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Blog postLately I’m quite interested in European productions for what concerns TV series, so when last autumn I found out that Rai 4 broadcast a French science fiction series set on Mars, I immediately threw myself at it. I admit that I didn’t have very high expectations, since it was evident that it was a production with a limited budget, and instead, I had to change my mind.
“Missions” (whose title can be pronounced in both French and English) is a French series created by Ami Cohen, Henri Debeur -
Blog post** Deceived by an inappropriate comparison with Crichton
This is a classic example of how bad marketing choices can harm a book. On the cover is in fact written “Michael Crichton for the next generation” referring to the author of the book. Well, Crawford has nothing to do with Crichton, nothing at all. Anyone like me who has bought his book expecting a techno-thriller focused on a scientific topic and supported by careful research is bound to be disappointed.The only vaguely scientific th -
Blog postIn 2019, during which the fiftieth anniversary of the first landing on the Moon was celebrated, I returned to Varese to teach, for the third time, my “Self-publishing laboratory in multimedia systems” for students in Communication Sciences and Communication Sciences and Techniques at the University of Insubria. And in conjunction with this course, I spoke at a conference, together with three other speakers, dedicated to the day of the landing of Armstrong and Aldrin on the Sea of Tranquillity, w
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Blog post***** Irony, drama and chatter towards oblivion
This is the second time that I run into the wonderful pen of Mahfouz. The first time was with a collection of historical novels set in ancient Egypt. This time, through this short work, the author narrates about an almost contemporary Egypt. “Midaq Alley” was in fact written in 1947 and tells the story of the inhabitants of an alley in Cairo towards the end of the Second World War. However, this is not a realistic representation of the life i -
Blog postIsn’t it a bit strange for you too to see this year that is about to start made by two identical numbers? In the 2010s we reached the imagined future of science fiction films such as “Back to the Future” and “Blade Runner”, but in the next few days the 2020s will begin and I can’t help but think that there are no more excuses: the future is now. This means that I have to roll up my sleeves and make the things I care about happen. This is especially true of my publishing activity. 2019 was the fi
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Blog post**** Unexpectedly engaging
I decided to read this book because I needed to immerse myself in the lunar atmosphere while writing my current WIP (work in progress) and I must admit that, after the experience with “Red Mars” and “Green Mars” (I have yet to read the third book in the trilogy) I was afraid of being thrown into a scientific-political-psychological treatise, studded with short stories of different characters. Instead, I was positively surprised to realise that this novel had only -
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Blog post***** Disquieting and with an unexpected ending
This science fiction gem differs from the epic novels that Reynolds has accustomed me to, not only because of its length (it is indeed a novella), but above all for the apparent simplicity of the plot. The story is told from the point of view of Dimitri Ivanov, a Russian cosmonaut, on two parallel timelines. It offers a pessimistic image of the future, in which space exploration has practically stopped due to the interaction with a mysterious -
Blog post***** Splendid space opera that leaves you open-mouthed
This is Reynolds’s third book I’ve read so far and once again I find myself faced with something totally different. In “Century Rain” I’d found a completely original approach to time travel and uchronia, without being either of them. In “Revelation Space” I had immersed myself in a dark and pessimistic space opera. In “House of Suns” instead I was overwhelmed by the irrepressible imagination of the author, who astonishes the reader an -
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Blog post***** Sci-fi technothriller, with a psychological twist
In general, when I read a book on which a film was based, I like to make comparisons, to understand the choices made to make this type of transposition possible, and to give the characters the faces of the actors, during my reading experience.In this case I couldn’t do it, because I couldn’t remember anything about the film. I thought that going on in reading my memory would be awakened, but that wasn’t the case. I don’t know if it is -
Blog post**** Story with a predictable outcome, saved by a smart expedient towards its end
I immediately want to say that the final expedient has nothing to do with the plot. This is an idea that mixes fiction and reality, which I always appreciate a lot in novels. In this case it was able to increase my rating by one star.The novel, for my taste, is not worth more than three.But let’s proceed in an orderly fashion.The book develops in two timelines. The one set in the present sees the young protag -
Blog post***** A sumptuous conclusion (for now?) for the Commonwealth Universe
Every time I read a new space opera by Hamilton I think this author has reached the maximum of his expression and that the next book, especially considering that this universe contains seven of them, cannot possibly be better than this.Every time I find out I was wrong.“Night Without Stars” is a wonderfully complex novel. It is the second part of the duology titled “Chronicles of the Fallers”, yet, having read the -
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Blog post***** Excellent suspense, even if it does not maintain its originality until the end
I definitely liked this thriller. It has everything you need to define a good book: a basic theme not yet overused, a good twist towards the end with a breaking out of events that leads to a resolution and a perfect open ending.Memory loss during deep sleep, in fact, isn’t a easy theme to use in a novel, especially if the novel is all told from the point of view of the character who suffers from this parti -
Blog post*** Great premises, but plot full of flaws highlighted by the ending
I loved this book until before the last chapter, then everything collapsed. I was captured by the London setting just before the First World War, during and after it. The historical reconstruction is so accurate that it brings that period back to life in the mind of the reader.I found particularly interesting the way in which people’s mentality is represented, above all the way in which women tended to feel insecure, infe -
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Blog postI returned to Varese after two years and this time I stayed there for eight days, in which I immersed myself in university life and in this beautiful Lombard city a few steps away from Switzerland. I must say that the weather has favoured me. Living in Cagliari (Sardinia), I was worried about having to fight bad weather and cold. Instead, I enjoyed mostly beautiful sunny days, which served as the setting for the conference titled “Mars: when will we go there and what will we find? ” on 5 Decembe
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Blog post***** Dangerous children
John Wyndham is one of those authors who in their career have explored a genre, in this case science fiction, in every possible direction and each time have created unique and unpredictable stories, through which they took the opportunity to develop interesting food for thought.This time, Wyndham deals with the theme of alien invasion, without ever mentioning aliens, but only talking about something that like the cuckoos put their “eggs” in the “nests” of hu -
Blog postIn October 2018 I had the opportunity to participate in the second edition of the event titled “Signs and Voices of Other Worlds” organised in the headquarters of ALTEC in Turin. It was a fantastic experience during which I was busy for two days in what is defined The Italian Gateway to the International Space Station, as stated in the huge inscription at the entrance, and allowed me to meet many interesting people, as well as talk about my work.
