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The Cosmic Codex

By: Brian Scott Pauls
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  • Living in a science fiction universe...

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    Brian Scott Pauls
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Episodes
  • A tale of two masters

    A tale of two masters
    Jul 20 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in July, Free eBooks Featuring Strong Independent Young Girls and Women.Over 125 science fiction, fantasy, young adult, and general fiction books, available at no cost.Get your FREE copy of Zoe Calloway and The Temporal TidesZoe Calloway is about to unravel the secrets of time travel and her father's mysterious disappearance.In the year 2075, New York City becomes the battleground for humanity's future as a team of scientists, led by the brilliant geneticist Dr. Zoe Calloway, embarks on a covert mission to investigate an unauthorized time jump. Little do they know, they face a far greater challenge than anticipated. Following the revolutionary research of Zoe's late father into time travel and genetic engineering, the team discovers a path that could alter the destiny of the human race and secure its survival. However, lurking in the shadows is Chrono Kinetics, a ruthless organization determined to ensure their catastrophic failure.As the TGRI team delves deeper into the mystery, they uncover the existence of "Project Perseus," a clandestine operation with far-reaching consequences. They encounter genetically engineered children with extraordinary abilities, including the power to manipulate time itself. The team must race against time to prevent a catastrophic future, all while unraveling the secrets of Zoe's father and the true nature of their enemy.Will Zoe and her team be able to stop them before it's too late? Will they uncover the secrets of time travel and prevent a dystopian future from becoming a reality?Find out in this thrilling sci-fi adventure that blends time travel, genetic engineering, and a battle against a powerful enemy. The Time Navigator series will keep you turning the pages as the team fights to protect the timeline and ensure a better future for humanity.On June 8, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) held the 59th Annual Nebula Awards Ceremony.The Association presented the SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grandmaster Award to Susan Mary Cooper, and the Infinity Award to Tanith Lee.Starting in 1975, and eventually named for Damon Knight, the founder of SFWA, the Grandmaster Award honors “a living author for a lifetime's achievement in SF and/or fantasy.”Last year, SFWA began giving out the Infinity Award “to posthumously honor acclaimed creators who passed away before they could be considered for a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.”British author Susan Mary Cooper published her first science fiction novel, Mandrake in 1964, and Over Sea, Under Stone, the first novel in her multi-award winning fantasy series, The Dark is Rising, in 1965. You can find an interview with her online.Tanith Lee, also British, began her career as a novelist with The Dragon Hoard in 1971, followed by the science fantasy The Birthgrave in 1975. For the Infinity Award, SFWA makes “a donation to a cause that an Infinity Award honoree supported or that their loved ones request.” Lee’s family has asked “the donation be split between two charitable causes, Pasadena Humane and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. “You can watch this year’s Nebula Awards ceremony on YouTube.My latest novelette, “Long Night On the Endless City,” appears in Boundary Shock Quarterly 26: Tomorrow’s Crimes:On the vast ring habitat Ouroboros, Jel and her synthetic companion Marcus search for Arja, the third member of their triad. This quest leads them to a cryptic technology cult with questionable motives. When they suffer a vicious attack, Marcus and Jel join forces with one of Ouroboros’most renowned computer and robotics experts to get to the bottom of the mystery.This thought-provoking sf tale explores artificial intelligence, religion, and the ties that bind families together in a fast-paced story full of action, intrigue, and heart.Club Codex is reading and discussing Venomous Lumpsucker through the end of July.Follow along with my thoughts on this novel and contribute your own in the following thread:Click here for more details about Club Codex in 2024. Please join us!Questions or comments? Please share your thoughts! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thecosmiccodex.com
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    2 mins
  • Club Codex (July 2024): "Venemous Lumpsucker" by Ned Beauman

    Club Codex (July 2024): "Venemous Lumpsucker" by Ned Beauman
    Jul 16 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in July, Free eBooks Featuring Strong Independent Young Girls and Women.Over 125 science fiction, fantasy, young adult, and general fiction books, available at no cost.Get your FREE copy of Wait for MeThis is an intense crossover short, where two of Dawn Chapman’s favorite characters meet the main character from Tailspin. Enjoy! Sometimes, the hardest thing you'll ever do is tell someone you love them.Amid intense helicopter missions, a teenager arrives at Rise Hospital, requiring life-saving yet experimental tech. Nico and Lacy are called in for their expertise, with no clue who this stranger is or how meeting him will change their lives forever. Lacy's skills as a magic healer will be pushed to the limit.For the first time in a long time, Niko and Lacy spend meaningful time together when it matters most to their relationship. Niko realizes that if he never says those words, he might lose Lacy for good.Club Codex is discussing Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman in July. Due to my work demands, we’re starting this book later than expected. In 2023, Venomous Lumpsucker won Beauman the Arthur C. Clarke Award “for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year.”Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.From the Penguin Random House website:“The near future. Tens of thousands of species are going extinct every year. And a whole industry has sprung up around their extinctions, to help us preserve the remnants, or perhaps just assuage our guilt. For instance, the biobanks: secure archives of DNA samples, from which lost organisms might someday be resurrected . . . But then, one day, it’s all gone. A mysterious cyber-attack hits every biobank simultaneously, wiping out the last traces of the perished species. Now we’re never getting them back.Karin Resaint and Mark Halyard are concerned with one species in particular: the venomous lumpsucker, a small, ugly bottom-feeder that happens to be the most intelligent fish on the planet. Resaint is an animal cognition scientist consumed with existential grief over what humans have done to nature. Halyard is an exec from the extinction industry, complicit in the mining operation that destroyed the lumpsucker’s last-known habitat.Across the dystopian landscapes of the 2030s—a nature reserve full of toxic waste; a floating city on the ocean; the hinterlands of a totalitarian state—Resaint and Halyard hunt for a surviving lumpsucker. And the further they go, the deeper they’re drawn into the mystery of the attack on the biobanks. Who was really behind it? And why would anyone do such a thing?”Thank you for reading The Cosmic Codex. This post is public so feel free to share it.We’ll be reading Venomous Lumpsucker through the end of July.I plan to post my thoughts to Club Codex as I read. Join me! All you need is a free subscription to The Cosmic Codex.I look forward to sharing ideas with each of you.The next Club Codex selection will be The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith by Josephine Saxton.Questions or comments? Please share your thoughts!My latest novelette, “Long Night On the Endless City,” appears in Boundary Shock Quarterly 26: Tomorrow’s Crimes:On the vast ring habitat Ouroboros, Jel and her synthetic companion Marcus search for Arja, the third member of their triad. This quest leads them to a cryptic technology cult with questionable motives. When they suffer a vicious attack, Marcus and Jel join forces with one of Ouroboros’most renowned computer and robotics experts to get to the bottom of the mystery.This thought-provoking sf tale explores artificial intelligence, religion, and the ties that bind families together in a fast-paced story full of action, intrigue, and heart. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thecosmiccodex.com
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    3 mins
  • "The Eyes Have It" by Philip K. Dick

