In the Dune 2021 we see Duncan Idaho being shot at with a projectile weapon. He had to use his sword to pry the projectile off his shield. But imagine a dozen of those projectiles working their way through the shield at the same time. Even Duncan couldn't survive that. So why don't armies use tho...

I am looking to identify a series of fantasy books for young readers, which I was aware of in the mid 1990ies. One event I remember was that the main character, a pre-teen boy, would travel from our world into this fantasy realm and then return. After some time in our world he would travel to the...

El believes in the theory of balance: for every good product of magic, a corresponding evil one will be created, and vice versa. Orion, however, believes that it is just a theory or at least believed it at one point. We see some things that could be a consequence of the balance, but could also be...

I'm trying to ID a short story that's probably between 10-20 years old. The setting is a city in a valley. Time behaves like a liquid affected by gravity. It's evaporated from most of the world, but life in this city continues because it's in a valley. Time is continuing to evaporate, so the city...

Madison encountered Mechangodzilla at Apex facility and says to Bernie: Madison: This is why Godzilla attacked the Apex facility. They're trying to replace him. Why they want to replace Godzilla instead of killing it?

I remember this old anime I ordered off of Netflix in the 2000s. It was about a dying land and their priestess lineage was "dying" or something was wrong so they had to throw their holy daughter into a fire pit. It doesn't work and she doesn't die, she is transported to modern Japan in a bubble. ...

I remember reading it around 2004. Possibly set in England. There is magic in the world. It's a series of books, and each book is its own story featuring a different protagonist. There were at least 2 different books, but I'm not sure how many are in the series. Each book also features a sorceror...

"The Hero as Werwolf" is a short story by Gene Wolfe. Quoting the synopsis from here: It [sic] the late 21st century, humanity has evolved into a master race with some people left behind. Those sorry, savage people have nothing to eat and so they went cannibalic. Protagonist Paul is on the hunt ...

In the 2001 movie Donnie Darko, what was the reason for inclusion of the obese girl who is highlighted in several scenes but does not seem to play any part in the over arching plot? Is she supposed to be symbolic or representative of something, or to have a greater meaning in the wider scope of t...

In this book two kids got powers (believe the setting was back in medieval times where this took place in a village), where one kid can perceive everything as almost non-moving due to his speed, while the other can control time itself (pretty sure he could cause time to fold on itself). There was...

When writing a piece of fiction where time travel is a crore mechanic, what are the most common literary arguments against the use of circular references where the cause of an event depends on the effect of the same event taking place. For example, a closed time loop with no clear beginning or end.

Listen up, Sam. The terminals Amelie’s people built in the towns and cities they passed through on their journey west are called KNOTs. The infrastructure’s there, but the chiral network is offline. Right now, it’s only capable of transmitting voice communications sometimes wired, sometimes wirel...

I am looking for examples of where closed time loops (Events with no clear beginning or end, or where the events that trigger the loop are an effect of the loop), have been met with criticism by audiences or reviewers. The "knot" storyline used in the German science fiction drama Dark on Netflix ...

Within the genre of 20th century European science fiction literature, what has previously been cited as being bad practice by professional critics and reviewers who are paid to review published literature in soft or hardback form in a national or international publication such as a newspaper or m...

"Forty thousand legions walked across the desert of the moon in search of the land of Narda. The fly space was crowded by their cars and travel logs. The sun rose in the East as the terminator marched over the dusty air-less surface pockmarked by the cosmic acne of space...I hear without words, t...

I recall a show where a sole pilot would fly a fighter/mech(a) through various patterns under the directions of a base/station commander. I can't remember the English name for it, and don't have any idea what other names it might have gone under. Sorry. The pair have a semblance of the old Robote...

Can there be nuances or uncertainties in the Unbreakable Vow? Snape made an Unbreakable Vow to watch over Draco, protect Draco, and to kill Dumbledore in his place if he couldn't do so. However, it doesn't give an exact date to do the killing. Also, what if Snape failed but attempted to do what w...