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Exclusive Interview: “Zoi” Author Jane Mondrup

 

It’s arrogant to think that we are the only life in the universe. But “life” takes many different forms, and it’s likely that, on some planets, that life will simply be single-celled organisms.

It’s that kind of life at the center of author Jane Mondrup’s hard science fiction / science fantasy novel Zoi (paperback, Kindle). Except that, unlike unicellular organisms found on Earth, the one in her sci-fi story is big enough to give people rides around the galaxy.

In the following email interview, Mondrup talks about what inspired and influenced this sci-fi story — and no, that amoeba episode of Star Trek isn’t one of them.

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“Spine” SGF: Play Days 2025 Hands-On Preview

 

As someone who’s been writing about video games for more than 30 years, one of my pet peeves is when a game developer denies that their game is similar to or influenced by another game or a movie or a TV show. “So, your game is a sci-fi first-person shooter in which you play as a supersoldier in a mech suit…but it’s nothing like Halo? Really?!?”

It’s why I was pleasantly surprised when a representative of Nekki asked me if I wanted to see their upcoming third-person shooter Spine at this year’s Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles…and almost immediately said it was influenced by, and somewhat similar to, both the Batman: Arkham games and the John Wick movies.

And then I was pleasantly surprised again when she handed me the controller.

Here are my impressions of the game.

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Exclusive Interview: “The Afterlife Project” Author Tim Weed

 

Some people have suggested that the only way mankind can survive is if we populate Mars. But with our sun only estimated to last another 5 billion years, moving to a neighboring planet will only delay the inevitable.

In Tim Weed’s science fiction novel The Afterlife Project (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), scientists hope to save humanity by sending someone into the far future. And that’s just part of their plan.

In the following email interview, Weed talks about what inspired and influenced this sci-fi story.

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“Pragmata” SGF: Play Days 2025 Hands-On Preview

 

A few days ago, at the Summer Game Fest: Play Days event in Los Angeles, Capcom gave me an opportunity to play the unique, and potentially divisive, upcoming sci-fi, third-person shooter Pragmata, which is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S, and PC next year.

What follows are my impressions of this game.

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Exclusive Interview: “Bee Speaker” Author Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

While it may sound like the name of a Paw Patrol-like cartoon about military dogs, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s 2017 novel Dogs Of War was actually a hard science fiction novel in which the military engineers animals into weapons…including, yes, dogs.

With Tchaikovsky now releasing a second sequel to Dogs called Bee Speaker (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), I spoke to him via email about what inspired and influenced this third book, as well as how it connects to the previous two.

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Exclusive Interview: “Cosmic Love At The Multiverse Hair Salon” Author Annie Mare

 

We all know love can be exciting and new (well, assuming you’ve seen The Love Boat).

But in Annie Mare’s romantic science fiction / fantasy novel Cosmic Love At The Multiverse Hair Salon (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), it’s also multiversal, queer, and well-coiffed.

In the following email interview, Mare discusses what inspired and influenced this stylish story, as well as how romantic it can be.

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Exclusive Interview: “Galaxy Grifter” Author A. Zaykova

 

Science fiction is full of lovable rogues, from Star Trek‘s James T. Kirk and Star Wars‘ Han Solo or Firefly‘s Mal Reynolds and the MCU’s Star-Lord.

But in the following email interview, author A. Zaykova says the lovable rogue at the center of her noir sci-fi space opera novel Galaxy Grifter (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) is actually more rogue than lovable. “Levi isn’t based on anyone I personally know,” she says, “and if I did, I’d stay far away from them.”

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Exclusive Interview: “Amplitudes: Stories Of Queer And Trans Futurity” Editor Lee Mandelo

 

Science fiction has often given marginalized people hope for the future. Just ask any women, black people, Japanese Americans, or Russians who watched Star Trek in the ’60s. Like, for instance, civil rights leader and proud Trekkie Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Trek-loving family.

It’s a hope that may also come to queer and trans people — and their family, friends, and allies — from reading the new sci-fi short story anthology Amplitudes: Stories Of Queer And Trans Futurity (paperback, Kindle).

In the following email interview, Amplitudes editor Lee Mandelo explains what this anthology is about, as well as how it came together.

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Exclusive Interview: “A Study In Black Brew” Author Marie Howalt

 

Author Marie Howalt has written three novels in the science fiction mystery series the Colibri Investigations, and has plans for many more.

But for the moment, Howalt is side stepping things with A Study In Black Brew (paperback, Kindle), a stand-alone side story that actually puts a sci-fi spin on Sherlock Holmes’ first case.

In the following email interview, Howalt discusses what inspired and influenced this story, as well as why they decided to rework one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous novels.