Three Unusual Protagonists Speculative fiction is a literature of ideas where anything can happen and it often does. Therefore, is it any surprise science fiction authors give us unusual protagonists? From an astronaut on the spectrum lost in a suicide mission to save the Earth, to a retired ex-soldier of the Hive Mind turned restaurateur, […]
The Couples That Fight Together… The Liaden Universe, created by authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, is an expansive one. Twenty-four books and counting, dozens of short stories–and thousands of fans. The best way to describe the Liaden Universe is like a centuries-spanning space opera following several generations of the Korval Clan. Three races: Terrans, […]
Inventor and Editor Hugo Gernsback was born on August 16, 1884, in Luxemburg, and died on August 19, 1967, in New York City. He was an inventor, a writer, a magazine publisher, and an editor. In 1904, at the age of twenty, he emigrates to the United States seeking adventure and new opportunities. He grew […]
Three Different Voices We previously debated whether science fiction needed a progenitor and the criteria for choosing one. Then we narrowed the candidates to Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, and Herbert G. Wells. Today, in this post, we end the debate. The easy way out would be to say all three are the progenitors of science […]
The Tree Progenitors of Sci-Fi Science fiction was not born as we know it today. It took centuries as writers tried to use fiction to explain humanity’s relationship to science and technology through the Industrial Revolution. Literature always reflects social change. Similarly, social changes influence literature. Therefore, as the scientific revolution and rapid industrialization, and […]
Does Science Fiction Need a Father? A common debate among science fiction fans is, who is the real father of science fiction? Unsurprisingly, everyone has an opinion. Moreover, all the opinions are biased, even mine. There are no easy answers in this debate. And many names get thrown into it. Voltaire, Kepler, Moore, Swift, Shelley, […]
Meet the Sage Archetype These days, everyone preaches about the importance of mentorship. Meanwhile, for science fiction and fantasy characters, is nothing new. All writing, even speculative fiction, uses archetypes. Archetypes are universal images representing ideas as well as literary devices. The mentor is one. Homer‘s Odyssey gave us the character Mentor, who advises Odysseus’ […]
Risky Literature for Modern Times How transgressive are science fiction and fantasy? Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for those stories that begin with a what-if proposition and explores its repercussions. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, dystopian, slipstream, alternate history, superhero fiction, and weird fiction are some of the genres encompassed by speculative fiction. Speculative fiction has […]
It is the End of the World and I Feel Bored Writing experts debate whether there are three, seven, or thirty-six writing plots. In speculative fiction, sometimes it feels there is only one: to save the world. Do every science fiction and fantasy novel need to be about the end of the world? Don’t readers […]
Out of This World Art Space art, also known as astronomical art, refers to artwork inspired by space and astronomical features such as black holes, nebulas, galaxies, etc. This is an art whose purpose is to showcase the wonders of space and space exploration. This is a modern art movement… Or is it? The ancients […]
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