're pressing the button, but they're not. Lana's influence, no doubt.   When Charvanek returns to the bridge we see that Tal has been overstepping his authority. She orders that they will assist the Enterprise with their mission. I smell a potential mutiny in their future.   Kirk figures out the truth behind Lana's deception. There never were any dissidents. The espers weren't kidnapped by Romulans. There never were any Romulans on the planet. The espers stole the Halifax. The deception was to buy time for the espers to make it to the galactic barrier.   This is what happened to the Hood. The espers convinced the crew to shut off their own life support. Just to see if they could. That's horrifically cold. These people truly see themselves as above humankind. Of more value. They have no regard for human life. Given that, it seems believable that Lana would be willing to start this war just as a distraction.   There is no doubt now. Lana is a full villain   Kirk is now questioning his judgement   He calls those who were present at the events of “Where no man has gone before” which includes Smith, who is back on the ship now.   Plus others who were not there.   Spock asks Smith if there's anything she can share of her experience. She was holding Mitchell's hand when they crossed. She has nothing to add that wasn't in her report. But her demeanour suggests maybe she's holding something back.   Scotty is keenly aware of what they're up against. Gary was difficult enough to defeat on his own. They're going to face an entire ship full of uplifted espers.  Kirk takes solace in the fact that despite his powers, Gary was still just as susceptible to human frailty. Then he adds “he couldn't even remember my middle name” which is an amusing little nod to the “James R Kirk” tombstone in that episode. Canon fixed.   Charvanek's  takes the practical approach. Strike first, before they have the ability to grow in their power. Similar to Spock's recommendation all those years ago.   Kirk won't have that. These are still Federation citizens. This is a rescue mission.   I get it. I'm all for idealism, and I'd side with Kirk on this. You can't just shoot to kill while they're still human. But calling it a rescue mission? I believe that's a little naive. These people know what they're doing. They're actively trying to undergo this transformation. I guess the difference is that their egoes, their ambitions, will be increased along with their powers. (much like Khan with his genetically engineered nature)   Sulu comes up with an ingenious way to catch up with the espers. Combine a traditional warp field with the space-folding singularity used by the Romulan ship, reminding us of his background in natural sciences, back in Where No Man Has Gone before. There's a lot of physics to flying a starship so it makes a lot of sense to me that a good helmsman would have a background in science.   Lana decides it's time to escape captivity. She flings the forcefield away and then forces Drake to kill the other guard, and then slowly commit suicide. This is a very chilling scene, and again demonstrates how little regard she has for human life. Can you imagine the horror of that moment, feeling your arm moving, knowing you're about to disintegrate your body, and having no power to prevent it. It's horrifying.   This moment is better than any other redshirt death that has ever happened in TOS, and possibly Star Trek in general.  Firstly because we've gotten to know this character. He's been developed of a number of episodes. He's not just a nameless face. We know he's a person with a life, people who love him. In addition to that, it treats the moment with the gravity it deserves.   I'm left feeling something very deeply, and that would probably even be the case even if we hadn't been introduced to him earlier in the season. Farewell, Drake. You will be missed.   The Enterprise and the Romulan ship have made it to the galactic barrier. The Hallifax is at the border. But have they gone through yet or not?   Kirk hails them. He offers aid, to be a go-between for them with Starfleet Command. He doesn't give the impression of a neutral party, though. They do, after all, work for Starfleet Command.   But it's a trap. The Halifax is empty. Another ship appears behind them. A constitution class ship, The USS Kongo emerges from the barrier. It's too late. There are only around 12 people on board. We get a view of their bridge, and they all have silver eyes. If that wasn't bad enough, Lana and Sentek enter the Enterprise bridge. “Relinquish command or the Enterprise will suffer the same fate as the Hood.”   To be concluded.   This is a fantastic cliffhanger. Not quite up there with Best of Both Worlds, but better than most.   This episode was a great set-up for the finale. I love how it pulled together so many threads, both from TOS and from Star Trek Continues itself.   Only one left to go. It's been a wild ride.   Don't forget to check out my original science fiction at AdamDavidCollings.com/books   And I'll see you next time to discuss To Boldly Go, Part 2. Until then,  Live Long and Prosper Make it so.

