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Anne Leckie Shines in New Sci-Fi Novel ‘Radiant Star’ – A Must-Read for Sci-Fi Fans

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Planet Aaa: A World Without a Star

Mehau Kulyk/Science Photo Library/Alamy

Radiant Star
by Anne Leckie, Orbit Books UK

Since the groundbreaking debut of Ancillary Justice in 2013, Anne Leckie has emerged as a formidable talent in the realm of science fiction. Following swiftly were her acclaimed sequels, Auxiliary Sword and Imperial Mercy, completing the Imperial Radch trilogy which garnered numerous prestigious science fiction awards.

Leckie’s exploration of the genre continued with her shift toward independent novels set in the Radch universe. Although I have yet to dive into Raven Tower, I thoroughly enjoyed her intriguing standalone, Translation Status, which dissects both death and life through Leckie’s clever, yet chilling, Pleasure Aliens. Now, her latest addition to the Imperial Radch saga, Radiant Star, has just hit the shelves this month.

Radiant Star unfolds on the extraordinary planet Aaa, where its inhabitants have been compelled to dig into the underground city of Oioia after losing their sun.

This subterranean city is highly introverted, centering around a unique religious site known as the Temporal Location of the Shining Star, filled with enigmatic “saints” who may just be lifeless remains. Beyond this sacred site, the city teems with political nuances—marked by a peculiar dependence on onions (which becomes crucial as the story progresses).

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The drama that unfolds as the Latch Empire collapses and famine strikes across the planet feels entirely believable.
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One fateful day, Radchai, the ruler of the Latch universe, decides to annex this sunless world. The sentient spaceship, the Justice of Alva, suddenly materializes from the “Gate Universe,” alerting Aaa’s residents to impending changes. Onboard is Governor Charak Suvo, who arrives to govern Aaa while utilizing enslaved human bodies as his enforcers. However, the story takes a turn when an incident isolates the planet from the galaxy, complicating Charak’s governance.

Is Radiant Star a worthwhile read? Absolutely. Leckie’s world-building, intricate details, and ability to quickly develop relatable characters shine throughout the narrative. Her writing exudes confidence, wit, and an authentic dialogue style that resonates. The unfolding events on Aaa are compelling as the Latch Empire crumbles, leading to famine gripping the planet.

However, this book may cater more to established fans rather than newcomers to the Radch universe. Oioia feels quite claustrophobic, with much of the plot unfolding through political meetings rather than adventurous exploits. The city’s layered political and religious factions, while impressively developed, might not be the most engaging companions when contrasted with characters like Ambassador Pleasure.

Personally, I would have preferred a deeper exploration of the ship’s Justice character or perhaps more focus on one of the quirky local inhabitants instead of the many less congenial natives. Still, as a devoted follower of Leckie, I eagerly absorb every word she presents. Her prowess positions her among the elite authors in science fiction, and Radiant Star stands as a quieter yet significant piece in her repertoire.

While this novel may not be the brightest star in the Imperial Radch galaxy, it certainly makes a notable addition to Leckie’s distinguished collection in this universe.

Additional Recommendations

Platform Decay
by Martha Wells

The latest installment in our beloved Murderbot series is launching this month. I find myself reading Murderbot’s inner thoughts in Alexander Skarsgård’s voice ( Adaptation on Apple TV), making it even more captivating.

Emily H. Wilson, author of the Sumerian series—Inanna, Gilgamesh, Ninshubar—currently published by Titan, is also working on her first science fiction novel. Formerly an editor at New Scientist, you can follow her on Instagram @emilyhwilson1.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Gemini South Telescope Shines Light on the Butterfly Nebula

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In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the International Gemini Observatory’s completion, students in Chile chose the Gemini South Telescope to capture an image of NGC 6302, also known as the Bug Nebula or Butterfly Nebula (Caldwell 69).

This image captured by the Gemini South Telescope showcases the planetary nebula NGC 6302. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / TA Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

NGC 6302 is a planetary nebula situated 2,417 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.

“Planetary nebulae are a type of emission nebula formed by a massive star at the end of its lifecycle, shedding material and surrounded by an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas,” stated astronomers at the International Gemini Observatory.

“These intriguing structures usually have a circular, planet-like appearance, which is how they earned the name ‘planetary nebulae’ from early astronomers who observed them through telescopes.”

