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Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
Thursday Starlinks
November 6th, 2008
Tell Jay Lake how to battle post-novel ennui, and perhaps win a personalized advance reader’s copy of the forthcoming GREEN.
The five “awesomest” TV and movie spaceships. I’d have put on a Klingon Bird of Prey before the Romulan ship, and an X-wing before the Falcon. Have to drop the Viper as an X-wing rip off, however. How about the fraking Enterprise though? Always my favorite.
Whose responsibility is it to learn? As a prof, this is an issue I wrestle with plenty. For undergrads, I believe in a lot of cheerleading. Show and tell why something is cool, but don’t assume that the kids know it already. For grad students, I expect enthusiasm and independence. Otherwise, they should quit and do something else they actually love.
Simulating a black hole’s event horizon with lasers.
More on Palin (who?!), her fruit fly criticism, and the importance of basic research. I liked this quote from the article a lot:
In 1969, physicist Robert Wilson, the founding director of the Fermi National Laboratory, had to justify before Congress the construction of what was then to be the world’s largest particle accelerator. In response to a question about the value of Fermilab in supporting national defense, Wilson said, “It has nothing to do directly with defending our country except to make it worth defending.”
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November 6th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Glad to see the “Discovery” in that list of cool ships, but I would have put the “Valley Forge” from “Silent Running” in there before Buck Rogers’ ship. The model makers from “2001″ and “Silent Running” set the standard that “Star Wars” and the others followed.