Category Archives: Books and media

Laughing my way through Heinlein

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

I knew, before I picked up Stranger in a Strange Land, that I would probably find parts of it dated and offensive to women, and possibly racist. It was, after all, written in 1961. What I did not expect was … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Reality as a Mathematical Construct – really??

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

I’m reading cosmologist Max Tegmark’s Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality. I’m a sucker for popular science books on maths and physics, especially when they’re as well-written as this one. Max Tegmark argues that not … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Spaceships, Magicians and Walruses

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

Ah, September. The smell of new backpacks, the rude 6 am alarms, and the return, one hopes, to a writerly routine. Eventually, once the dust has settled… Yes, I know I totally missed posting in August. One of the reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Short story now live at AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

  I’m pleased to report that my short story “This is not what I wanted for my birthday” is now live at AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review. AE is the only SFWA-recognized Canadian science fiction market, and if you haven’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Race, poetry and elocution: The Congo

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

When I was in the fourth grade – in the La Martiniere Girls’ School, Lucknow – we won the group elocution with The Congo. The following year, most of us went on to the fifth grade, and we stopped winning the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Blog Hop

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

What? Yet another Blog Hop? Say it’s not true, you scream. It is true, I gleefully reply. Blame the post-Easter springiness in my step. It’s sunny out, and I may as well hop, especially as I’ve been tagged by my crit group … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Letting the geek out at SFContario

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

I just spent a fantastic weekend at Toronto’s annual Science Fiction Convention, SFContario. The panels ranged from the technical (climate change, anyone?) to the delightfully absurd (Huggy snakes, anyone?). I’ve listed some highlights below of a few of the panels … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Another Indie Bookstore bites the dust

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Steven Temple Books, the last holdout of Booksellers’ Row in Queen West, Toronto, is shutting down after nearly 40 years in business. Another victim of the combination of higher rents and lower sales: a result of the changing landscape in … Continue reading →

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Off to the Red Planet

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Today India launched its first rocket to Mars. The Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan, aims to reach Mars orbit by September 2014. I know, I know, still a long way to go before sending a manned mission and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science, Science fiction and fantasy | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Celebrating non-violence in a violent world

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Rati Mehrotra

Today is Gandhi Jayanti, the 144th birth anniversary of a man who is variously called Bapu, the Father of the Indian nation, and ‘Mahatma’, or Great Soul. No matter what epithet we give to him, he remains one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Life and all that stuff, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments