Science Fiction – Page 4 – Comics, the Universe, and Everything

conversation as we discuss Foundation and Earth chapters 10, 11, and 12 which is to say, the entirety of Part IV: Solaria.

“There Are Old Legends of Life After Podcasting.”

I began our description of ⁠S3E18⁠, with “You know what? Solaria is weird.”

And here we are again on Solaria. It’s been twelve millennia and in the meantime, they’ve really leaned into the weirdness. The Solarians have been busy genetically engineering themselves into the quintessential Spacers. They’ve gone so far as to grow their own Tesla coils inside their own brains so that they can wirelessly power their robots. And that isn’t all! But don’t take my word for it! Read “Robots,” “Underground,” and “To the Surface” and see for yourself! Then join us here for the episode!

On another note, our first episode dropped on 26 April 2021. Thus, this episode marks the third anniversary of our podcast! To mark the occasion, here are two mug shots of Joseph’s cat Lavender at age 4 weeks and 108 weeks. These were taken right around our first and third anniversaries.

Thanks to everybody who has come along for the ride!

This image advertises the the post also appeared on StarsEndPodcast.com. — StarsEndPodcast.com

A few weeks ago, I was thinking back fondly about Heinlein’s juvenile novels. I used to read those all the time even once I aged out of the YA target audience. These hold up nicely. Not too long ago, Joanne and I enjoyed Starman Jones and Have Space Suit Will Travel as audiobooks on a long drive or three.

My nostalgia turned to the Jupiter Novels. In the mid to late 90’s, Tor books published this series as an homage to these works of Heinlein. I read a couple and they were pretty good. Maybe I’d like to reread a couple of those or track down the ones I hadn’t read, I thought.

By an odd coincidence or a creepy not-a-coincidence, if Facebook is eavesdropping on us, I soon received an e-mail from Arc Manor Publishers offering a free copy of the e-book of The Billion Dollar Boy by Charles Sheffield. This was one of the Jupiter Novels and it was one that, to the best of my recollection, I had not read.

And it was fine. After the first couple of pages, I knew in broad brushstrokes how the plot would unfold. The main character, a spoiled rich kid would, through some contrivance, end up in space. He’d be forced to earn his keep while he discovers amazing things and some dramatic stuff occurs. By the end, of course, he’s no longer an entitled jackass. Wikipedia tells me this is essentially the same plot as Captains Courageous.

But even with the predictability, this is a fun read. The story moves along quickly. The happenings are engaging, the conflict is exciting and the resolution is satisfying. The Billion Dollar Boy is nothing more or less than the science fiction equivalent of ordering comfort food in a restaurant. It’s not exactly what you grew up with and it’s fundamentally unchallenging but it’s reminiscent enough to be enjoyable.

Bottom Line: