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There is no cookie cutter when it comes to celestial bodies...
No Two Worlds Are the Same: Planetary Diversity in SF
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Dr. Jordan's weird kid Richard is the key to unlocking first contact... and much more.
Project Farcry by Pauline Ashwell
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The complete four-year run of TinyZine, the tabletop roleplaying magazine from Gallant Knight Games that supports the streamlined minimalist TinyD6 rules system.
Bundle of Holding: TinyZine
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What dire motivation drove beautiful, rich Tsuki to marry a pitiful wretch like Ryudo?
Steel of the Celestial Shadows, volume 1 by Daruma Matsuura (Translated by Caleb D. Cook)
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Sometimes I think about "Earl Grey, hot."
When TNG was airing, I wasn't drinking or ordering tea yet. Now that I do, I find myself having to make clarifications about tea that I wouldn't usually expect, like clarifying that I want a chai latte in the morning to be hot, even if it's summer. But I mostly think about it, because when I make tea for Psyche, she does not want it hot, just warm.
The electric kettle heats the water to a good steeping point, just below boiling, and after a few minutes that's where I expect it too be. It's probably too hot for my own good, but I still take a few sips, quickly, to get the first taste. Then as I work, and periodically forget it, it cools more and more, and my sips get larger and larger. If I get absorbed too much, and it reaches near room temperature, I usually just shotgun the remainder so I can make another cup.
Psyche will wait for the tea to cool down to warm before she starts drinking. And that can take a while. I've taken to steeping her tea a little short of ideal, then dropping some ice after removing the leaves, so that she can get a head start.
In Star Trek's future, I imagine that tea is replicated the way Psyche likes it. Imagine it brewed hot, but then already cooled down to a pleasant warmth, for easy drinking. By default, then Starfleet officers are picking up their cups of tea brewed several minutes before it was even desired.
Picard doesn't brew his own tea (where we regularly see him onscreen), but he clearly already has a history with tea that starts too hot to drink. Why else would anyone think to order their tea hotter than drinkable, in a time where pizza never burns the roof of your mouth either? It suggests some of the family history, that in his past, at least, he was party to the manual steeping of tea and still moves to its rhythms.
When TNG was airing, I wasn't drinking or ordering tea yet. Now that I do, I find myself having to make clarifications about tea that I wouldn't usually expect, like clarifying that I want a chai latte in the morning to be hot, even if it's summer. But I mostly think about it, because when I make tea for Psyche, she does not want it hot, just warm.
The electric kettle heats the water to a good steeping point, just below boiling, and after a few minutes that's where I expect it too be. It's probably too hot for my own good, but I still take a few sips, quickly, to get the first taste. Then as I work, and periodically forget it, it cools more and more, and my sips get larger and larger. If I get absorbed too much, and it reaches near room temperature, I usually just shotgun the remainder so I can make another cup.
Psyche will wait for the tea to cool down to warm before she starts drinking. And that can take a while. I've taken to steeping her tea a little short of ideal, then dropping some ice after removing the leaves, so that she can get a head start.
In Star Trek's future, I imagine that tea is replicated the way Psyche likes it. Imagine it brewed hot, but then already cooled down to a pleasant warmth, for easy drinking. By default, then Starfleet officers are picking up their cups of tea brewed several minutes before it was even desired.
Picard doesn't brew his own tea (where we regularly see him onscreen), but he clearly already has a history with tea that starts too hot to drink. Why else would anyone think to order their tea hotter than drinkable, in a time where pizza never burns the roof of your mouth either? It suggests some of the family history, that in his past, at least, he was party to the manual steeping of tea and still moves to its rhythms.
Sometimes organ donation is voluntary. Sometimes, people (or aliens) just take what they want.
Five SF Works About Repurposing Organs and Other Body Parts
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A two-volume look at a prominent 20th century SF author.
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century by William H. Patterson
An assortment of tabletop roleplaying games from Gallant Knight Games that use the streamlined, minimalist TinyD6 rules.
Bundle of Holding: Tiny Dungeon MEGA (from 2023)
2010: Cadbury falls into shadow, electoral loss sends the Labour Party off on a delightful journey of reinvention, and millions of travelers spontaneously learn how to spell Eyjafjallajökull.
