Captain America: The First Avenger★★★★☆Better than I remembered, Captain America stands out from the MCU both because it’s a war film and because the formula hadn’t solidified yet.
Changing Planes★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin Lighter than most Le Guin I’ve read, Changing Planes is a Gulliver’s Travels for the present era, the social satire made possible through interdimensional travel.
Cordwainer Smith: Short Fiction★★★★☆
Paul Linebarger Three mid-century science-fiction stories about the future of war, space travel, symbiosis, and the dangers of cutting off your own humanity.
Five Ways to Forgiveness★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin Five loosely-connected stories set in the final years of a color-based enslaving society, the war for liberation, and the messy aftermath.
Interference★★★★☆
Sue Burke An intriguing followup to Semiosis that weaves several drastically different sentient species (both plant and animal) into a story about factions, community, freedom, communication and war.
Nomad of the Time Streams★★★☆☆
Michael Moorcock A 19th-century British soldier in India is flung into three wildly different future wars, forcing him to reexamine the world he thought he was building.
The Old Iron Dream★★★★★
David Forbes An extended essay tracing the strand of military authoritarianism and white male supremacy in science-fiction, from John Campbell through Heinlein, Pournelle and other major names up through the then-present of 2013.
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1★★★★☆Star Trek with the pace of Farscape, weaving through existing lore and focused on one crew member’s quest for redemption.
Stellaris - First Impressions★★★★☆An empire-building game, like Heroes of Might and Magic in Space, but more complicated, with diplomacy, espionage and alliances along with base building and battles.
Usurpation★★★★☆
Sue Burke A different sort of book than Semiosis and Interference, taking place entirely on Earth long after the second Pax expedition returns. Can the bamboo keep humans’ chaotic conflicts in check? Where do the robots fit in? With so many forms of intelligence, who counts as a person, anyway?
The Word for World is Forest★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin Infuriating to read…and that’s the point. A story of colonial exploitation, asymmetric warfare, dehumanization and environmental destruction.
