Chris Herzberg and Eric Bueschlen

Life Death Sci-fi

Arts EN ↓ 35 episodes

Join readers Chris and Eric as they discuss classic and contemporary sci-fi books. From Ray Bradbury to Octavia Butler to Kim Stanley Robinson, they analyze great works that transcend time and space. Check out lifedeathscifi.com for more episodes and content.

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: lifedeathscifi.podbean.com

Author

Chris Herzberg and Eric Bueschlen

Category

Arts

Podcast website

lifedeathscifi.podbean.com

Latest episode

Jun 8, 2025

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Episodes

Windup Girl by Poalo Bacigalupi review 08.06.2025

In this episode, Chris and Eric dive into Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, a vividly imagined biopunk dystopia set in a future Bangkok teetering on the edge of collapse. With rising seas, deadly plagues, and a world economy ruled by genetically modified seeds, survival depends on biotechnology—and brutal power. The hosts unpack the novel’s haunting vision of a world where seed banks are vaults...

Neuromancer by William Gibson review 19.05.2025

this is a science fiction book lovers blog. This is the first episode in the 4rth season of the "Life Death Scfi" blog hosted by Chris and Eric. Neuromancer by William Gibson is a wonderful hallucination born in cyberspace.  Hero Henry Dorset Chase and sidekick Molly Millions heist enough tech to have a run at the big time Freeside. Amazing settings both outside and inside cyberspace In this episo...

Calico by Lee Goldberg review 19.05.2025

Two timelines. One buried secret. Detective Beth McDade thinks her worst days are behind her—until a bloodstained 1970 Mustang turns up in a desert cave. What begins as a strange cold case unravels into a time-bending mystery born from a failed military experiment. In Calico, past and present collide in a gripping fusion of noir, sci-fi, and western. Join Chris and Eric as they figure out this min...

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi review 18.05.2025

Welcome to Lifedeathsifi.com, where hosts Eric and Chris dive deep into the wonders of time travel. In today’s episode, we unravel the enigmatic threads of time through the lens of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Imagine a quaint café where time travelers are bound by strict rules: they cannot change the past; they must sit in one particular seat and return before their coffee cools or risk becoming...

Now Wait for Next Year by Philip K. Dick review 18.05.2025

Welcome to Life, Death, Sci-Fi, where hosts Chris and Eric dive deep into the realms of speculative fiction. In this episode, we delve into Philip K. Dick's mind-bending novel Now Wait for Last Year. This story is a chaotic fusion of drug addiction, robots, aliens, multiverses, galactic wars, and time travel, all wrapped in a nihilistic vibe that promises an exploration of Dick's unique vision. Jo...

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe review 18.05.2025

This week, Eric and Chris delve into the intriguing universe of Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science-Fictional Universe. "Holy Heinlein!": time machines as ordinary as phone booths, multi-universes at your fingertips, and time travel that demands an ironic patience. Yet, amidst the whimsical chaos of chronodiegetic manifolds and irrational gravity, Yu’s novel offers something far deeper. I...

Timeline by Michael Crichton 18.05.2025

In a lively discussion filled with enthusiasm for Michael Crichton’s blend of science fiction and historical intrigue, Eric and Chris delve into the depths of "Timeline." They explore the intricate dance between reality and fantasy as Crichton weaves a tale that blurs the lines between technological possibility and the fantastical elements of time travel. The conversation touches on the philosophi...

All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein review 18.05.2025

This show features a detailed discussion on Robert Heinlein's 1958 short story 'All You Zombies,' exploring its intricate themes related to time travel, paradoxes, and identity. Lifedeathscifi.com investigates the protagonist's journey as a temporal agent who ends up being their own ancestor through a series of time loops. They dissect the complexities of the narrative, including gender transforma...

The Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury review 18.05.2025

Welcome, cosmic travelers and curious minds! You're tuning in to another thrilling episode with your favorite interstellar guides, Eric and Chris. Today, we're diving into the mesmerizing world crafted by the legendary Ray Bradbury in "A Sound of Thunder." Brace yourselves as we unravel the beauty of Bradbury's prose, explore the intriguing concept of the butterfly effect—yes, there's real science...

Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut review 17.05.2025

Can time travel be all in your head? A hallucination? Or does time travel need a device? A button to push? Hosts Eric and Chris wrangle over this impossible conundrum in this goofy romp through the horrible history of WWII. How is it possible to write an anti-war novel during another misguided war and end up on Tralfamador? Vonnegut shows us how. LDSF recommends taking two Tylenol before reading a...

The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter review 17.05.2025

Our heroes yo-yo back and forth through time meeting the future and the past and then the future in magnificent ships floating through the sea of time. Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric try to make sense of what is happening in Stephen Baxter's centennial tribute to H.G.Wells original Time Machine. Oh, and the floating heads...

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells Review 21.08.2023

Lifedeathscifi looks into the well of time and sees H.G. Wells spinning a tale of science and time. The excitement of the first to travel into the vast beyond, is it science fiction or just another fantasy of the 19th century? If you were sitting in the time machine's chair, would you push the lever?   Music: (Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyadit...

