book review
Books reviews of the best science fiction stories, texts, educational texts, and journals.
Stitch: Saltwater Silence
Sara Foxgrove remembered the last normal moment of her childhood as something small and quiet. She sat on the back steps of her mother’s cabin 0n Popham Beach, peeling bark off a stick and pretending it was a wand, the kind that could call storms or open secret doors if she pointed it just right. The tide had pulled back far enough that the sandbar stretched toward Fox Island like a pale, exposed spine. Her mother, Mara, wasn’t home. Neither were her father or her brothers. They had left an hour earlier to drive into Bath for groceries and a part her father needed for the woodstove. They’d promised to be back before the tide turned. Sara had waved as the car disappeared down the dirt road, not knowing it was the last time she’d ever see them. The afternoon felt suspended, like the world was holding its breath. Even the gulls seemed quieter, circling lazily above the water as if waiting for something.
By Syl De'Vil19 days ago in Futurism
The Truth About Data Centers
Every time we send a message, stream a movie, ask an AI assistant a question, upload a photo, or buy something online, there is a good chance a data center is involved. Yet these enormous facilities are mostly invisible to us. They sit behind the scenes, quietly processing, storing, and moving the information that powers modern life.
By AnthonyBTV28 days ago in Futurism
Art and Writing
Everyone knows Bob Ross, but was he a good artist? It’s a sincere question. I have nothing against him or what he has achieved, I loved him as a child, but I can imagine the locker room talk. In my area growing up I watched him on TV and in the area I grew up in, there was a Bob Ross in every indoor mall flogging their art. [a very similar style] Keep in mind this was the seventies and even into the eighties when indoor malls were far and few between in Ontario, Canada.
By Gerry Thibeaultabout a month ago in Futurism
Review of Matt Witten's '51%'
There couldn't be a better time to read Matt Witten's cyberpunk novel, 51% , in which Ayn Randian corporate power and philosophy controls and permeates all parts of American life, including the NYPD (New York's police), which are named NYPDInc, and in which police need payment from the people to do their work. Apple's adaptation of William Gibson's Neuromancer will be streaming this coming January. Even more important, Trump's hijacking of American democracy is claiming more innocent lives via ICE and other Federal police just about every week -- the most recent, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old migrant from El Salvador, died the day before yesterday at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, NJ -- and that kind of "legal" killing requires vigorous response in all aspects of communication, including science fiction.
By Paul Levinson2 months ago in Futurism
The Economist 2026 Cover: A Symbolic and Conspiratorial Analysis of the Future. Content Warning.
Every year, the cover of The Economist generates intense debate among political analysts, researchers, and conspiracy theorists alike. Supporters of symbolic interpretation argue that these covers are not merely artistic illustrations but coded messages that hint at major global events expected in the coming year. Whether one sees them as predictions, warnings, or simply clever editorial design, the imagery often reflects the fears, ambitions, and uncertainties shaping the world.
By JONATAN DAVID VEGA3 months ago in Futurism
Review of 'On the Calculation of Volume' (Books 1-4)
1: Here's How It Starts Time loop stories -- about a recurrent, involuntary, often daily trip to the past -- have been well represented in movies like Groundhog Day, Source Code, and Palm Springs. This subset of time travel in science fiction and fantasy has been less represented in novels, which would make Solvej Balle's seven-volume On the Calculation of Volume series (!) welcome in any case. But it has additional treats for the mind.
By Paul Levinson4 months ago in Futurism
Cipher News Burst in Pakistan
Cipher News Burst in Pakistan Pakistan has once again entered a period of intense political discussion after the sudden return of the “cipher controversy” in national and international media. The issue, often called the “Cypher Case” or “Cyphergate,” has created strong reactions among political parties, journalists, analysts, and ordinary citizens. The controversy is connected to a diplomatic cable that former Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed contained evidence of foreign pressure and political interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs.
By Wings of Time 5 months ago in Futurism
Authorship vs Refinement
Much of the confusion surrounding artificial intelligence and writing comes from a failure to distinguish between two fundamentally different acts: originating ideas and refining their expression. These acts are often treated as interchangeable, as though whoever touches the final form must also be the source of the thought itself. That assumption does not reflect how writing has ever worked, nor does it reflect how human thinking actually unfolds.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast5 months ago in Futurism
Tools That Empower and Tools That Numb
A tool is never neutral in its effect, even when it may be neutral in its design. What a tool does to a person depends not only on what it enables, but also on what it quietly replaces. A hammer extends the hand. A calculator extends memory. A map extends orientation. Each tool amplifies a capacity, but each one also changes the relationship between effort and outcome.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast5 months ago in Futurism
Antimicrobial Coatings Market to Reach USD 12.5 billion by 2033. AI-Generated.
The antimicrobial coatings market is estimated to generate a revenue of USD 6.8 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach a valuation of USD 12.5 billion by 2033, witnessing a growth rate of 9.2% in between the same period. Growth is anchored in rising hygiene standards across healthcare, food processing, construction and consumer goods industries. Silver, copper, and zinc-based coatings are widely adopted, while advanced organic and nanotechnologies are transforming performance benchmarks. As regulations regarding toxicity tighten in Europe and North America, manufacturers are innovating to reduce environmental impact while maintaining broad-spectrum efficacy.
By Sanjay Vane5 months ago in Futurism
