I am on the hunt for a novel or novelette from the golden age of British sci-fi.

The story unfolds through the eyes of a writer, a man haunted by nightmarish visions. He soon realizes these are not mere dreams, but glimpses into a sinister alien plot. The extraterrestrial invaders, masters of manipulation, have woven a web of deceit, ensnaring unsuspecting humans into their nefarious scheme.

The world was at the brink of the war between the western and African countries. The writer sees the aliens' grand design: to manipulate a black person to steal a perilous biological weapon, Germ No. 214 from a British secret lab, and unleash it upon humanity. A cataclysmic event that could extinguish humans as we know it.

The writer's warnings fall on deaf ears. His wife, his doctors, even government officials dismiss his claims as the ravings of a madman. He then realizes it's the aliens' ominous manipulation of the minds of people around him. Undeterred, he embarks on a perilous quest to thwart the alien plot, determined to prevent the doom by catching the thief.

However, a twist of fate awaits him. The real villain is the director of the lab. When he caught the thief and returned the container of the germs to the director, the director turns against him and his companion. They were trapped and imprisoned in the lab while the deadly germs are unleashed upon the world...

Whatever false flag alien invasion plan is in the works will have to be put on hold. The wheel of dharma is a wormhole that will open up to our world. Seers have seen this moment in snippets for millenia. It marks a transition. Is this portal going to eject an alien force, or is it merely going to suck us up for processing like some kind of harvester on a vast plantation. The only thing that might save us now and potentially save other planets is synergy. Whatever is coming is a predatory force. The anomaly of light bursts caused by the nuclear weapons we've been detonating for nearly 80 years will be recognized eventually. I understand these are very small on the cosmic scale and that so are we. Very small, and very stupid. The universe and even the milky way is constantly being inhabited. Life ebs and flows but it always remains. Undoubtedly there is colonization in the milky way. Something in the nature of what we have done is probably a typical and deadly bumble for many young worlds.

I was contemplating what our world might look like if we were aware of other civilizations existing on planets in our solar system and throughout our galaxy. Would humanity have become more technologically advanced? Would people on Earth have focused more on exploring the cosmos, or would they have chosen to impose self-isolation from other habitable planets?

I will start farscape followed closely by rifts the rpg, then final space

Im a massive Gundam fan, and I love Titan too, I've been following Attack on Titan since 2013. I absolutely love and respect both franchises, but as I watched the 2 part finale, including the ending credits, I could not help shout outloud, "This is literally Char's Counterattack!" Come to think of it, Titan has a lot core themes and elements like that of a Gundam series.

Really into the era of “vintage “ sci-fi like Janisarries or Time Traders? Would love some recommendations of others. I’m currently reading Clan and Crown

”The term "Mary Sue" is often applied pejoratively to strong female heroines considered to be unrealistically capable, both in fan fiction and in commercially published fiction.” I recently discovered there are seasons after season 2. Mid way into season 4 it’s getting insufferable. Burnham: “If we don’t get out immediately we’ll be locked in here forever/blown up” Random extra: “Yes but wait, I have to explain how I feel.” Burnham: pulls up a chair “🥹 Go ahead!” And this happens once every other episode. Even the ship got an entire episode to deep dive into its, sorry, her, emotions. There is no exploring, no discovery, no ethical dilemmas without an easy answer explained by a soft spoken teary eyed Burnham. Even doing their duty as military officers is free to debate if someone has a personal feeling about it, the worse thing they could possibly do is not validate what someone feels. This is just an endless rant because I don’t have anywhere else to vent and after all these episodes I just gotta talk about how I feel.

I there anyone else but me that thinks that the love scene with Decker and Rachel gets kind of rapey?

Despite the romantic saxophone music,

See at about 3:40 in this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfvq5ZO-Qw

In the sense that, further humans in the very far future will obviously do to other planets what they have done to their home world earth, build many large cities, harvest their resources and live off it. Potentially Harvest and farm any species found on these other worlds be it animal or plant if they’re fit for consumption or other uses.