Marty and Holly discuss Robert J. Sawyer's Nebula Award-winning book The Terminal Experiment.  We talk about the possibility of uploading our minds into computers and/or replicating our physical brains, and think our way through philosophical issues about subjectivity and objectivity, materialism, identity and the teleporter dilemma.  We discuss whether self-awareness is different and special, or just another subjective illusion built into us by evolutionary mechanisms of survival.  We decide that there's something special about the human experience, and also that we - personally - are land animals who would not get in a tin can to cross the void – though a ride down the river Tethys through the farcaster portals of Hyperion would be just fine.Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: The Terminal Experiment Synopsis (sfwriter.com)The Terminal Experiment - WikipediaThe Terminal Experiment : Robert J. Sawyer: Amazon.ca: Booksgoodreads.com/en/book/show/264945Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

In this episode Marty sits down with Prof. Jaymie Matthews, astrophysicist from the University of British Columbia, to discuss the some of the solar physics in Robert J. Sawyer's ‘The Oppenheimer Alternative', as a follow up to our interview with Robert in Episode 2.  We cover a fair bit of ground with Dr. Matthews, who explains how his research career helped establish a new field of astronomy called helio-seismology, which probes the inner structure, size and age of our sun and other stars by measuring their vibrational modes of oscillation.  Along the way we discuss how this research has led to new capabilities currently used in the hunt for extra-solar planets, why having a fairly boring star is a good thing for life on earth, and that we don't need to worry about our sun suddenly exploding and vaporizing us all. We also discuss his contributions to another science fiction novel by Spider Robinson and Robert Heinlein, called Variable Star.Jaymie Matthews:  matthews | UBC Physics & AstronomyJaymie Matthews:  Jaymie Matthews | ideacityJaymie Matthews:  MOST (spacecraft) - WikipediaRobert J. SAwyer: Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com)The Oppenheimer Alternative: Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)Spider Robinson:  Welcome to Spider Robinson's Official Website Variable Star: Variable Star - WikipediaBuzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

The Stuph File Program Featuring science fiction writer, Robert J. Sawyer; Luna Rey Hall, author of The Patient Routine; & Stuart Nulman with Book Banter Download Legendary science fiction writer and Canadian icon, Robert J. Sawyer, has recently won another award.  This one is the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award. (You can also check out the Trek fan series that he wrote the series finale for called Star Trek Continues). Luna Rey Hall is the author of the horror novel, The Patient Routine. Stuart Nulman with another edition of Book Banter. This week's reviewed title is Warner Bros.: 100 Years of Storytelling by Mark A. Viera (Running Press, $50). You can also read Stuart's reviews in The Montreal Times.  Now you can listen to selected items from The Stuph File Program on the new audio service, Audea. A great way to keep up with many of the interviews from the show and take a trip down memory lane to when this show began back in 2009, with over 750 selections to choose from! This week's guest slate is presented by Andres Toke, a childhood grade school friend.

Marty and Holly sit down with Canadian science fiction superstar Robert J. Sawyer to talk about his book The Oppenheimer Alternative.  Robert tells us how he spun the mistaken prediction of the sun's temperature by Hans Bethe (in 1939) into a science fiction tale where the great physicists of the 20th century save humanity from being vaporized by a solar instability.  We discuss Bethe and Einstein's Nobel Prizes, Oppenheimer's prediction of black holes, and the history of the Manhattan Project.  We talk about the ethics and politics of dropping the first two nuclear bombs on Japan, the creation of doomsday weapons, and their impact on space travel in Project Orion.  Robert's Webpage: https://www.sfwriter.com/  Email us: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comBuzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

Marty and Holly describe what we'd like to do in this podcast.  We will talk to science fiction authors and scientists about topics in both hard and soft science fiction, from both the hard and soft sciences.  Our conversations will range from physics to psychology, from space to sociology.  We also like to talk science: Marty explains special relativity, and Holly explains thin film deposition.  We reflect on our interview with Robert J. Sawyer about The Oppenheimer Alternative, and the following interview with astrophysicist Jaymie Matthews about the solar physics and nuclear politics in Sawyer's book.  We discuss upcoming interviews with Julie Czerneda about exo-biology in To Each This World, and Arik Kershenbaum in The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy. You can email us at: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comBuzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