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2010 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The City & The City by China Miéville
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
Spirit or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
Poll #33506 Clarke Award Finalists 2010
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32
Which 2010 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
View Answers
The City & The City by China Miéville
32 (100.0%)
Far North by Marcel Theroux
0 (0.0%)
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6 (18.8%)
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
2 (6.2%)
Spirit or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
0 (0.0%)
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
2 (6.2%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2010 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The City & The City by China Miéville
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
Spirit or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
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The 2025 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners are as follows
Best Novel: The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett
Best Novella: The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler
Best Novelette:"The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea”, Naomi Kritzer
Best Short Story: “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo
Best Series: Between Earth and Sky, Rebecca Roanhorse
Best Graphic Story or Comic: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, written by Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio
Best Related Work: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Jordan S. Carroll
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Dune: Part Two, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Star Trek: Lower Decks: “The New Next Generation”, created and written by Mike McMahan, based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry, directed by Megan Lloyd
Best Game or Interactive Work: Caves of Qud, co-creators Brian Bucklew & Jason Grinblat; contributors Nick DeCapua, Corey Frang, Craig Hamilton, Autumn McDonell, Bastia Rosen, Caelyn Sandel, Samuel Wilson (Freehold Games); sound design A Shell in the Pit
Best Editor, Short Form:Neil Clarke
Best Editor, Long Form: Diana M. Pho
Best Professional Artist: Alyssa Winans
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; poetry editor Betsy Aoki, podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine: Black Nerd Problems, editors William Evans & Omar Holmon
Best Fancast: Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, presented by Emily Tesh & Rebecca Fraimow
Best Fan Writer: Abigail Nussbaum
Best Fan Artist: Sara Felix
Best Poem: “A War of Words”, Marie Brennan
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book: Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger
Astounding Award for Best New Writer: Moniquill Blackgoose
Best Novel: The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett
Best Novella: The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler
Best Novelette:"The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea”, Naomi Kritzer
Best Short Story: “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo
Best Series: Between Earth and Sky, Rebecca Roanhorse
Best Graphic Story or Comic: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, written by Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio
Best Related Work: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Jordan S. Carroll
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Dune: Part Two, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Star Trek: Lower Decks: “The New Next Generation”, created and written by Mike McMahan, based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry, directed by Megan Lloyd
Best Game or Interactive Work: Caves of Qud, co-creators Brian Bucklew & Jason Grinblat; contributors Nick DeCapua, Corey Frang, Craig Hamilton, Autumn McDonell, Bastia Rosen, Caelyn Sandel, Samuel Wilson (Freehold Games); sound design A Shell in the Pit
Best Editor, Short Form:Neil Clarke
Best Editor, Long Form: Diana M. Pho
Best Professional Artist: Alyssa Winans
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; poetry editor Betsy Aoki, podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine: Black Nerd Problems, editors William Evans & Omar Holmon
Best Fancast: Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, presented by Emily Tesh & Rebecca Fraimow
Best Fan Writer: Abigail Nussbaum
Best Fan Artist: Sara Felix
Best Poem: “A War of Words”, Marie Brennan
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book: Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger
Astounding Award for Best New Writer: Moniquill Blackgoose
Jim Baen's version of a single perfect issue of Baen-era Galaxy.
Galaxy: The Best of My Years by Jim Baen
Ten books new to me: five fantasy, two mysteries, and three science fiction novels. Four are series books and the other six seem to be stand-alone.
Books Received, August 9 — August 15
Poll #33494 Books Received, August 9 - August 15
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 52
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
Love Binds by Cynthia St. Aubin (December 2024
4 (7.7%)
Druid Cursed by C. J. Burright (October 2025)
3 (5.8%)
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall (March 2026)
12 (23.1%)
The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason (December 2025)
10 (19.2%)
Dark Matter by Kathe Koja (December 2025)
10 (19.2%)
Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire (March 2026)
14 (26.9%)
How to Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson (February 2026)
7 (13.5%)
Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo (March 2026)
5 (9.6%)
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch (August 2025)
12 (23.1%)
What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed (April 2026)
23 (44.2%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
32 (61.5%)
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will feature an idealistic would-be knight, an idealistic but extremely cynical town watch member, a 600-year-old wood elf who has a little magic and is terrible keen on progress as it applies to firearms, and an artisan who adheres to most dwarven stereotypes but is in fact a short human.
