Tag Archives: speculative biology

Axes of Assymetry

Posted on January 20, 2019 by dan

I read Your Inner Fish and got inspired for a new creature:) So we humans are bilaterally symmetrical, with a functional difference between front and back, and another between back and belly. But there’s no functional difference between left and … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Day of Junction: The Dissection of the Shmoo

Posted on January 7, 2019 by dan

Here’s a sample of some of the monsters that will eat people in Junction. *w* “The bullet was stopped inside the shmoo’s body,” said Anne. “But it didn’t hit a bone. This thing doesn’t seem to have any. And this … Continue reading →

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The Pursuit

Posted on November 13, 2018 by dan

The Pursuit of Common Goals is the political union/philosophical school that represents a species of papionine, related to baboons and geladas (and more distantly to crested mangabeys). Pursuers (as members of the Pursuit are called) are convergently similar to humans, … Continue reading →

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Five Star Reviews: Redemption’s Blade

Posted on September 19, 2018 by dan

Redepmtion’s Blade by Adrien Tchaikovski Wow. Finally, the thoughtful, exciting, trope-subverting collision of fantasy and speculative biology I’ve been waiting for. So you’ve got your standard Tolkienian fantasy world with humans, elves, and demigods versus a Dark Lord and his … Continue reading →

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Junction to be published in January!

Posted on August 31, 2018 by dan

When Japanese nature show host Daisuke Matsumori finds himself on an alien world, he hopes to rekindle his passion for his work. Traveling through a newly-discovered wormhole in the Papuan highlands, he joins biologist Anne Houlihan on Junction, a patchwork … Continue reading →

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The Homo sapiens Long Term Evolution Experiment

Posted on August 4, 2018 by dan

https://danbensen.tumblr.com/post/176617090275/so-i-am-into-my-third-white-russian-and-i-am

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Save us from the Whale

Posted on July 20, 2018 by dan

“People need a way to stave off the constant possibility that common understanding may break down.” — N.J. Enfield, How We Talk Royal tangs wobbled serenely between the softly undulating tentacles of sea anemones. Bubbles rose in a shimmering curtain. The … Continue reading →

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Rotifers (1)

Posted on July 15, 2018 by dan

Behold! The Trochate Rotifers! Like all rotifers, trochates have three body segments: head, trunk, and foot. The head and trunk are supported internally by a calcified skeleton evolved from the mastax (used in basal rotifers to process food). The mastax’s … Continue reading →

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Five Star Book Reviews: Teranesia

Posted on June 25, 2018 by dan

Freaking Teranesia! Methalate my regulatory network, but is this a good book! Teranesia hit me squarely in the center of everything I like: speculative biology, psychological drama, and political machinations. It’s about trauma and recovery, about life going on, and … Continue reading →

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Junction to be Published!!

Posted on April 9, 2018 by dan

“Debut novelist Daniel M. Bensen’s JUNCTION, in which a Japanese nature show host finds himself on an exploratory trip to an alien world, but when members of the party start to die, he wonders if one of the others might … Continue reading →

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