While various dates are associated with the discovery of NGC 6302, a 1907 study by American astronomer Edward E. Barnard is commonly credited, though it could have been discovered earlier in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop.

This nebula is characterized by an extremely complex dipolar morphology, highly excited gases, elevated molecular weight, and the presence of crystalline silicate dust.

Its butterfly shape extends over two light-years, roughly half the distance from the Sun to Proxima Centauri.

“In recent images obtained from the Gemini South Telescope, the glowing ‘wings’ of the Butterfly Nebula appear to emerge from the interstellar medium,” the astronomers explained.

“This visually stunning object was chosen by Chilean students for the 8.1-meter telescope as part of the Gemini First Light Anniversary Image Contest.”

“This competition engaged students at the Gemini telescope site, honoring the legacy established by the International Gemini Observatory since its first light in November 2000.”

In 2009, astronomers utilized the Wide Field Camera 3 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to identify the central star of NGC 6302 as a white dwarf. This star shed its outer layers over 2,000 years ago and now possesses about two-thirds the mass of the Sun.

It ranks as one of the hottest known stars, with a surface temperature exceeding 250,000 degrees Celsius (450,000 degrees Fahrenheit), indicating it must have formed from a substantially large star.

Further investigation of NGC 6302 uncovers a dramatic formation history.

Before its transformation into a white dwarf, the star was a red giant approximately 1,000 times the diameter of the Sun.

This massive star expelled its outer gas layer, moving outward from the equator at a relatively slow rate, forming a dark donut-shaped band still observable around the star.

Other gases were expelled perpendicular to this band, restricting outflow and creating the bipolar structure visible today.

As the star evolved, it released strong stellar winds that pierced its “wings” at speeds exceeding 3 million kilometers per hour (1.8 million miles per hour).

This combination of slow and fast-moving gases further sculpted the “wings,” revealing a vast terrain of cloudy ridges and pillars.

Now, as a white dwarf, the star emits intense radiation that elevates the temperature of NGC 6302’s “wings” to over 20,000 degrees Celsius (approximately 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit), causing the gas to glow.

“Dark red areas in the image represent regions of energized hydrogen gas, while deep blue spots indicate regions of energized oxygen gas,” the researchers mentioned.

“These materials, alongside other elements like nitrogen, sulfur, and iron discovered in NGC 6302, are critical for forming the next generation of stars and planets.”

Source: www.sci.news

Jael van der Woden Shines: Exploring Cultural Highlights | Culture

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BBorn in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1987, Yael van der Woeden is a writer and teacher of creative writing and comparative literature in the Netherlands. Her work has appeared in publications such as LitHub, Electric Literature, and Elle.com, and she writes the David Attenborough-themed advice column “Dear David” for the online literary magazine Longleaf Review. Her essay on Dutch identity and Jewishness, “Reading (Not) Anne Frank,” received a notable mention in the 2018 Best American Essays collection. safepublished by Viking earlier this year, is van der Woden’s debut novel and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

1.Book

idol wild Written by James Frankie Thomas

A friend gave this to me and said, “Your genetic makeup has changed.” You might think that a novel given with the promise of a life-changing experience would only disappoint, but still! intention idol wild Will it disturb the mental equilibrium of all readers? Not likely. Does this send some of us into a survival spiral for about a week? surely. This novel is at once a well-known and well-written three-act Bildungsroman, and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I’ve pitched this to people: Imagine a teenage love triangle. Instead of love, the three axes are obsession, sexuality, and gender envy. A scary and fun ride.

2. YouTube Channel

Dashner Design and Restoration




Mid-century renovation by Dashner Design & Restoration.

During vacation this summer, my girlfriend peeked over my shoulder in bed, saw me watching my wardrobe repair job for 45 minutes, and started teasing me badly. That’s what grandma does, she said. Surely grandma wouldn’t restore the entire wardrobe, I said. It is very physically demanding and requires years of study. I didn’t convince her, but I’ve been trying to convince her. There’s a sense in craftsmanship of doing something very well and applying that skill to undoing entropy that people do know things and mistakes can be undone. It will remain. Or maybe I just couldn’t get over my surprise at the successful transformation.

