Advanced Technology Es Gibt Ein Haus In New Orleans - If The Axis Powers Won, Part II Following the discussion in Part I of alternative history games and novels that depict a world in which the Axis powers won World War II, I intend to investigate the reality of German
Kate Atkinson Es Gibt Ein Haus In New Orleans - If The Axis Powers Won, Part I If anyone has wondered why the blog, and 'Novel Ideas' in particular, has been quiet over the past couple of weeks, my only excuse is that I was taking a break, over which
Science Fiction Welcoming A Children's Laureate An average day working at the Scottish Book Trust feels like quite an indulgent and exciting experience, as I get to talk about, and encourage other people to get involved in, two things
Aldous Huxley My Kindle May Start Accumulating Dust... For quite some time I've been in possession of a Blackwell's gift card but haven't been in an area with a branch locally. So during my lunchbreak from work at the Scottish Book
Astronomy Summer In The Seven Kingdoms To inhabitants of George R R Martin's fictional world of Westeros, the seasons seem to hold not just practical, but symbolic significance. The Starks repeat ominously that 'Winter is Coming' and the ruling
Attractor Beam You Left Spacedock Without A Tractor Beam? Tractor beams have been a common feature of science fiction literature and films for most of the last century. Popularised by images of the Starship Enterprise grasping an enemy ship with beams of
Mars One Cosmic Nightmares Astronaut hibernation, 'stasis' or 'hypersleep' has allowed writers of fiction to move their protagonists into deep space, overcoming both the problems of long-distance space travel and allowing for swifter movement of the plot.
Antarctica Rivers Of The Underworld At the edge of the Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of East Antarctica can be found a phenomenon so striking in appearance that it would appear to be a feature only
Dracula Vampires Will Never Hurt You Depictions of vampires over time have ranged vastly, from a decaying zombie-like figure kept alive only by draining the life force of other beings, to the dangerously intelligent and charismatic vampire of modern
Atwood Playing Prometheus Bioengineering has experienced vast developments in recent years, providing solutions to a number of real-world problems. Genetically-modified crops can help solve food shortages, gene therapy has been instrumental in providing relief for sufferers
Author Writing Process: Blog Tour In a diversion from my usual entries, I have been invited to join the 'Blog Tour', which I've found surprisingly helpful in making me think about my own interests and priorities for my
Tolkien The Tinkerbell Deception Having followed the fairy fire in last week's post, it's time to come face-to-face with the creatures behind the Will-o'-the-wisp. Depictions of fairies in recent popular culture have been preoccupied with the plausibility
Tolkien Following The Fairy Fire Ghostly lights witnessed only in the dead of night around swamps and marshes are the type of sight that would naturally prompt supernatural or magical explanations, especially in a time before science could
Atmosphere Permission To Land Dutch Project 'Mars One' has gained media attention recently for its ambitious plans to colonise Mars in just under a decade's time. On the 11th Jan this year, it was announced that 3
Tolkien Here Be Dragons Following the release of the second installment in the film adaptation trilogy of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' this Winter, I have dragons on my mind. I'm sure I'm not the only one who believed
Cloaking Now You See Me... In literature and film, invisibility has long been a sought after ability that brings the promise of ultimate wealth and power. Therefore, it is with both excitement and caution that I suggest science
English Literature Two Sides Of One Thing "Science and literature are not two things, but two sides of one thing." -- Thomas Huxley I feel like I should start with an explanation. I'm one of those people who
