“The Mermaid Astronaut” is a delightful mix of The Little Mermaid and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Semley’s Necklace”. Its main character, Essarala, is unsurprisingly a mermaid who becomes a crew member of a spaceship. At its core, the story explores the interaction between personal ambition and its consequences, both wonderful and tragic.
Author Archives: ChrisAiriau
“Front Row Seats”
“Once the Atmospheric Exoplanetary-Observation Narrowband telescope was announced, Lyn Coldfield began writing observation code as her undergrad project. She knew the work was purely academic, speculative, and she’d have to change—well, probably everything…”
ChrisAir reviews “Little Free Library”
Naomi Kritzer’s “Little Free Library” is at once a fantastic mystical tale set in modern-day St. Paul, Minnesota, and a DIY primer for building one.
Science Writing Commentary: Techniques of Plot
Science Writing Commentaries are the second of two-part Method & Commentary posts. I choose an excellent example of published science writing in which I identify and explain one of the techniques that makes the piece successful. The first post examines the Method, wherein I select and analyze the techniques I will focus on in theContinue reading “Science Writing Commentary: Techniques of Plot”
Technological Gap: Alien Invasion
Sci-Fi Fridays: Speculative SF musings… “This subject dovetails off from last week’s flash fiction post (with new art by Benjamin Specklin). The mysterious antagonists I had in mind for this story were aliens who…”
ChrisAir reviews “A Guide for Working Breeds”
The chat-log narrative format of Vina Jie-Min Prasad’s “A Guide for Working Breeds” delivers a slice-of-life story about two robot chassis who slowly get to know each other.
Science Writing Method: Techniques of Plot
Science Writing Commentaries are two-part posts. I choose a superb example of published science writing, and identify one technique used by its writer that makes the piece so successful. The first post examines the Method, that is to say the techniques which I will focus on. The second post is the Commentary, and demonstrates howContinue reading “Science Writing Method: Techniques of Plot”
Practice Makes Perfect
Sci-Fi Fridays: One-Roll Story Prompt. Art by Benjamin Specklin. “They killed me hundreds of thousands of times…”
Sci-Fi Fridays
Preparing to launch Sci-Fi Fridays! Tomorrow starts with my One-Roll Sci-Fi Prompt generator. Read more to discover the prompt for tomorrow’s prose piece.
ChrisAir Reviews “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”
Rae Carson’s “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse” is a story not only about badass moms, but becoming badass moms during a zombie apocalypse. No misdirection here.
Chris Airiau | Science Writing & Storytelling 