ANTHOLOGY LAZARUS BLACK Table of Contents Dragons, hunters, lovers, monsters, AI, wizards, fairies, assassins, psychics, scientists, explorers, dying gods, Oh my! This short fiction anthology has it all, including the First Place-Winning story 'Psychic Poker'. • "Double Eagle" - A neurotic detective encounters a nightmarish villain. • "God's Gauntlet" - A scientist must use the latest in genetic manipulation to give herself every advantage to escape being buried alive. • "Sacred Waves" (Novella) - A NYC publicist must save an enigmatic man from the mob, the government, and the deadly thirst of the general public. • "Hairless Hullgaroths" - On a distant world, two students must decipher an alien language unlike anything they have ever seen. • "Watch to the End" - An AI companion of an old woman on Mars must convince her that life is still worth living. • "Dart: The Sliver-Master's Slave" (Novella) - A fairy-like assassin hunts an evil wizard and a dragon to earn his freedom, only to learn nothing is what it seems. • "Oilcan Jim" - In 1945, a slingshot-wielding hoodlum terrorizes a tiny farm town....or does he? • "Butcher Breeds" - An ornithologist finds herself the subject of a serial killer's interest. But can she find him before he finds her? • "Dragon Soup" (Novella) - A Golden Knight must save a dragon's life so that he can save hers in return. • "Psychic Poker" (First Place Award Winner!) - The Award-Winning story of a bloke from down-under dragged into an illicit poker game where every player is Psychic and no one wants to be there. • The True Dragon of Atlanta (Chapters 1 & 2) - The first two chapters of The True Dragon of Atlanta, Lazarus Black's urban fantasy novel due to release in Summer of 2023 The True Dragon of Atlanta by Lazarus Black illustration by Chris Casciano When May Ling inherits a family curse, an ancient enemy, and a 75-ton Temple Bell, every one of her problems simply gets worse, as an ancient evil threatens the world with Truth and May's lies may be the only power that can save us. May Ling's mundane world is about to explode, and all because of one Bell. When an ancient goddess appears in Atlanta to tear the world apart with the Truth, it awakens May to the magic world and the power inherent in lies. May's life is chaos. She is 23 years old and lonely with delinquent child-siblings, two spiteful aunts, mountains of debt, even more bills in the future, and at the end of her best years as an escort and thief. The last thing she needs are new visions and powers. Revelations just make her life worse. More responsibilities mean more chaos and more work. So, she amasses a found-family of misfits from the fringes of Atlanta to survive it together: Bison is a giant afraid of themself, Cookie's afraid of the world, Benji is a monk in name only leading a band of like-minded brothers, and Kate and Ricardo work at opposite poles with May playing both sides from the middle. In the ultimate battle between good and evil, truth and lies, youth and wisdom, human and not, one single moment of May's life will define the future of reality. Will or won't the Bell ring? And what might happen if it does? Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids says "Lazarus Black is a terrific writer with an irre

ANTHOLOGY LAZARUS BLACK Table of Contents Dragons, hunters, lovers, monsters, AI, wizards, fairies, assassins, psychics, scientists, explorers, dying gods, Oh my! This short fiction anthology has it all, including the First Place-Winning story 'Psychic Poker'. • "Double Eagle" - A neurotic detective encounters a nightmarish villain. • "God's Gauntlet" - A scientist must use the latest in genetic manipulation to give herself every advantage to escape being buried alive. • "Sacred Waves" (Novella) - A NYC publicist must save an enigmatic man from the mob, the government, and the deadly thirst of the general public. • "Hairless Hullgaroths" - On a distant world, two students must decipher an alien language unlike anything they have ever seen. • "Watch to the End" - An AI companion of an old woman on Mars must convince her that life is still worth living. • "Dart: The Sliver-Master's Slave" (Novella) - A fairy-like assassin hunts an evil wizard and a dragon to earn his freedom, only to learn nothing is what it seems. • "Oilcan Jim" - In 1945, a slingshot-wielding hoodlum terrorizes a tiny farm town....or does he? • "Butcher Breeds" - An ornithologist finds herself the subject of a serial killer's interest. But can she find him before he finds her? • "Dragon Soup" (Novella) - A Golden Knight must save a dragon's life so that he can save hers in return. • "Psychic Poker" (First Place Award Winner!) - The Award-Winning story of a bloke from down-under dragged into an illicit poker game where every player is Psychic and no one wants to be there. • The True Dragon of Atlanta (Chapters 1 & 2) - The first two chapters of The True Dragon of Atlanta, Lazarus Black's urban fantasy novel due to release in Summer of 2023 The True Dragon of Atlanta by Lazarus Black illustration by Chris Casciano When May Ling inherits a family curse, an ancient enemy, and a 75-ton Temple Bell, every one of her problems simply gets worse, as an ancient evil threatens the world with Truth and May's lies may be the only power that can save us. May Ling's mundane world is about to explode, and all because of one Bell. When an ancient goddess appears in Atlanta to tear the world apart with the Truth, it awakens May to the magic world and the power inherent in lies. May's life is chaos. She is 23 years old and lonely with delinquent child-siblings, two spiteful aunts, mountains of debt, even more bills in the future, and at the end of her best years as an escort and thief. The last thing she needs are new visions and powers. Revelations just make her life worse. More responsibilities mean more chaos and more work. So, she amasses a found-family of misfits from the fringes of Atlanta to survive it together: Bison is a giant afraid of themself, Cookie's afraid of the world, Benji is a monk in name only leading a band of like-minded brothers, and Kate and Ricardo work at opposite poles with May playing both sides from the middle. In the ultimate battle between good and evil, truth and lies, youth and wisdom, human and not, one single moment of May's life will define the future of reality. Will or won't the Bell ring? And what might happen if it does? Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids says "Lazarus Black is a terrific writer with an irre

