Over 3600 people have joined my new course since September. Blimey! I know a lot of people love Science Fiction & Fantasy…but this popularity has rocketed past all my expectations. Today I published workshop 2. It’s all about the NOVUM…Darko Suvin’s very cool idea about what makes scifi special. It’s also a GREAT tool toContinue reading “So many people”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
How corporate marketing created the Geek identity
Corporations took the intense, subversive, revolutionary force that was science fiction, and they turned it to trash culture. Today’s post is because I was thinking about the idea of the “scifi fan”. And how much I hate it. One thing that may not be apparent to people who don’t work in marketing, because it isContinue reading “How corporate marketing created the Geek identity”
Science fiction sold out. Let’s take it back.
Corporations love to take cool things and turn them to trash to make money. In the early 80s black artists took DJ music loops, rapped radical political lyrics over them, and invented hip-hop. Corporations took hip-hop and degraded it into “gangsta rap”, perpetuating stereotypes of black male violence to sell hip-hop to the masses. CorporationsContinue reading “Science fiction sold out. Let’s take it back.”
What do the literary folks mean when they say science fiction is “badly written”?
Mid-way through Foundation and Empire, Asimov hits an entirely new note in his writing. For the first time he enters INSIDE one of his characters. We see the world as they see it. It’s probably significant that this is also the first major female character in the story. Asimov was a great writer on manyContinue reading “What do the literary folks mean when they say science fiction is “badly written”?”
Call for Stories : What is the future of science fiction?
An open call for non-fiction stories of up-to 600 words, to be published on the Science Fiction medium group. Rolling deadline. For 200 years science fiction has predicted the future. But what is the future of science fiction? The Science Fiction publication on Medium is seeking non-fiction stories in the following categories : ESSAYS –Continue reading “Call for Stories : What is the future of science fiction?”
How Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey rewrote science fiction
“Stanley wanted to create a myth. And I think he succeeded. He wanted to make the proverbial “good science fiction movie”, implying there hadn’t been any good ones before then. I didn’t agree.” Arthur C Clarke 2001 : A Space Odyssey is widely considered the greatest science fiction story ever told. It’s creator, auteur movieContinue reading “How Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey rewrote science fiction”
Yes, Deckard is a replicant. But that’s not Blade Runner’s secret
One of the elements that makes Blade Runner so haunting. Deckard isn’t the protagonist of the story. Roy Batty is. The “hidden protagonist” is a technique in noir fiction. The character who ordinarily would be the emotional centre of the story is made background, and instead you follow the antagonist. In PKDs novel Deckard isContinue reading “Yes, Deckard is a replicant. But that’s not Blade Runner’s secret”
Genre fiction is the worst thing that ever happened to science fiction
When did the science fiction community start using “genre” as a proper noun? “It’s a common thing in Genre.” As though “Genre” is a city you can visit. Or a distinct community unified by being “Genre”. It’s one of those linguistic ticks that arise on the internet. But for science fiction it’s also symbolic ofContinue reading “Genre fiction is the worst thing that ever happened to science fiction”
How does M John Harrison enter a story?
M John Harrison is one of the all time greats, a “science fiction writer’s science fiction writer”, a creator of weird tales in the horror tradition, and a powerful weaver of fantasy. The Viriconium stories defined political fantasy in the 80’s, as the Light trilogy redefined literary SF in the 00s. As editor of NewContinue reading “How does M John Harrison enter a story?”
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2020) is doomed
It’s not enough to build an impressive visual world of computer generated imagery. You need to tell the heart of the story. The new Dune trailer suggests Villeneuve has – once again – failed at the most basic task of the storyteller.
Does Liu Cixin author of the Three Body Problem support the Uighur internment?
From the June 2019 interview with Liu Cixin in The New Yorker. “When I brought up the mass internment of Muslim Uighurs—around a million are now in reëducation camps in the northwestern province of Xinjiang—he trotted out the familiar arguments of government-controlled media: “Would you rather that they be hacking away at bodies at trainContinue reading “Does Liu Cixin author of the Three Body Problem support the Uighur internment?”
Neuromancer…still the best science fiction novel ever written
When life takes an unexpected left turn I do four things – tidy my room, go running, take 72 hours away from anything stressful…and read a good book. This time around I landed on Neuromancer by William Gibson. I first read this book when I was 14, I suspect I read it at least sevenContinue reading “Neuromancer…still the best science fiction novel ever written”