The event itself, the one open to the publi -
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Blog postHey, is 2018 already finished? This time the year passed quickly, perhaps because I was much more busy with projects that have engaged me for several months. And maybe also because I had more fun, especially in the second half.
And so, given that the year is coming to an end, the time has come for my traditional report of the past twelve months.
Let’s start as usual with listing which resolutions of the past year I managed to complete: - I managed to write and publish (30 November) t -
Blog post***** Young Martians
Written by an aerospace engineering student who dreams of becoming an astronaut, “Ad Martem 12” is a little jewel of hard science fiction aimed at a young audience, but that can be appreciated by all ages. Although with some licence and simplification (it is still a book of fiction, not an essay), in a background of plausible technology and science, the author tells the story of the first three children born on the Red Planet, who, reached the age of sixteen, begin to -
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Blog post***** Between fantasy and history
As a lover of historical novels set in ancient Egypt I couldn’t resist the temptation to read this book by an Italian author who in this genre stands beside famous authors like Jacq and just like the latter mixes effectively real history with the fantasy shade brought by the ancient Egyptian religion and magic.Like any novel trying to include most of the life of a person, this is affected by its episodic structure. Various events are narrated; each one end -
Blog postCourtesy of NASA.Today’s guest on my blog is science fiction author Kate Rauner. In this article she tells us about her fascination for the exploration of the Red Planet, which is the setting of her “Colony of Mars” series.
Mars is in the news these days. We’re learning so much from NASA and the European Union, and other countries are joining with their own missions. India, Japan... Mars will be a multi-cultural planet. But what fascinates me is the number of private organizations joining -
Blog postToday’s guest on my blog is author Rae Stoltenkamp. Her books span the genres of fantasy, science fiction and magical realism. She is also a poet. In this article she talks about her experience teaching to a gifted child and how that influenced some of her books.
Before settling down to writing and self-publishing I used to be a full time teacher in an inner city London school. Regardless of the country you teach in, anyone will tell you this is a challenging environment. Very quickly into -
Blog postThe protagonists of the first part of “Saranythia” (sequel to “Amantarra”) return in this second part that leads us into the heart of the story. We had left them while they were slipping, despite themselves, in the middle of a battle between the daemons and the army of the Varton, now in “Saranythia Part 2: The Varton” we find them in the hands of the latter, as they begin to discover the link between the planet where the portal led them and Amantarra’s sister, namely Saranythia. At the sa
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Blog post***** Clash of cultures
In general I try to avoid reading Crichton’s books if I have seen the film taken from them. I prefer to leave them for last, when, alas, there won’t be others left. This time, however, I made an exception, also because it’s been so many years since I saw “Rising Sun” at the theatre. I didn’t exactly remember the plot and it was nice to rediscover it in the pages of this novel, even if some details came to my mind as I went on.I must admit that during the reading I o -
Blog post**** Conspiracy on the Moon
Before reading a novel, it’s spontaneous to look at the cover and, based on the image and the possible slogan, get a vague idea of the plot. And it’s nice that at least in part this idea is respected, otherwise there is the risk of running into something that you didn’t want to read at all. Too bad that what the cover of “Gunpowder Moon” suggests has nothing to do with the content of the book. You can see the helmet of a space suit with a hole on the vi -
Blog post***** A perfect ending
After several months, I went back to reading the stories of Harry Bosch born from the pen of Michael Connelly and I did it with the fifth book in the series, which is now more than twenty years old.This time Bosch has to solve the murder of a film producer who is found dead in the boot of his car. It looks like a typical mob execution, which is precisely called “Hard Music”, like the title of the book, but the reality will be much more complex than what appears obvio
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