Author Archives: Alex R. Howe

About Alex R. Howe

I'm a full-time astrophysicist and a part-time science fiction writer.

The Singularity Has Encountered an Exception

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

A Short Story The programmers studied the screen in bewilderment. Last night, they had left the company’s newest AI model, DNEPT-7 (short for Definitely Not Evil Pre-Trained Transformer), humming along on its server on its latest project, trying to parse … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

Dungeons & Dragons, the classic role-playing game perhaps most popularized in recent years by Stranger Things, has just released its new movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Well, technically, it releases on March 31, but Amazon Prime customers were … Continue reading →

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S2E21: Donna Barba Higuera Interview

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

In this episode, I interview Donna Barba Higuera, author of the Newbery winning sci-fi novel, The Last Cuentista (which I’ve previously recommended). Donna’s book recommendation: Reclaim the Stars, edited by Zoraida Córdova Donna’s website Check out this episode!

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Movie Review: Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

The original Shazam! from 2019 is probably my favorite movie in the current iteration of DC superheroes, the DCEU. (Admittedly, I’ve only seen, like, half of them.) So I had high hopes for the sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. … Continue reading →

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Commissioned Artwork: Terraforming Venus 2523

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

I published this art piece on YouTube, Twitter earlier today. You can watch the video here. I’ve reproduced the transcript in this post, along with a few extra notes. Video Transcript (with notes) One year ago, I published a paper[1] … Continue reading →

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S2E20: Newbery Medal Winners

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

In this episode, I take one more look at children’s science fiction by surveying the winners of the prestigious Newbery Medal. Book recommendation: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera Other books discussed:A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Mrs. Frisby … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

Ant-Man is back for his third movie in the MCU, in which the Quantum Realm has grown even stranger, Janet is causing a lot of problems, Hank likes ants, Cassie has a suit, and Kang the Conqueror makes his big … Continue reading →

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S2E19: Multiverse Fiction

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

In this episode, I explore sci-fi works that focus on the idea of the multiverse. Prospective book recommendation (I’m putting it on my own list): The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter PBS Space Time on the many worlds … Continue reading →

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S2E18: Catch-Up Episode #7: Sci-Fi Action Movies

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

In this episode, I give an overview of recent action movies in the sci-fi genre. Movie recommendation: Everything Everywhere All at Once Other movies discussed:TenetFree GuyThe Matrix: Resurrections Check out this episode!

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S2E17: Science Fiction in Video Games

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Alex R. Howe

In this episode, I bring back my cohost Greg for a conversion about how science fiction has shaped video games, and vice versa. Classic game recommendation: Chrono Trigger Ahoy finds the “first” video game. Check out this episode!

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