3. Music

Fountain Baby by Amaarae




“Addiction and anxiety”: Amarase. Photo: Sonya Horsman

The last few years have been great for pop. And my favorite genre to come out of it is the weird, naughty side of queer hyperpop. The great Chapel Lawn was brewed in these waters, but also consider Peach PRC, Ashnikko, Cobra and Lil Marico. I’ve been obsessed with Amaarae’s latest album for a while now. fountain babyespecially the song antisocial dance queen. A pop-creepy, devilish dance club hit with a Minogueian refrain of “Touch, touch, touch!” Lyrics include “I buried all the bodies in the pool.'' It’s addictive and anxiety-provoking.

4. Interior design

pottery fish




Photo: shoppingiro.com

Two things are tied together in this piece. The fact that I’m moving soon and the fact that I’m fully engaged in researching the former Zuiderzee (‘southern sea’), which is now the IJsselmeer. Water cascading down like a big thumb in the middle of the Netherlands. I’ve been researching what types of fish survived the transition from salty to sweet water, and how that affected coastal life and people’s relationships with water. . Actually, I’ve been thinking about fish lately. So when I started looking for things to put in my new home, I just kept being drawn to fish. Fish plates, fish art, fish shower curtains. I’ve been staring blankly at fish and found most of them to be terrifying, but I believe this collection of Italian ceramic fish is perfect in every way. Especially the anchovies and sardines, the cool blue color and big eyes. they make me happy. I have come to understand that this is not a universal opinion. However, I ended up buying 6 of them. Will probably buy more.




“For lovers of oak, honey and baked apples…” Photo: Amazon.De

5. Drinks

Calvados Dauphin Fine

I have recently been writing in Giethoorn, perhaps the most picturesque town in the Netherlands. Canals, bridges and thatched roofs. My hosts were a wonderful couple who took me sightseeing and boating. And most importantly, he emailed me at the end of every other day of writing. Question mark on wine glass emoji? And when I got off, there was food and wine and laughter, and on my last night there I had a glass of Calvados Dauphin Fine. It had a story. When they were young, an older couple allowed them to try the drink, and then they kept saving up for months to buy their own bottles. From then on, they made sure to always have them on hand. I was skeptical, took a sip, and have been planning to buy one for myself ever since. Not too sweet, not too spicy. For those who love oak, honey, baked apples, and the fantasy of a life that welcomes a weary writer in his spare room.

6. Museum

Zuiderzee Museum




Zuiderzee Museum in the Netherlands. Photo: Christophe Cappelli/Alamy

This is one of the most impressive heritage museums I’ve ever seen. Its history is as follows. In 1932, the Ahu Water Embankment, a weir dam that effectively cut off the Zuiderzee and turned it into a large, shallow, sweet-water lake, was completed. As traditional marine life dwindled along the coast and on the islands, the museum served as a living archive, with abandoned homes being transported en masse to the museum grounds. Desks, beds, chairs, fishing nets, sheets, the entire store. The museum is a large village with original and recreated houses. You can go inside these houses and touch objects, and historians dressed in traditional costumes will tell you the stories. It’s both magical and tragic. The fact that we are witnessing traces of life being carefully selected and contained also means that it has disappeared.
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7. Podcast

death, sex, money




Hugh and Crystal Hefner at the Playboy Mansion in 2014. Photo: Charlie Galley/Getty Images

Anna Sale is one of my favorite interviewers. I listened to almost every episode before heading to my first hosting gig. death, sex, moneyjust to see if there’s something about her inquisitive attitude with other people that might affect me. I wish I could laugh like her. One of my favorite recent episodes is the one about life at the Playboy Mansion. Crystal Hefner talks about life in the claustrophobic house and under Hefner’s control, his childish tyranny. She tells the story of living there as a young woman, then marrying Hefner as an adult, and how she sought and found agency in small, secret ways. A gorgeous interview.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Hubble Space Telescope Shines Light on Stunning Spiral Galaxy NGC 4731

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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this stunning image of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 4731.

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows NGC 4731, a barred spiral galaxy about 43 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Image courtesy of NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.

NGC 4731 It is located in the constellation Virgo, about 43 million light years from Earth.

Also known as IRAS 12484-0607, LEDA 43507, and UGCA 302, it is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.

“Barred spiral galaxies outnumber regular spiral and elliptical galaxies combined, making up about 60 percent of all galaxies,” the Hubble astronomers said.

