Poul Anderson's Tau Zero, published in 1970, is a landmark of hard SF which pushes out far further, beyond the Milky Way and into the frightening emptiness of intergalactic space. It also deals memorably with time dilation, and a vast spain of eons.  Significantly, Anderson does all of this in a scientifically convincing way, with a plot strongly grounded in his understanding of phyics at the time. This episode takes a close look at the novel, and the reasons why it remains a classic of its...

The Garments of Caean is a science fiction novel by the British author Barrington J. Bayley (1937 - 2008). It forms a part of his classic run of unusual and energetic books in the mid-1970s, and is included in guide 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels. This is a space opera with an odd hook - it is about clothes, specifically an incredible Frachonard suit which gives its wearer remarkable influence over others.  This is both an exciting interstellar adventure with comic elements, and an...

American fantasy in the 1980s is often associated with big, bloated series of novels steeped in Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons. The Falling Woman is something very different. It isn't set in some imagined world stuck in the middle ages - the story occurs in contemporary Mexico, in and around an archaelogical dig site. But this is a fantasy novel - in which the dead have a profound effect on the living. This episode takes a look at Pat Murphy's 1986 novel, which won the Nebula Award for...

Imperial Earth is the second of three novels Arthur C. Clarke published during the 1970s - and of those three, it is the least well-known. The main focus of this episode is to assess this tale of 2276, which takes in the quincentennial of the United States, a technological utopia, and Clarke's coy take on sexuality in science fiction.  This episode also includes a bonus - a brief look at the first five novels in Roger Zelazny's popular fantasy series, The Chonicles of Amber. Do these tales...

Use of Weapons (1990) is the third novel in the Culture series of science fiction novels by the much-missed author Iain M. Banks. Originally drafted in 1974, the book follows the interstellar supersoldier Cheradenine Zakalwe, an efficient agent of the Culture. Combining two interleaved narratives, Use of Weapons tells a complex story about military intervention, violence, responsibility, and guilt. This episode explores what makes this perhaps the best-known and most acclaimed novel in the...

Maureen F. McHugh published her debut novel China Mountain Zhang in 1992 and it went on to win multiple awards. An impactful social science fiction story, the book is set in a 22nd century world in which China is the dominant superpower. Zhang Zhongshan is a young, gay construction engineer in New York City, trying to make his way in a world where his sexuality could land him in prison, or worse. McHugh's book is an attempt to write what she called an "anti-SF novel". Unlike most of the...

In 2006, Spanish developers Pyro Studios had big hopes for the fourth entry in the successful Commandos series. Strike Force was intended to help them break into the World War II shooter market, and onto consoles. Unfortunately, it was a critical and commercial disaster. Strike Force sank the Commandos series, and took Pyro Studios down with it.  This episode picks through the wreck, to figure out what went wrong with Pyro's fourth and final Commandos game and see if there is anything worth...

In 1998, Madrid-based videogame developers Pyro Studios produced a shock hit with their landmark game Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines. It shifted 900,000 copies, and did particularly well in the UK and Germany. Eventually, it would prove to be the trigger point for a small but uniquely engaging sub-genre of real-time stealth tactics games. These sprang up in the early 2000s, died off, and were then revived in 2016. After the release of the standalone expansion Beyond the Call of Duty in 1999,...

American science fiction author Greg Bear, who passed away in 2022, had a major success with his 1985 novel Blood Music. An expansion of his award-winning 1983 short story, the novel is themed around emerging sciences of the 1980s: biotechnology and genetic engineering. Both unsettling and in a way inspiring, the book confronts the massive implications of a new kind of artificial, biological intelligence run amok. In the story, a renegade scientist based in a realistic, contemporary...

Welcome to episode 100! Thank you so much to everyone who has listened to this humble podcast project, an extension of my site andyjohnson.xyz. This episode begins with a brief reflection on this milestone, and then moves on to its main subject: Joe Haldeman's 1974 science fiction classic The Forever War. An iconic entry in the genre, it is a convincing and humane take on interstellar military conflict. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video...

The Player of Games is the second novel to be published in Iain M. Banks’ revered Culture cycle, following Consider Phlebas (1987). It is often thought to be one of the most popular of the books, and is sometimes suggested to be a good starting point. It is an engaging character study of Gurgeh, and a story which deals cleverly with themes of power, manipulation, and the nature of games. To catch up with this series, be sure to listen to my thoughts on the short story collection The State of...

In August 2023, id Software’s 1997 first-person shooter Quake II was updated to a new, enhanced version. This was no surprise - it had been rumoured for some time, and seemed inevitable after the 2021 reissue of the original Quake. What few were prepared for is how brilliantly the job was done.  Here we explore three aspects in which it was extraordinary back in the day, and is better still in 2023. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games,...