In this sense could humans be considered a parasite species? Because it’s clear when humans have developed well enough, and developed hyper advanced space travel, many other worlds will become like Earth due to human activities.

Does anybody else just love it when science fiction movies combine the futuristic scenery with old music? Like for example, in Guardians of the Galaxy when they’re discovering Ego’s planet there’s George Harrison playing and it’s just stunning. And in Ready Player One they start playing Beegees when Wade and Artemis are on that floating dance floor. I think it’s a really cool contrast and I need more movies to do this!

Though I am inclined towards sci-fi, if you know any thrilling movie other than sci-fi, please suggest me.

I’m trying to read Footfall and this particular alien is shitting all over my immersion. Woof.

It was some kind of search and rescue theme out in the Western US. I want to say the main characters were Mormon. One of the baddies is a big lady who ends up having…relations…with a huge killer boar. It was at my public library when I was growing up and I’m still scarred to this day 😂

With the 25th anniversary of its release around the corner, I’m gonna get on the hill for some possible suffering to say I have always enjoyed this film and rewatch it. It’s a fun and fast paced night at the movies. I love James Spader as the moody beef cake captain who takes no shit. The effects are pretty cool and hold up. The general horniness of the film is a fun twist in a sci fi flick. Sure it’s got it’s messier editing moments but for me that’s always given it a bit of b movie charm. I’m happy to stand up for this movie.

So as much as I enjoy proud warrior alien races like the Klingons, after watching this video by the Templin Institute I agree with their conclusion that proud warrior races like them are doomed to fail because of the following reasons:

1. They place too much emphasis on combat prowess and skill, over developing new technologies.
2. Their code(s) of honor is less about limiting carnage and combat pragmatism, and more about personal glory.
3. Most of them have governments that are too decentralized to reign in the numerous Houses, Clans, tribes or whatnot. In order for any civilization to work it needs internal unity. And for that to happen they need a coherent national identity that can create solidarity across diverse groups of people, a strong political order that can address internal divisions, and a belief in the state's institutions.
4. They neglect civilian or other non-military components of their economy which often leaves them ill-suited against civilizations/nations/states that utilize industrial-era warfare which relies heavily on civilian industries and expertise.

However, they do point out that found way a proud warrior alien race can survive is by evolving into a martial state run by a proud "solider" race.

According to them the tenets of a martial state are:

1. Immense influence placed within a military industrial complex that can drastically affect public policy.
2. Earlier traditions, practices and ceremonies considered useful are adopted, exploited and modified to support the aims of the state.
3. A centralized government that exerts unrivaled authority across its constituent parts.
4. Civilian institutions include paramilitary elements, designed to ease the transition between peacetime and wartime.

In summary a martial state, places less emphasis on training people to be warriors and more emphasis on soldiers, their code of honor is more about discipline and less about personal glory, and they have a strong central government that is more willing to utilize and develop new technologies, and creating, developing, and supporting an the necessary industrial and scientific infrastructure that is capable of backing up the military.

So with that said are there any good science fiction stories that feature or are about alien martial state(s)? Right now the only example I can think of is the Turian Hierarchy from Mass Effect.

Note: For any works involving martial states and pacifists groups/cultures, please avoid stories that make the latter look obstructive, cowardly, obnoxious, stupid, or naive (Ex: Stargate, Star Wars). Instead, either focus on stories where the pacifists are the good guys and the alien martial states are the bad guys, or focus on stories where the pacifists help the martial states in other ways besides becoming soldiers. I know that last one sounds paradoxical, but I have discovered evidence that during the World Wars countless pacifists like Desmond Doss and John Weir Foote served in the war as medics and chaplains and saved countless lives through their acts of heroism. Others joined alternative services like becoming factory workers, firefighters, hospital workers, sappers, and even test subjects either out of patriotism, out of a moral duty to defeat fascism, or just to show people they weren't lightweights.

Sources:

British Pacifists in WW1

American Pacifists in WW2

Great Pacifists Part 1

Great Pacifists Part 2

Badass Pacifists