Strangers in Strange Lands By Ray Tabler Take a black pebble from a pile of black pebbles. Put it in a pile of white pebbles. Or vice versa. The contrast is stark, and demands contemplation. That’s a literary and dramatic device which has been used numerous times in science fiction….
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Otherworldly Music
Otherworldly Music by Ray Tabler It’s well camouflaged, but there’s a distinct strain of science fiction running through jazz and rock & roll music. Fantasy elements too. Because I’ve always read SFF it’s noticeable to me. There are other examples, and I invite you to bring the forward. But this…
FTL, The Third Rail of Hard SF
FTL, The 3rd Rail of Hard SF By Ray Tabler Definition of terms, right up front: FTL – Faster than light travel (or communications, for that matter). Hard SF – Science fiction which scrupulously adheres to the laws of physics, as we currently understand them. Third rail – The electrified…
3 Wishes
3 Wishes By Ray Tabler Djinn, jinn, genies (however you spell the word) are but one example of beings in the supernatural menagerie chronicled by human folklore. An uncommon aspect to djinn behavior (or so the tales tell) is that once summoned, the djinn is obligated to grant wishes to…
Twilight of the Cons
Twilight of the Cons By Ray Tabler Anyone else out there ticked off about Pluto’s demotion from planet status? (Bear with me. This is relevant to the topic.) It happened almost 25 years ago, but the injustice echoes still. The way I heard it, a vote was taken on the…
Writing and the Pareto Principle
Writing and the Pareto Principle by Ray Tabler The Pareto Principle is a statistical rule of thumb, which many natural processes seem to follow. Also known as the 80/20 rule, or the law of the vital few, it observes that roughly 80 % of outcomes follow from about 20 %…
Robocops
Robocops By Ray Tabler It is interesting to note that Robocop, from the movie of the same name, is not a robot. Technically, he’s a cyborg, part man, part machine. Robocop is a mechanically-enhanced Frankenstein’s monster. Victor Frankenstein creates his monster in pursuit of science. Knowledge? Because he can? The…
Qualified Ignorance
Image: https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/5ae1b5b8-af39-4192-9367-e9ea1ac9209a?j=eyJ1IjoiM2tzZWxuIn0.5Gnf0Lu2f_9Ths3_4_vYGrQUKSTuTxE1pnXPnSwNOKo Qualified Ignorance By Ray Tabler I don’t know everything. A condition I share with most of humanity. Some people do know it all. And they’ll make sure you’re aware of that. But, not me. Which is a problem for a writer. Because often writing involves telling stories about situations and…
Pocket Universes
Pocket Universes By Ray Tabler Fair warning, there will be a lot of handwavium below. Because, we only know for sure about the one universe, so far. There may be others out there, or curled up into dimensions we do not perceive. Plenty of complex mathematics suggests such possibilities. But no hard…
8.34 Pounds to the Gallon
Image; Amazon.com By Ray Tabler It will not come as a surprise to some of you that a gallon of water tips the scale at 8.34 pounds. This is an immutable fact that I was first introduced to in engineering school, and it has lodged in my head like a…