The knight is the only one who can read, and the elf is their best medic, in the sense they have a 50% chance of binding wounds, rather than under 40%.
After one session:
The knight is a killing machine, with poor social graces in his current context. Well, that isn't quite true: he knows courtly manners. He just doesn't think they apply in the Empire and is very irritated that the peasants keep making eye contact.
The artisan is a relentless engine of effort, quite good at hitting things with a hammer but not so good at dodging. However, unlike the knight, he didn't stay in melee range to get bit.
The elf has almost supernatural reflexes and situational awareness and is a crack shot... but the dice were not on their side.
The town watchman is oddly crap in combat to the point they wanted to sell their sword for something where if they missed, at least they weren't next to whatever they missed. They are, however, keen-eyed and socially adept.
Amusingly enough, had the elf examined the adorable girl who accosted them, their tiny knack for magic would have revealed the revenant was somehow magical... but they were the one person who didn't side-eye the dead girl as she led them into an ambush.
The knight is the only one who can read, and the elf is their best medic, in the sense they have a 50% chance of binding wounds, rather than under 40%.
After one session:
The knight is a killing machine, with poor social graces in his current context. Well, that isn't quite true: he knows courtly manners. He just doesn't think they apply in the Empire and is very irritated that the peasants keep making eye contact.
The artisan is a relentless engine of effort, quite good at hitting things with a hammer but not so good at dodging. However, unlike the knight, he didn't stay in melee range to get bit.
The elf has almost supernatural reflexes and situational awareness and is a crack shot... but the dice were not on their side.
The town watchman is oddly crap in combat to the point they wanted to sell their sword for something where if they missed, at least they weren't next to whatever they missed. They are, however, keen-eyed and socially adept.
Amusingly enough, had the elf examined the adorable girl who accosted them, their tiny knack for magic would have revealed the revenant was somehow magical... but they were the one person who didn't side-eye the dead girl as she led them into an ambush.
In Women of Futures Past, Rusch quotes Willis:
"The field didn't just have women writers--it had really good women writers. These were wonderful stories, and I don't believe they were overlooked at the time, because when I read them, they were all in Year's Best collections."
Rusch speculates that Willis is referencing Merril's Best S-F. However, Rusch says she only did a spot check. I reread the whole of Merril's Best S-F in 2023. Her anthologies were mostly stories by men.
OK, so maybe it was one of the other Best SF series around back then? But I checked Bleiler and Dikty, Harrison & Aldiss, and Wollheim & Carr and it's not them.
Was there another 1950s-1960s Best SF series?
Or was Willis thinking of a magazine-specific annual like Analog 1?
Not literally Analog 1, obs. But something like it from another magazine.
My guess, having checked the early years, is Willis was reading The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction. Specifically, Boucher's run.
(Guess two would have been something edited by Goldsmith but she does not appear to have edited anthologies)
"The field didn't just have women writers--it had really good women writers. These were wonderful stories, and I don't believe they were overlooked at the time, because when I read them, they were all in Year's Best collections."
Rusch speculates that Willis is referencing Merril's Best S-F. However, Rusch says she only did a spot check. I reread the whole of Merril's Best S-F in 2023. Her anthologies were mostly stories by men.
OK, so maybe it was one of the other Best SF series around back then? But I checked Bleiler and Dikty, Harrison & Aldiss, and Wollheim & Carr and it's not them.
Was there another 1950s-1960s Best SF series?
Or was Willis thinking of a magazine-specific annual like Analog 1?
Not literally Analog 1, obs. But something like it from another magazine.
My guess, having checked the early years, is Willis was reading The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction. Specifically, Boucher's run.
(Guess two would have been something edited by Goldsmith but she does not appear to have edited anthologies)
What could possibly go wrong while transporting a possessed ox?
The Adventure of the Demonic Ox (Penric & Desdemona, volume 14) by Lois McMaster Bujold
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