Join readers Chris and Eric as they discuss classic and contemporary sci-fi books. From Ray Bradbury to Octavia Butler to Kim Stanley Robinson, they analyze great works that transcend time and space. Check out lifedeathscifi.com for more episodes and content.
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this is a science fiction book lovers blog. This is the first episode in the 4rth season of the "Life Death Scfi" blog hosted by Chris and Eric. Neuromancer by William Gibson is a wonderful hallucination born in cyberspace. Hero Henry Dorset Chase and sidekick Molly Millions heist enough tech to have a run at the big time Freeside. Amazing settings…
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Two timelines. One buried secret. Detective Beth McDade thinks her worst days are behind her—until a bloodstained 1970 Mustang turns up in a desert cave. What begins as a strange cold case unravels into a time-bending mystery born from a failed military experiment. In Calico, past and present collide in a gripping fusion of noir, sci-fi, and wester…
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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi review
37:10
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37:10Welcome to Lifedeathsifi.com, where hosts Eric and Chris dive deep into the wonders of time travel. In today’s episode, we unravel the enigmatic threads of time through the lens of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Imagine a quaint café where time travelers are bound by strict rules: they cannot change the past; they must sit in one particular seat and …
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Now Wait for Next Year by Philip K. Dick review
1:02:49
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1:02:49Welcome to Life, Death, Sci-Fi, where hosts Chris and Eric dive deep into the realms of speculative fiction. In this episode, we delve into Philip K. Dick's mind-bending novel Now Wait for Last Year. This story is a chaotic fusion of drug addiction, robots, aliens, multiverses, galactic wars, and time travel, all wrapped in a nihilistic vibe that p…
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How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe review
46:29
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46:29This week, Eric and Chris delve into the intriguing universe of Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science-Fictional Universe. "Holy Heinlein!": time machines as ordinary as phone booths, multi-universes at your fingertips, and time travel that demands an ironic patience. Yet, amidst the whimsical chaos of chronodiegetic manifolds and irrational …
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In a lively discussion filled with enthusiasm for Michael Crichton’s blend of science fiction and historical intrigue, Eric and Chris delve into the depths of "Timeline." They explore the intricate dance between reality and fantasy as Crichton weaves a tale that blurs the lines between technological possibility and the fantastical elements of time …
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All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein review
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50:55This show features a detailed discussion on Robert Heinlein's 1958 short story 'All You Zombies,' exploring its intricate themes related to time travel, paradoxes, and identity. Lifedeathscifi.com investigates the protagonist's journey as a temporal agent who ends up being their own ancestor through a series of time loops. They dissect the complexi…
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The Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury review
54:51
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54:51Welcome, cosmic travelers and curious minds! You're tuning in to another thrilling episode with your favorite interstellar guides, Eric and Chris. Today, we're diving into the mesmerizing world crafted by the legendary Ray Bradbury in "A Sound of Thunder." Brace yourselves as we unravel the beauty of Bradbury's prose, explore the intriguing concept…
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Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut review
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42:29Can time travel be all in your head? A hallucination? Or does time travel need a device? A button to push? Hosts Eric and Chris wrangle over this impossible conundrum in this goofy romp through the horrible history of WWII. How is it possible to write an anti-war novel during another misguided war and end up on Tralfamador? Vonnegut shows us how. L…
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The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter review
1:03:12
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1:03:12Our heroes yo-yo back and forth through time meeting the future and the past and then the future in magnificent ships floating through the sea of time. Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric try to make sense of what is happening in Stephen Baxter's centennial tribute to H.G.Wells original Time Machine. Oh, and the floating heads...…
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The Time Machine by H. G. Wells Review
1:51:07
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1:51:07Lifedeathscifi looks into the well of time and sees H.G. Wells spinning a tale of science and time. The excitement of the first to travel into the vast beyond, is it science fiction or just another fantasy of the 19th century? If you were sitting in the time machine's chair, would you push the lever? Music: (Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Trovi Ali…
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Mark Watney is marooned on Mars, not the first literary lost on the red planet, and probably not the last. Lifedeathscifi talks about how he McGivers his way out of some life-or-death spots and earns his spot to the spaceman's ball. the world watches as countries finally come together for the common good of another Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Mark Wat…
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Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Review
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1:01:42Space travel, Mars settlement, and planet-building on a grand scale, Kim Stanley Robinson takes us on an epic journey that extends our lifetime and shows us what humans can make and take apart. Would you take the treatment? Image: Cover photograph copyright by Detlev van Ravenswaay Science Photo Library Music: (Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Trovi …
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Voyage to the Red Planet by Terry Bisson Review
1:46:36
1:46:36
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1:46:36Finally, space is more like 21st-century space in this wacky ride to Mars. Eric and Chris talk about Demogorgons, wispy beards, the Stalin lounge, HT serum made from bears, The Mary Poppins, and much more about this near-future vision of space travel. Image: Publication: Voyage to the Red Planet Authors: Terry Bisson Year: 1991-09-00 ISBN: 0-380-75…
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Okay. This is part of the chronological journey of Martian stories. We began in 1912 and now seven stories later, We're in 1988. So far, most of, if not, all these stories use Mars in name only; like a stage backdrop, meaning it could have just as well happened on Mother Earth. This story is like visiting an art museum where you stumble on a galler…
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Host, Chris and Eric review a wild-west walkabout on the thirsty surface of Mars. Our heroes travel a path of time travel and mind, balancing between the now and madness. Image: Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick (1964) Got It Covered Music:(Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Download Mp3 Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyadit3u1ml…
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The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Review
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43:25War, invasion, and conquest all happening again on Mars. Beautifully written and one of our favorites. Bradbury makes the unbelievable believable with his poetry-like prose. Image: photo of cover by E. Bueschlen Music:(Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Download Mp3 Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyadit3u1ml…
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Out of the silent Planet by C. S. Lewis Review