    "The Eyes Have It" by Philip K. Dick
    Jul 13 2024
    My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in July, Free eBooks Featuring Strong Independent Young Girls and Women.Over 125 science fiction, fantasy, young adult, and general fiction books, available at no cost.Get your FREE copy of What If...: Science Fiction and Paranormal Short Stories, Volume 2!Come for the fiction, stay for the science in this second collection of science fiction and paranormal short stories with a twist of reality.Tim Trott’s short stories often blend real science or theories with imaginative elements. Some draw inspiration from his work experience or focused studies on specific topics. His unique take on science fiction and the paranormal sets him apart.Whether you’re seeking thought-provoking science fiction, captivating paranormal tales, non-fiction, or a blend of both, Tim Trott’s writing offers a delightful journey for readers.“He turned on his left side.”The discourse of mundane fiction more or less constrains us to read such a string of words as referring to some kind of masculine, insomniac tossings. SF discourse retains the greater margin to read such words as meaning that a male threw a switch activating the circuitry of his sinistral flank.—Samuel R. Delany, Starboard WineI’ve written previously about Philip K. Dick’s brilliant derangement. While devastating to his personal life, this mental instability allowed Dick to see elements of our society and world most of us miss. Or perhaps we perceive but ignore them, because they make us uncomfortable.Like the very “phildickian” movie The Matrix, Dick was concerned with how the way in which we (or others) construct our reality can blind us to what is really happening.One of our most powerful tools for constructing reality is language. Setting aside the specific case of mathematics in scientific disciplines, to understand a concept, most of us have to put it into words.But words can both reveal and conceal. Talking about a subject in a certain way may blind us to seeing it from a different point of view. A shift in perspective can cause us to realize something we’ve been missing, although it may have been right in front of us the whole time. Such insight can spark amazement, or horror.Such is the case in Dick’s 1953 short story “The Eyes Have It,” now in the public domain due to non-renewal of copyright.From one vantage point, this is the mundane tale of a man suffering anxiety and paranoia. The science fiction story is merely one he tells himself.From another perspective, he faces a revelation which could mean peril for the entire human species."Of course," we think, when we reach the last line, "Dick is only having fun. He's not serious."But as Delany reminds us, in sf, the literal reading is often the most likely.“The Eyes Have It”by Philip K. DickIt was quite by accident I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth by lifeforms from another planet. As yet, I haven’t done anything about it; I can’t think of anything to do. I wrote to the Government, and they sent back a pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses. Anyhow, the whole thing is known; I’m not the first to discover it. Maybe it’s even under control.I was sitting in my easy-chair, idly turning the pages of a paperbacked book someone had left on the bus, when I came across the reference that first put me on the trail. For a moment I didn’t respond. It took some time for the full import to sink in. After I’d comprehended, it seemed odd I hadn’t noticed it right away.The reference was clearly to a nonhuman species of incredible properties, not indigenous to Earth. A species, I hasten to point out, customarily masquerading as ordinary human beings. Their disguise, however, became transparent in the face of the following observations by the author. It was at once obvious the author knew everything. Knew everything — and was taking it in his stride. The line (and I tremble remembering it even now) read: … his eyes slowly roved about the room.Vague chills assailed me. I tried to picture the eyes. Did they roll like dimes? The passage indicated not; they seemed to move through the air, not over the surface. Rather rapidly, apparently. No one in the story was surprised. That’s what tipped me off. No sign of amazement at such an outrageous thing. Later the matter was amplified. … his eyes moved from person to person.There it was in a nutshell. The eyes had clearly come apart from the rest of him and were on their own. My heart pounded and my breath choked in my windpipe. I had stumbled on an accidental mention of a totally unfamiliar race. Obviously non-Terrestrial. Yet, to the characters in the book, it was perfectly natural — which suggested they belonged to the same species.And the author? A slow suspicion burned in my mind. The author was taking it rather too easily in his stride. Evidently, he felt this was quite a usual thing. He made absolutely no attempt to conceal this...
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    10 mins
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