Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen. The Police (Ghost in the Machine Tour) U2 (War Tour) Genesis (multiple tours) Opeth Steven Wilson

This has been fairly obvious for some time.

Space: 1999 may have been an oft-cheesy show, but the VFX team (who went on to work on The Empire Strikes Back) knew their business. The Eagles looked like rugged space trucks, convincing working vehicles, when a lot of TV SF spaceships emphasized looking sleek, pretty and futuristic.

Discord wants to know how you feel about AI. Go tell them: discord.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Between @sff180.bsky.social's science fiction video (haven't even gotten to fantasy yet) and a variety of the titles on this Hey Alma post, can I create a doppelganger of myself to read beyond my already lengthy 2026 tbr?? www.heyalma.com/27-jewish-bo... #amcomplainingaboutreading

Evening bump. 47 science fiction books for the new year to choose from! (And it’s not even a complete list.)

Also on the topic of ads in books, it is amusing to remember that back in the 1970s, some mass market paperback books literally did include an ad. Like in the middle of the book, there would be a glossy ad insert bound right in. As per the times, these were almost always cigarette ads.

And here it is! Much delayed but hopefully worth the wait. Horror and Fantasy lists forthcoming… 📚📚 SFF180 🚀 Anticipated Science Fiction 2026 youtu.be/Gy1AEXe_zEg

When you pick up a random SF novel from the 90s and spot fun little details.

There is currently a discussion here about end-of-the-year lists, particularly those listing what a reader/reviewer did NOT like. I want to address the topic in a general sense, without tagging anyone in, in the hopes that some folks might come away with their day a little less distraught. 🧵

On a drive down Interstate 10 in West Texas, with NOTHING but empty desert for miles, I blew a tire and had no spare. The very first car I flagged down stopped for me. College kid, driving home to see family. Took me all the way to the next town to get a new tire on the wheel, then right back.

I was in LA in the early 90s for a music festival, and went to the post office to mail a bunch of merch home to myself (so I didn’t have to pack it all in my suitcase to get ruined), and I ended up in line behind Walter Koenig.

I like JKR in the same way that I like getting caught in my zipper.

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains.

Make a Bond film casual: The Spaniel Who Loved Me

Stream’s over but you can watch the archived version!

Got some free time starting at 7:30 Central tonight? Pour yourself some hot cider and join me at my channel for a live reading of a Ghost Story for Christmas! youtube.com/live/xGjBAbo...

A Lord of the Rings cover band called Weathertop Report.

It would’ve been superduper easy simply for SFWA to have said “No use of LLM is permissible for Nebula qualification” and made that the rule. Why do it this way? Why allow any opportunity for generative AI to get a foot in the door?

So does the dazzle paint help it avoid getting pinged by police radar?

For all you try-a-chapter folks. You are officially out of excuses to keep sleeping on Marshall’s work!

Somebody stabbed Rob Reiner to death, alongside his wife. The very concept of Rob Reiner being a guy anyone would want to stab is just so inconceivable to me and no, that’s not meant to be a Princess Bride riff. What kind of degenerate could do this? Who would even think of doing it?

When Usha is taking way too long to pack.

I did a video a few years ago on why I love this format so much. I knew this day would be inevitable, and for all intents and purposes, MMPB books have been dead to the industry for a while now. But it is still a sad thing to see.

Post from a different era in your life.

You will be visited by three spirits.

Read these because they’re good and I say so! SFF180 🎃 ‘The Atrocities’ ★★★ & ‘Bedfellow’ ★★★★ by Jeremy C. Shipp youtu.be/wPc8xUFa8HI

Or, it’s the colossal sculpture standing immediately behind the villain, who sits in a throne-like chair with his fingers steepled, lit directly from above by a spotlight.

So just a week ago I posted that mainstream publishing no longer seems interested in science fiction, and then I finished up my 2026 Anticipated SF list for next week’s video and it’s more titles than ever (like over 40)! These are times I like being wrong.

Are these “scientists“ only found on TikTok?

For those going home to visit family this weekend: • Samsung calls it Auto Motion Plus • LG calls it TruMotion • Sony calls it Motionflow • Roku calls it Action Smoothing • Google TV calls it Motion Enhancement • Vizio calls it Smooth Motion Effect.

Damn.

Mainstream publishing no longer seems interested in SF. I can think of at least two major imprints — industry leaders in the genre — whose monthly new release emails almost never include any. Everything is “cozy” fantasy and romantasy and anything they can print as sprayed-edge “special editions.”

A favorite artist, one whose spacecraft paintings in particular adorned many a book cover in my youth and captivated me to imagine a bigger brighter future. He was kind enough to grant teenage me an interview for a fanzine a lifetime ago in the 80s.

So, I finally saw the full trailer for the upcoming Project Hail Mary adaptation… and I kind of… hate it? Not that I think the film will be bad. But this is one of those ELI5 “let’s show you the entire movie” trailers that I thought we got rid of after the 90s. And why so much bombastic dad rock?

We are currently beset by a plague of overgrown nerds who grew up reading science fiction and understanding none of it.

This is very high on the list of what motivates new writing careers to get off the ground, and you should absolutely run with it.

And don’t forget Booktube. Around this time, I noticed a bunch of other channels leaning really hard into the ERMAGERD PROBLEMATIC content. Much of this felt less to do with insightful critique of books, and more to do with finding convenient shortcuts to pass moral judgment on authors and readers.

“Play it, Sam. You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play As Time Goes By.” Rick never says “Play it again, Sam.”

Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God who gibbers unmentionably outside the ordered universe where no dreams reach, has just endorsed Andrew Cuomo.

Cosigned.

“Download the things that make you mad Download the life you wish you had.” —Steven Wilson

It would be nice to see science fiction still exist.

Americans, we can do this too!

Mr Lowe: *finishes his eight-volume set* Some botanist: *discovers new fern* Mr Lowe:

I am pretty antagonistic towards religion in all its forms, but I just saw a lady wearing a T-shirt that said YAHWEH OR THE HIGHWAY and I thought that was kind of funny.

And the enshittification continues…

Can mainstream magazines with an inch-deep familiarity of the history of the genre stop putting together lists like these? That would be totally awesome.

"dont read old scifi its just gross men" Leigh Brackett coming in hard with an axe

Hello SFF180 Fam! I am very sorry, but this is going to be a skip week for the Reading Hangout. I have an engagement out of town tonight. But the trains and I will be back next Thursday, September 11, and I looking forward to being back with you then! ❤️📚