Welcome back to the Relatable Voice podcast! Today, the RV is headed to Canada to speak with Robert J. Sawyer. Robert is an award winning science fiction author. A multiple TedX speaker, his latest book The Oppenheimer Alternative is out now. Find out more at: https://www.sfwriter.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the Relatable Voice podcast! Today, the RV is headed to Canada to speak with Robert J. Sawyer. Robert is an award winning science fiction author. A multiple TedX speaker, his latest book The Oppenheimer Alternative is out now. Find out more at: https://www.sfwriter.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark interviews Canadian author Edo van Belkom about his life in writing, and the January 2023 the Paramount+ TV series adaptation of his Silver Birch Award-Winning Novel WOLF PACK by Jeff Davis and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a brief personal update, welcomes new Patron Dharma Kelleher, and a word about this episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation, Mark and Edo talk about: An old picture of the two of them at a "Sci-Fi Saturday" multi-author event from the late 90s where Mark was one of the managers (Attendees were David Shrogryn, Edo van Belkom, Carolyn Clink, Robert J. Sawyer, Douglas Smith, Andrew Weiner, Mark Leslie, Sally Tomasevic, Marcel Gagne) Edo's journey as a writer, beginning with his first published short story being published in an annual "Year's Best" anthology Writing about six or seven novels before his first one sold, and writing books that weren't published until more than twenty-five years later Working on gaming-tie-in related novels Landing his agent after having a short story appear in one of Jeff Gelb's "Hot Blood" anthologies Following his wife's advice to write a YA novel, which became the award-winning novel Wolf Pack and how that book was sold over a telephone pitch/proposal Having a couple of his mass market paperback novels (Scream Queen and Blood Road) be optioned for films Some of the silly things that writers hear when speaking to non-writers at parties such as "why don't you write a bestseller?" What being nominated for the Silver Birch Award did for that book Winning the Silverbirch Award Going from selling 10,000 copies of the first book in the series to only about 1,000 or so copies of the 2nd and 3rd books in that series How the greatest part of winning the Silver Biirch Award was the live event at a small stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario Winning the Bram Stoker Award for a short story ("Rat Food") that he co-authored with David Nickle What it was like co-authoring a story well before the days of the internet Edo's short story collection Death Drives a Semi and how, when looking for places to market it, he found a trucker magazine that he ended up writing a series of stories in for fifteen years The "Mark Dalton: Owner, Operator" series of stories Converting a one-day workshop for truckers about fuel efficient driving practices into a novel Details and experiences related to the ice roads in Canada's Northwest Territories. (Ice roads are seasonal winter roads built over frozen bodies of water. The ice roads in Canada are about 400 KM (250 miles) long and are built over 64 frozen lakes The story behind how Wolf Pack got turned into a new Paramount+ television series What it was like seeing a teaser trailer for "Wolf Pack" after a year of hearing nothing about the option deal that had been signed How the book "Wolf Pack" got into the hands of Jeff Davis What it was like to be in Los Angeles for the premiere of the series, including walking the red carpet Seeing his name in the show's opening credits "Based on the novels by Edo van Belkom" Some of what's planned for the home-town showing of the first episode in the series in Brampton, Ontario Why, if he can help it, Edo plans on not doing any more soul-crushing in store book signings any longer And more... After the interview, Mark reflects on three different things.   Links of Interest:   Edo van Belkom (At Jabberwocky Literary Agency) Edo on Twitter Edo on Facebook Edo on TikTok Wolf Pack on Paramount+ Wolf Pack TV Series - IMDB Wolf Pack TV Series - Wikipedia Be a guest on the Stark Reflections Podcast Superstars Writing Seminars (Save $100 with code: STARKSSWS2023 Findaway Voices Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Best Book Ever Podcast Lovers Moon Podcast The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles     Edo van Belkom, a former reporter on the sports and police beats for newspapers in and around Toronto, arrived on the horror scene in 1990. His first short story sale, Baseball Memories, was selected for the prestigious Year's Best Horror Stories edited by Karl Edward Wagner. The story was also nominated for Canada's prestigious Aurora Award and appeared side-by-side with work by authors such as Mordecai Richler and W. P. Kinsella in The Grand Slam Book of Canadian Baseball Writing. Van Belkom hasn't looked back since. Some 150 short stories have sold to a variety of top magazines and anthologies in the sf, fantasy, horror and mystery genres. He has twice won the Aurora Award, taken home the Bram Stoker Award and his YA novel WOLF PACK won Ontario's prestigious Silver Birch Award. In January 2023, that same 2004 novel and the other three books in the series was adapted into an American supernatural teen drama on Paramount+ starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and produced by Jeff Davis, known for creating the drama series Criminal Minds and the TV series "Teen Wolf."     The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0     