This latest roundup of the games I've played covers May 2023, and features two new and two older releases: Miasma Chronicles (2023)Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (2023)Mafia III: Definitive Edition (2016/2020)Dishonored (2012) Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter: @andyjohnsonuk

In 1966, New Worlds magazine published the story "Behold the Man", by its editor Michael Moorcock. This sacrilegious tale of a man who travels back in time to replace Jesus won Moorcock the Nebula Award for Best Novella. This episode covers the extended 1969 novel version of what may be one of the boldest time travel stories of all. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter:...

Continuing our look at Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series, this episode covers the fifth standalone novel: Sentenced to Prism (1985). Corporate troubleshooter Evan Orgell finds himself on a distant planet where silicon-based life is abundant. As Orgell struggles to survive, Foster gets to explore some of his favourite themes in the context of an SF adventure. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site...

The 2020 "definitive editions" of Mafia and Mafia II are the stars of the show in this latest overview of the games I've played recently. This bumper instalment features: Supplice [Early Access] (2023)Gun Jam (2023)Oni (2001)Urban Chaos (1999)War Mongrels (2021)Mafia: Definitive Edition (2020)Mafia II: Definitive Edition (2020)Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011) Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz...

This second episode in a series on Iain M. Banks' Culture series of science fiction books covers the first novel, Consider Phlebas (1987). In this subversive take on the space opera, Banks introduces the Culture from the outside - by using as his protagonist the ruthless, shape-changing agent Bora Horza Gobuchul. Expect space pirates, cannibals, a fugitive AI, and a deadly game of "Damage" in the book that helped shape the rest of Banks' career. Support the showFor lots more writing on...

An expansion of her 1974 novella, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is Kate Wilhelm's best-known work in the science fiction genre. Winner of three major awards for Best Novel in 1977, it is often called one of the most important SF novels to deal with the issue of cloning. This episode looks at how Wilhelm's scientific shortcomings are compensated for by her philosophical thoughtfulness. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check...

The anime-inspired third-person action game Oni is often thought of mainly as "Bungie's forgotten game". But in fact, this classic deserves to be recognised as something much more than just a footnote in the history of the studio that made Halo. This review does a dream dive into what makes Oni special, and makes the case that it should be a cult classic. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and...

The 1991 collection The State of the Art serves an important function in the bibliography of revered Scottish author Iain M. Banks (1954 - 2013). It collects his short fiction from 1987 to 1989, crucially including the stories "A Gift From the Culture", "Descendant", and the title story. These are entries in Banks' Culture series, and good entry points into that sprawling, post-scarcity SF setting. This episode is a whistlestop tour of The State of the Art, taking in skulls, alien waste...

Can 2023 live up to the lofty hopes of a revival of real-time strategy games? We had the first major test of that thesis in February, with the releases of The Settlers: New Allies and Company of Heroes 3. I reviewed both of those games for Entertainium this month, and share some brief thoughts in this episode. The games covered this month are: The Settlers: New Allies (2023)Company of Heroes 3 (2023)Wanted: Dead (2023)Train Valley 2 (2019)The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher...

The exploration and colonisation of Mars is a perennial subject in science fiction. Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 novel The Sands of Mars is a significant entry in that history, especially because it takes a realistic approach before the Mariner 4 flyby in 1965 - at least until the alien kangaroos show up. This episode takes a look at the book, and how it fits in with the history of Mars-themed fiction and Clarke's wider career. Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction,...

Before The Handmaid's Tale (1985), there was Native Tongue (1984). Suzette Haden Elgin's feminist dystopia is an early precedent for this increasingly popular genre. Combining a powerful feminist message with a detailed exploration of the science of linguistics, this is an interesting curio of 1980s social SF. But why has Klingon proven to be so much more successful than Láadan, Elgin's own constructed language for women? Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction,...

American author Roger Zelazny won the Hugo and Locus awards for Best Novella for his story "Home is the Hangman". The 1976 book My Name is Legion collects this science fiction tale and its two prequels. Featuring nuclear engineering projects, assumed identities, dolphins, and a killer robot, how does this collection stack up? Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter:...

This bumper edition of "what I played" covers not one but two months! Featured in this instalment: Need for Speed Unbound (2022)Metro Exodus (2019)Company of Heroes 2 (2013)A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019) Support the showFor lots more writing on classic science fiction, other books, video games, and more check our my site andyjohnson.xyz and follow me on Twitter: @andyjohnsonuk