The failure mode of science fiction is NOT “fantasy,” it is “bad science fiction.”

Amen. Star Wars is science fiction, even if the science is awful (at best).

Sam Carter

In StarGate, each use of the gate requires 7 chevrons – 6 for the points in space and a 7th for point of origin.

In “Fifth Race,” O’Neill modifies the gate dialing program to travel to the Othalla in the Galaxy Ida. This required the use of an 8th Chevron. The 8th chevron is also needed to travel to Atlantis from Earth (and vice versa).

The were scenes cut from “The Shrine.” These contained information on the 9th chevron. These were removed since this contains details in StarGate Universe (possibly the next stargate movie). The idea is that when the Ancients were heading into a new area of space, they could send a ship ahead and seed the new frontier with stargates. This ship would have a gate with a 9th chevron.

What’s odd about this is that the 8th Chevron is already supposed to be the ‘area code’ of another gate system. So why need a 9th? What occurred to me is that maybe the 9th chevron controls which universe to go to. Instead of just being another galaxy, what if the 9th chevron can access other realities. We already know Merlin played with moving his research of sync to hide it from the other ascended beings. Another possibility is that the 9th chevron allows access to all area codes. This would allow the dialer to find the stargate on the ship regardless of where it is currently located.

The current idea is that a group from Atlantis gates to the exploration ship and gets stuck in a far off area of space with no way to return.  Kind of reminds me of StarTrek Voyager.

You can download or listen to the episode here.

My favorite paragraph:

Speaking of backups, the city planet of Coruscant has a 24/7 multi-level traffic jam that puts the Los Angeles freeways to shame. Tellingly, young Anakin seems to have a case of repulsorshift rage. One minute, you’re cutting off slow-moving speeders, the next you’re a power-hungry autocrat who embraces the dark side and presides over the galaxy with an iron fist (literally). Whether it’s a thirst for galactic conquest or an unhealthy obsession with a sci-fi saga, vices always start small.

A cool site for funny pictures characterizing RPG’s.

Although I typically do not like stories involving any sort of time travel, I really enjoyed this story. I guess that’s not too surprising given that it was written by someone who won his first Hugo Award at the age of 20.

I think that the story is best described as the story O. Henry would write if he wrote science fiction.

This is a great story that you should check. Given that Escape Pod is free, you have no excuse not to.

“I’ll write you your own short story. Because, damn, if you’re paying $5K, you deserve it.”

Bill Schafer, the publisher of Subterranean Press bid $5,000 and won the auction. The short story that Scalzi promised to write in exchange for the $5,000 bid became The Sagan Diary, a novelette set in Scalzi’s Old Man’s War universe. The Sagan Diary is a first person narrative told from the perspective of Jane Sagan, a major character in all three of Scalzi’s “Old Man” books.

This book takes place after the second book, The Ghost Brigades, and before The Last Colony. If you have not read either Old Man’s War or The Ghost Brigades, I suggest that you take a pass on this book.

The book is short, 89 pages in my “trade” edition (which is hardcover), and is divided into eight chapters, each dealing with Jane Sagan’s struggles in converting from a person created in a lab to be a killing machine to a “normal” human who settles down with a family.

The third chapter, which deals with communication, really reinforced the difference between the members of the Ghost Brigades and the regular soldiers. Although both are genetically altered to be superior fighters, the members of the Ghost Brigades are “born” into a state of communicating electronically rather than physically. The thoughts in the chapter about dealing with “normal” people who speak really emphasized those differences.

My favorite line in the books opens the fourth chapter: “I rose early the day I killed my friend.” That line grabbed me the first time that I read it. So much about what the members of the Ghost Brigades are like are contained in just those few words.

The chapter on Sex was surprisingly good. Again, the beginning of the chapter is just great:

“I must apologize to you. I am sitting with you and you are talking to me, telling me about the world to which we are going, where you and I will start our lives together. I’m sure what you’re saying is important–critical things I need to know, about a place I have never been but where I will spend the rest of my days. I am sure you are telling me things I need to hear, but I must confess I’m not hearing a single word.

Instead, I am intent on your face, and the movement of your lips, and the memory of how those lips feel when they are on me.”

That is great stuff. In those short paragraphs, Scalzi demonstrates that, despite the fact the two characters present in the scene are genetically engineered super fighting machines, they are still human, just like the rest of us.

The final chapter also hit a nice note in describing the internal conflict that Jane is facing as her consciousness is about to be transferred to her new body. Although we will likely not have to face that scenario, the demons that she struggles with in Chapter 8 are the same demons that we all struggle with in facing new challenges in our lives when major changes (whether chosen by us or foisted upon us) occur. Scalzi strikes nice balance of bringing these issues to the forefront without getting sappy.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I will say, however, that I am not sure that I really like looking that deeply into anyone’s mind. If you enjoy the Old Man’s War series, I recommend picking this up. Alternatively, on the same day that the book was released, Scalzi released a free audio version of the book on his website. The readers are all women and include Elizabeth Bear, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ellen Kushner, Karen Meisner, Cherie Priest and Helen Smith.