That's right, this week we are finally talking about ALIEN EXODUS. In the wild times of 1995, there almost was a trilogy of books by Hugo and Nebula award winning author Robert J. Sawyer that not only explained how humans came to the galaxy far, far away but boldly connected the Star Wars universe to THX-1138 and American Graffiti. YES! Join us as we explore how this came about, what the story would have been and how Earth really is just connected to Star Wars anyways! AND - we hear from Robert J. Sawyer himself on how it all went down! PLUS - SNOKETOBERFEST RETURNS!! It's 2022 and Snoketoberfest is running wild with the Snokey sounds between Snoke's golden voice! So, phone home, listen today and celebrate the love! Check out Robert J Sawyer's site here : https://sfwriter.com His page on Alien Exodus : https://sfwriter.com/alien.htm JOIN THE BLAST POINTS ARMY and SUPPORT BLAST POINTS ON PATREON! LIGHT AND MAGIC COMMENTARIES! KENOBI COMMENTARIES! BOOK OF BOOK REVIEW EPISODES! MANDO SEASON 1 & 2 REVIEW EPISODES! BAD BATCH! CLONE WARS ! BLAST POINTS Q&A EPISODES! ! Theme Music downloadable tracks! Extra goodies! and so much MORE! www.patreon.com/blastpoints new Blast Points T-SHIRTS are now available! Represent your favorite podcast everywhere you go! Get the NEW BLUE LOGO shirts for 2022 and classics like the Ben Burtt and Indiana shirt while supplies last! Perfect for conventions, dates, formal events and more! Get them here: www.etsy.com/shop/Gibnerd?section_id=21195481 visit the Blast Points website for comics, recipes, search for back episodes and so much more! www.blastpointspodcast.com if you dug the show, please leave BLAST POINTS a review on iTunes, Spotify and share the show with friends! If you leave an iTunes review, we will read it on a future episode! honestly! talk to Blast Points on twitter at @blast_points leave feedback, comments or ideas for shows! "like" Blast Points on Facebook for news on upcoming shows and links to some of the stuff we talk about in the show!! Join the Blast Points Super Star Wars Chill Group here www.facebook.com/groups/BlastPointsGroup/ we are also on Instagram! Wow! www.instagram.com/blastpoints your hosts are Jason Gibner & Gabe Bott! contact BLAST POINTS at contact@blastpointspodcast.com send us show ideas, feedback, voice messages or whatever! May the Force be with you, always!

Seth is joined by Kevin, the producer/editor of Hugo, Girl! to discuss Robert J. Sawyer’s 2003 Hugo winner, Hominids. Trigger warning for sexual assault. Start – 6:47 Intro through “Why this book?” 6:48 – 12:57 Non-Spoiler discussion 12:58 – end Spoiler discussion Notes & Mentions: Fringe Michael Burstein’s “Broken Symmetry” stories Mama Doctor Jones talking … Continue reading "HT#69: Hominids, by Robert J. Sawyer (feat. Kevin Anderson from Hugo, Girl!)"

Recorded live at the Creation "56 Year Mission" Convention in Las Vegas - Norm and John welcome special guests Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin to discuss the times that Star Trek pushes the creative envelope beyond our comfort zones. Don't miss this conversation with surprise guests and audience participation! Robert J. Sawyer -

Recorded live at the Creation "56 Year Mission" Convention in Las Vegas - Norm and John welcome special guests Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin to discuss the times that Star Trek pushes the creative envelope beyond our comfort zones. Don't miss this conversation with surprise guests and audience participation! Robert J. Sawyer -

Recorded live at the Creation "56 Year Mission" Convention in Las Vegas - Norm and John welcome special guests Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin to discuss the times that Star Trek pushes the creative envelope beyond our comfort zones. Don't miss this conversation with surprise guests and audience participation! Robert J. Sawyer -