Unknown Orbits

When the world is blind, seven-foot-tall killer plants are king. We discuss John Wyndham's classic novel Day of the Triffids, the various adaptations, and the best science fiction films by Hammer Film Productions.

We discuss unusual co-workers in Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith and the value of well-developed characters interacting with each other. 

A planet full of diamonds? What could go wrong? We discuss Mother of Invention by Tom Godwin - famously the author of The Cold Equations - and the problem-solving story.

The concept of the walking undead goes back over a hundred years. But what are the origins of the modern zombie myth, and what role did science fiction play?

What was Hugo Gernsback's legacy? Did his brand of science fiction save the genre, or was Brian W. Aldiss right that he ruined it?

This week we explore When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, the best-selling novel from 1933. We go on to discuss its influence on other science fiction and the George Pal adaptation from 1951.

In this special Halloween episode, we read an excerpt from A Walk in the Dark by Arthur C. Clarke. Followed by each of us sharing favorite scary campfire stories we were told as children.

What if the voices in your head really were plotting against you? We discuss Corpus Earthling by Louis Charbonneau, where alien rocks plot to take over Earth. The novel is best known as the basis for an Outer Limits episode starring Robert Culp.

It's been 94 years since the first story featuring the character which would become known as Buck Rogers appeared. That story's influence on the popularity and acceptance of science fiction cannot be overstated.

A contest to engineer the impossible is at the center of Harry Stine's Galactic Gadgeteers. Which then leads us into a discussion of military discipline, the science fiction "cozy," and the misuse of Estes Rockets.

QRM Interplanetary by George O. Smith was his first story in the Venus Equilateral series, which was published in Astounding Science Fiction from 1942 to 1945. Venus Equilateral is a space station at one of the Venus-Sun Lagrange points, making it perfect for maintaining interplanetary communication. 

What would you do if you found a bag filled with near-magical tools that could cure any ailment? We discuss Cyril M. Kornbluth's Little Black Bag and its many television adaptations.

What's up, dog? Erik Frank Russell's Allamagoosa is fun service-comedy-in-space, but it's not without controversy. We also discuss the type of story where protagonists attempt to fix a small problem, but instead turn it into a bigger one.

Is there any plot more universal than the companionship between a boy and his robot? This episode we discuss Lester del Rey's Runaway Robot, and the value of Scholastic Books in the pre-internet age.

John W. Campbell's Who Goes There appeared in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It is generally considered to be one of the most influential stories from the 1930s, and an early example of Science Fiction Horror.

Today we discuss A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum. First published in 1934, it was a memorable and groundbreaking story about an explorer who crashed on Mars and forced to walk across the planet to get back to his expedition.

Welcome to Unknown Orbits, where two writers discuss everything Science Fiction, from Gernsback to Roddenberry. In this introductory episode we introduce ourselves and discuss why we chose to focus on the years 1926 to 1966, as well as touching on what first brought each of us to science fiction.