36:16
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36:16Chris and Eric try to wrap their minds around the planet Mars with a host of characters that may appear again in The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe. This mind-bending experience takes our hero on a journey of kidnapping, ransom, escape, and enlightenment—all on a dare from the Inklings. Image: https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.…
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Red Star: The First Bolshevik Utopia by Alexander Bogdanov review
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50:05Another turn of the 19th century Russian author wrote about space travel and life on other planets, mainly Mars. Because this story was written by one of the founders of the Bolshevik movement, of course, there is a connection to Ukraine. Shout out and solidarity for Ukraine! Lightly discussed are antimatter, quantum physics, and "The Theory of Eve…
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Aelita by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Review
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39:26Chris and Eric talk about Aelita by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Mysterious and wonderful in its fantasy sprinkled with some surprising sci-fi tidbits. Think about how long Russia has been enthralled with space and Aelita may have been the twinkle in the Russian space program's eye. Image:https://www.hellofriki.com/resena-aelita-reina-marte/ Music…
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The Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs Review
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53:32Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric explore the humorous side of science fiction with John Carter's Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This giggly sci-fi romp gives us more fantasy adventure than sci-fi but we both agree that it is worth the ride. We explore the time and attitudes Burroughs penned his pulp fiction into original ideas still u…
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In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood Review
36:58
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36:58Margaret Attwood gives us a memoir and some insights into the sci-fi genre. Life Death Sci-fi hosts Chris and Eric talk about gizmos, definitions, feminism, censorship, and more. The next season of Life Death Sci-fi is revealed! Image:https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebooks.com%2Fen-us%2Fbook%2F649544%2Fin-other-worlds%2Fmar…
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The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson Review
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43:54Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric wonder about the near-time climate crisis sci-fi story, The Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. More utopian than dystopian? No shame in being a little of both. "Every problem has a solution and we had better hurry up or the solution changes, worse." "Chorus of Voices" by Robinson. Sounds like World W…
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Lifedeathscifi with hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg talk about how they perceive life on the Feed. Feed by M.T. Anderson is a story written for young adults set in a near future where corporations know everything. Where water, air, and education are privatized and trademarked. Where you can take a vacation on the moon like a teenager can ha…
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The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clark Review
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1:17:32Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg talk about The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke. Sri Lanka, Taprobane is the setting for this story and the real-life home of the author. Questions about whether the myths and illusions that fill the early history of the setting are told by a far distant narrator, Starglider perhaps, similar to the c…
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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler Review
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52:04Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg hail The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. This is the third try for this episode. First, try Eric Didn't press record, second Chris didn't save, and this is the third try. This podcast starts out with how will this podcast start. We might be caught in a time loop. We talk about how this story is the…
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Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg talk about World War Z by Max Brooks. Is the movie better than the book or just different and just as good? This is a hard read during the time of the pandemic, especially the early chapters. Dog lovers will enjoy the dog heroes of this story. Survival: what tools would you bring to the zombie apocalypse? Ima…
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Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Review
1:29:32
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1:29:32Lifedeathscifi hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg discuss Ray Bradbury's sci-fi classic, Fahrenheit 451. Did the war in this story blow up the city at the end of the book? Our hosts consider war, education, the 1%, chaos, villains, and heroes. There is a "Wake up Moment" and Halloween costumes. Pondering about: Are we too reliant on devices? C…
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Earth Abides by George R Stewart Review
1:09:16
1:09:16
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1:09:16Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg relate to The Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. A 70-year-old story with relevance today. What was the earliest "last person on earth" story? Ish drives across the country looking for survivors and finds more than one kind of survivor. This review was recorded during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, and our hosts…
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The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster Review
1:39:31
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1:39:31Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg wonder about The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Our hosts get right into it with all of the sci-fi connections this story has and it was written in 1909! The Starship Enterprise has visited more than one planet that has problems because they forgot who built the machine that protects them; the same is true in…
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Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg talk about the sci-fi classic, Ringworld by Larry Niven. We are awed by the scope of this setting and the diversity of the cast of characters. Luck, free will, and destiny are surprise guests in this space opera. Think big, solar system big, it’s a galaxy-sized story. This episode includes a surprise discussi…
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Annihilation by Jeff Vanderveer Review
1:01:26
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1:01:26In this episode, we explore the first book of Jeff Vanderveer's Southern Reach Trilogy. Is it a story of first contact? Horror? A love story? Perhaps a fairy tale? What mysteries does the lighthouse represent? What are "Hyperobjects? And why doesn't anyone have a name?By Chris Herzberg and Eric Bueschlen
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Review
40:01
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40:01A lot of podcast production talk; music, scripts, and editing. Then some pandemic catch-up time it just felt like it had to happen. Finally, we get to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, some of the best bits were about "Who IS Captain Nemo? A villain or a hero? Can you be both? Catch all of this and more in episode 4. The Nautilus submarine is …
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Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein Review
1:11:11
1:11:11
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1:11:11Hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg argue about this "first contact" satire on religion and politics. We try to answer the questions: Is this story a classic? Does the misogyny of the era disqualify a story from becoming a classic?By chrisanderic
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