Thursday, December 08, 2005

Imaginative Realists

No time for Orbiter or other fun stuff these last few days - mostly getting ready for my India trip on Friday (yikes, that's tomorrow). But following up on my "must read" post the other day (essay by physicist and SF writer Dr. Gregory Benford), the web site he has set up with Dr. Michael Rose is an oasis of clear thinking and rational expression about what is going on in the world and where it is leading.

I have to explore this site further when I get back from India, but this introduction to "the new future" gave me a real Keanu Reaves moment (a very, very heavy "whoa"). It feels right and scary and reassuring at the same time. It says provocative things that need to be said, and I want to read more.

I also like this December 6 "interactive dialog" blogging piece on the rise of fantasy (which now dominates the market that is called "fantasy and science fiction"). This is more than just changing tastes - it's a retreat from thinking about the future. Thought-provoking stuff.

1 comment:

Anthony Kendall said...

Bruce,
Thanks again for another great website/blog find. Did you look through Benford and Rose's published essays as Amazon Shorts? They are $0.50 each and cover a range of really interesting topics. Only a few are reviewed at Amazon.com, so it was hard to gauge what the general quality was. Anyway, I thought that Amazon shorts was a interesting concept, it might be a great way of new authors getting into the field with low risk to the buyer.