Alex R. Howe
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My blog of science, science fiction, and more.
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Author Archives: Alex R. Howe
Book Review: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Sleeping Giants is one of those books I picked up blind. I knew nothing about the author, and I hadn’t heard the book recommended. All I knew was what was printed on the dust jacket. And I loved it. Sleeping … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged Sleeping Giants, Sylvain Neuvel, The Themis Files
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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Well…here we go. I’m a big Harry Potter fan, so when I heard that J. K. Rowling was writing a stage play to follow the adventures of Harry’s son, Albus, and Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpius, I was disappointed that I … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, J. K. Rowling
1 Comment
Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond
Well, it’s been a long time coming. It’s crazy how busy it is trying to finish a dissertation. But here it is: my review of Star Trek Beyond. (Dramatic pause…) That was awesome! Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, … Continue reading
Posted in Movie Reviews
Tagged Justin Lin, star trek, Star Trek Beyond
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Classic Sci-Fi Recommendation: A Case of Conscience by James Blish
A Case of Conscience, a 1958 novel by James Blish, is one of the few sci-fi novels that really tackles religion and theology head-on, especially in a setting with aliens. I’ll admit that the writing is not stellar, despite the … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews, Religion, Science Fiction
Tagged A Case of Conscience, James Blish
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Flight Training
A Short Story In a scene that looked almost like it could have been in an ordinary classroom, about fifteen middle children from the ages of five to fifteen were sitting in a lecture hall, waiting for the seminar to … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Science Fiction
Tagged original fiction, short story
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Book Review: The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin
The Dark Forest is the sequel to the The Three-Body Problem, which I reviewed previously. This is the second book in Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, the bestselling science fiction saga in China. The English translation came out … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest, The Three-Body
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Television Review: The Expanse
Okay, so this is another review that got delayed, and there’s one more coming, but then I’ll be caught up. The Expanse is a new show on Syfy based on the series of novels of the same name by James … Continue reading
Posted in TV Reviews
Tagged James S. A. Corey, Syfy, The Expanse
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The Marble Machine
Hello. No insightful commentary on science or fiction today. I’ll get back to that tomorrow. I just wanted to point out that this is one of the most epic things I’ve seen in a while. I don’t think I’ve ever … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged DIY music, marble machine, music box, wintergatan
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Television Review: Childhood’s End
So I’ve had a backlog of TV shows to watch that I’m finally catching up on, and I wanted to review a very special miniseries that Syfy ran last December: an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End. It was … Continue reading
Posted in Science Fiction, TV Reviews
Tagged Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End
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Gravitational Waves Found at Last
One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity. It was a radical new idea that overturned Newton’s theory of gravity and said things got much more complicated when you were near a massive object. Strange as … Continue reading
Posted in Current events, Science, Space
Tagged einstein, general relativity, gravitational waves, LIGO
1 Comment
Science Meets Fiction 