The Martian by Andy Weir Review 21.08.2023

Mark Watney is marooned on Mars, not the first literary lost on the red planet, and probably not the last. Lifedeathscifi talks about how he McGivers his way out of some life-or-death spots and earns his spot to the spaceman's ball. the world watches as countries finally come together for the common good of another Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Mark Watney.   image: Cover design by Eric White Music: (A...

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Review 21.08.2023

Space travel, Mars settlement, and planet-building on a grand scale,  Kim Stanley Robinson takes us on an epic journey that extends our lifetime and shows us what humans can make and take apart. Would you take the treatment? Image: Cover photograph copyright by Detlev van Ravenswaay Science Photo Library Music: (Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyad...

Voyage to the Red Planet by Terry Bisson Review 21.08.2023

Finally, space is more like 21st-century space in this wacky ride to Mars. Eric and Chris talk about Demogorgons, wispy beards, the Stalin lounge, HT serum made from bears, The Mary Poppins, and much more about this near-future vision of space travel.   Image: Publication: Voyage to the Red Planet Authors: Terry Bisson Year: 1991-09-00 ISBN: 0-380-75574-2 [978-0-380-75574-5] Publisher: Avon Cover:...

Desolation Road by Ian McDonald Review 21.08.2023

Okay. This is part of the chronological journey of Martian stories. We began in 1912 and now seven stories later, We're in 1988. So far, most of, if not, all these stories use Mars in name only; like a stage backdrop, meaning it could have just as well happened on Mother Earth. This story is like visiting an art museum where you stumble on a gallery full of award-winning, disturbing, horrifying, w...

The Martian Time-Slip by Phillip K. Dick 21.08.2023

Host, Chris and Eric review a wild-west walkabout on the thirsty surface of Mars. Our heroes travel a path of time travel and mind, balancing between the now and madness. Image: Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick (1964) Got It Covered Music:(Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Download Mp3 Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyadit3u1ml

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Review 21.08.2023

War, invasion, and conquest all happening again on Mars. Beautifully written and one of our favorites.  Bradbury makes the unbelievable believable with his poetry-like prose. Image: photo of cover by E. Bueschlen Music:(Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Download Mp3 Trovi Alien 1963 Mp3 qui: https://www.file-up.org/1xyadit3u1ml

Out of the silent Planet by C. S. Lewis Review 21.08.2023

Chris and Eric try to wrap their minds around the planet Mars with a host of characters that may appear again in The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe. This mind-bending experience takes our hero on a journey of kidnapping, ransom, escape, and enlightenment—all on a dare from the Inklings.   Image: https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1310984018l/25350.jpg Music:(Alien 196...

Red Star: The First Bolshevik Utopia by Alexander Bogdanov review 21.08.2023

Another turn of the 19th century Russian author wrote about space travel and life on other planets, mainly Mars. Because this story was written by one of the founders of the Bolshevik movement, of course, there is a connection to Ukraine. Shout out and solidarity for Ukraine! Lightly discussed are antimatter, quantum physics, and "The Theory of Everything". And a surprise talk about Spotify and Jo...

Aelita by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Review 21.08.2023

Chris and Eric talk about Aelita by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Mysterious and wonderful in its fantasy sprinkled with some surprising sci-fi tidbits. Think about how long Russia has been enthralled with space and Aelita may have been the twinkle in the Russian space program's eye.   Image:https://www.hellofriki.com/resena-aelita-reina-marte/ Music:(Alien 1963) Music No Copyright Download Mp3 Tr...

The Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs Review 21.08.2023

Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric explore the humorous side of science fiction with John Carter's Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  This giggly sci-fi romp gives us more fantasy adventure than sci-fi but we both agree that it is worth the ride.  We explore the time and attitudes Burroughs penned his pulp fiction into original ideas still used over a hundred years later and honored by ma...

In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood Review 21.08.2023

Margaret Attwood gives us a memoir and some insights into the sci-fi genre. Life Death Sci-fi hosts Chris and Eric talk about gizmos, definitions, feminism, censorship, and more. The next season of Life Death Sci-fi is revealed!   Image:https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebooks.com%2Fen-us%2Fbook%2F649544%2Fin-other-worlds%2Fmargaret-atwood%2F&psig=AOvVaw06vslJzsQMOu7...

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson Review 21.08.2023

Lifedeathscifi hosts Chris and Eric wonder about the near-time climate crisis sci-fi story, The Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. More utopian than dystopian? No shame in being a little of both. "Every problem has a solution and we had better hurry up or the solution changes, worse." "Chorus of Voices" by Robinson. Sounds like World War Z stuff. This chat includes: Can eco-terrorism...

The Feed by M. T. Anderson Review 21.08.2023

Lifedeathscifi with hosts Eric Bueschlen and Chris Herzberg talk about how they perceive life on the Feed. Feed by M.T. Anderson is a story written for young adults set in a near future where corporations know everything. Where water, air, and education are privatized and trademarked. Where you can take a vacation on the moon like a teenager can have spring break in Cancun. Water is heavy and Coke...

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