Free Republic

There were some surprising science fiction nods among the major Oscar nominations this year. Despite complaints about STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS not getting a nomination for Best Picture (and in my opinion, it didn't deserve one), both MAD MAX: FURY ROAD and THE MARTIAN managed to secure Best Picture nominations. I only caught the last fifteen minutes of FURY ROAD on cable, so I can't really judge it beyond that, but THE MARTIAN while not perfect, was one of the better movies in a mediocre year for movies, and so I have no problem with its nomination. Ridley Scott...

One of the great tragedies in the history of science fiction was the premature death of the writer Stanley Weinbaum. His death in 1935 at the age of just thirty-three cut short his writing career which had barely lasted for a year and a half. Even sadder still is that he is nearly forgotten today when in a just world he would continue to be remembered as one of its great authors. Although his first story, “A Martian Odyssey”, remains an oft-anthologized classic, the rest of his oeuvre remains largely inaccessible to contemporary readers. This is almost criminal, for while...