Category Archives: Podcast

SFBRP #017 – Kim Stanley Robinson – Antarctica

Luke read this book years before going to Antarctica… how well did Kim Stanley Robinson capture the feeling of the coldest, driest, highest and least populated continent? And is the novel any good?

Find more information on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #016 – David Evans – Time Station Berlin

The first in the theme “Sci-fi novels about places Luke has lived” is Time Station Berlin, set in Luke’s home town. Luke explains why this book is such a big inspiration.

More info about this episode on the SFBRP Wiki

Do not buy this book from amazon.com:

SFBRP #015 – Vernor Vinge – The Peace War

Luke reviews this novel from 1984 and thinks about bobbling himself up, only to come back in future times when he can read all of Vernor Vinge’s books and not have to wait so long for the new ones.

For more info see the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #014 – Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson – Variable Star

This is first listener submitted book for Luke to review. Variable Star is a novel 51 years in the making. Question: if Heinlein was on a spaceship heading out at 97% of the speed of light for 17 years, and Spider Robinson stayed on Earth to pursue his own writing career, would it have been completed any faster? Also, due to time dilation, Luke managed to talk for 20 minutes about the book.

More info on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #013 – Charles Stross – Singularity Sky

Singularity Sky is book in a new genre that Luke would like to call “Technobabble Opera”. Charles Stross has loads of great ideas, but do good ideas make a good book?

More info on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #012 – Ken MacLeod – Learning the World

Luke is sorry for not updating this blog feed for a week… this episode is a review of Learning The World, a book with a blog where someone apologizes for not keeping up to date with their blog. After a week of tonsillitis, Luke gets back to the shorter length of podcast.