“The bar-like structure we see is the result of the orbits of stars and gas in our galaxy aligning, forming dense regions where individual stars move in and out over time.”

“This is the same process that maintains the spiral arms of our galaxy, but in the case of barred galaxies it's a bit more mysterious. As spiral galaxies mature they seem to form a bar at their centre, which explains the large number of bar structures we see today. But later on the bar can also be lost if the accumulated mass along it becomes unstable.”

“The orbital patterns and gravitational interactions of galaxies support the bar-like structure of the galaxy, transporting matter and energy and promoting star formation.”

“Indeed, the observing program studying NGC 4731 seeks to investigate this flow of matter within the galaxy,” they added.

beginning discovered Discovered on April 25, 1784 by German-born British astronomer William Herschel, NGC 4731 has a diameter of about 80,000 light years.

With LEDA 43526 Galaxy, Forms Holm 472, a pair of interacting galaxies.

NGC 4731 is also a member of the NGC 4697 galaxy group. Located Near the Virgo Supercluster.

“Beyond the bar, NGC 4731's spiral arms extend far beyond the scope of this close-up Hubble image,” the astronomers said.

“The galaxy's elongated arms are thought to be the result of gravitational interactions with other nearby galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.”

The color image of NGC 4731 includes ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical observations. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

Six filters were used to sample different wavelengths, and color was generated by assigning a different hue to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.

“The richness of color reveals the galaxy's swirling gas clouds, dark dust bands, bright pink star-forming regions, and most notably, its long, luminous arms stretching out behind it,” the researchers said.

Source: www.sci.news

Taiwan’s Earthquake Preparedness Shines, Surpassing US Efforts

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Taiwan experienced a significant earthquake on Wednesday, with experts noting that it was larger than some areas in the United States. The island was well-prepared for seismic disasters, which helped mitigate the impact. Despite nine reported deaths, authorities anticipate the death toll may increase. Over 1,000 individuals were injured, and around 100 are feared trapped.

The earthquake, measuring 7.4 in magnitude, highlighted Taiwan’s robust early warning system, modern seismic building codes, and the population’s familiarity with seismic activity. Following the devastating Chichi earthquake in 1999, Taiwan made substantial upgrades to its infrastructure to enhance resilience.

Geologist Larry Shuhen Lai, who grew up and studied in Taiwan, acknowledged the progress made in earthquake preparedness, comparing the nine deaths in the recent earthquake to the 2,400 casualties in the past. He emphasized Taiwan’s serious approach to earthquakes as part of daily life.

Experts noted that U.S. cities on the West Coast are taking various measures to prepare for earthquakes, but none are as well-prepared as Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

A California Highway Patrol trooper checks for damage to a fallen car when the upper section of the Bay Bridge collapsed into the lower section after the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco on October 17, 1989.George Nikitin/AP File

Taiwan is still assessing the earthquake’s impact and lessons learned, providing valuable insights for U.S. scientists and leaders to evaluate their own infrastructure and preparedness.

John Wallace, a civil engineering professor, highlighted the damage to older concrete buildings in Taiwan and emphasized the importance of retrofitting such structures. Taiwan’s skyscrapers, like Taipei 101, showcased advanced engineering that performed well during the earthquake.

Overall, experts commended Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness efforts, attributing them to the previous Chi-Chi earthquake that spurred significant improvements in safety measures and building codes.

Damaged buildings in Hualien City, Taiwan, on Tuesday.TVBS via AP

Taiwan’s gradual progress in earthquake safety, coupled with public education and trust in authorities, has been integral to its preparedness. Initiatives undertaken post the Chi-Chi earthquake have set the benchmark for earthquake resilience in the region.

The comparison with U.S. readiness, particularly on the West Coast, reveals disparities in earthquake preparedness, with Taiwan’s advanced early warning system being a standout feature. The system’s effectiveness in disseminating warnings and promoting public safety serves as a model for other earthquake-prone regions.

Both Taiwan and the U.S. utilize advanced warning systems based on seismic wave detection, highlighting the importance of continuous improvement and proactive measures to enhance earthquake resilience.

In conclusion, Taiwan’s 25-year journey towards earthquake preparedness offers valuable insights for other regions, emphasizing the significance of strategic planning, infrastructure upgrades, and community engagement in mitigating the impact of seismic events.

Source: www.nbcnews.com