Unknown Orbits

When the world is blind, seven-foot-tall killer plants are king. We discuss John Wyndham's classic novel Day of the Triffids, the various adaptations, and the best science fiction films by Hammer Film Productions.

We discuss unusual co-workers in Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith and the value of well-developed characters interacting with each other. 

A planet full of diamonds? What could go wrong? We discuss Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin - famously the author of The Cold Equations - and the problem-solving story.

The concept of the walking undead goes back over a hundred years. But what are the origins of the modern zombie myth, and what role did science fiction play?

What was Hugo Gernsback's legacy? Did his brand of science fiction save the genre, or was Brian W. Aldiss right that he ruined it?

This week we explore When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, the best-selling novel from 1933. We go on to discuss its influence on other science fiction and the George Pal adaptation from 1951.

In this special Halloween episode, we read an excerpt from A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke. Followed by each of us sharing favorite scary campfire stories we were told as children.

What if the voices in your head really were plotting against you? We discuss Corpus Earthling by Louis Charbonneau, where alien rocks plot to take over Earth. The novel is best known as the basis for an Outer Limits episode starring Robert Culp.

It's been 94 years since the first story featuring the character which would become known as Buck Rogers appeared. That story's influence on the popularity and acceptance of science fiction cannot be overstated.

A contest to engineer the impossible is at the center of Harry Stine's Galactic Gadgeteers. Which then leads us into a discussion of military discipline, the science fiction "cozy," and the misuse of Estes Rockets.