People used to accuse artists who took the corporate dollar of ‘selling out’. It’s a phrase that seems to have fallen from fashion, perhaps because art has become so aligned with entertainment in the popular imagination that it’s hard for people to see what ‘selling out’ out even means any more. Why would you criticiseContinue reading “Selling Out”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Why English culture is bewitched by magic
From Merlin to Harry Potter, English magic has a long tradition. But what does it say about today’s culture? English occultist, bohemian and author Aleister Crowley defined magick as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will”. Crowley’s will was aided by the inheritance age 11 of a tidy fortune,Continue reading “Why English culture is bewitched by magic”
Micro Sci-Fi 2 : My eyes are dim, I can not see
A Google HUD journalist auctions the eternal copyright to her feed for a Quora credit fortune but is replaced by a narrative AI generated from her lifetime experience. Rules of Micro SF: Tell a story in one sentence. It can be any length but must work grammatically and be reasonably well parsed by a reader. Include at least twoContinue reading “Micro Sci-Fi 2 : My eyes are dim, I can not see”
Will the book and the internet merge?
The difference between ebooks and the internet is minimal, and we should be glad the two are growing closer and closer. It’s easy to forget that the world wide web as we know it today evolved from an early attempt to put books on the internet. When Tim Berners-Lee envisaged what would become the worldContinue reading “Will the book and the internet merge?”
Are we living in a corporate society?
The corporate society has been an enduring wellspring of stories over the last century. Inspired by the factory production line, Aldous Huxley predicted a future where humans were born and bred only to fulfil a corporate function in Brave New World. The cyberpunk vision of William Gibson’s Neuromancer charted a future where government had collapsedContinue reading “Are we living in a corporate society?”
Two. Four. Seven. More. How many stories are there?
Paulo Coelho, in a blog post inviting others to steal his books, recently shared the idea that all writers are only recycling four stories. First, because all anyone ever does is recycle the same four themes: a love story between two people, a love triangle, the struggle for power, and the story of a journey.Continue reading “Two. Four. Seven. More. How many stories are there?”
Why we must reward intelligent fantastic literature
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to direct your attention to the shortlist for the Kitschies, the annual awards organised by the folks at the Pornokitsch blog, which is quickly establishing itself as one of the two or three most relevant awards in fantastic literature. And the nominated novels are: The Enterprise of Death by JesseContinue reading “Why we must reward intelligent fantastic literature”
Why Science Fiction is the literature of change
Science Fiction is often called a “literature of ideas”. Maybe it is better understood as a literature of change. Listen to the Guardian books podcast: Science Fiction now and tomorrow. Today’s Guardian books podcast, which I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in alongside Lauren Beukes, Alaistar Reynolds, Jeff Noon and MichaelContinue reading “Why Science Fiction is the literature of change”
The Fantasy of Romance
“People would never fall in love if they hadn’t heard love talked about.” Or read about it in books, we can assume. Which is all very well for Francois de La Rochefoucauld, French nobleman and writer of maxims, to say – but is much harder to live by. Yes, perhaps, in the postmodern sense loveContinue reading “The Fantasy of Romance”
Questionnaire with a Dark Lord.
Éric Poindron’s Étrange (*) Questionnaire. Discovered at the Weird Fiction Review. (*) Bizarre, extraordinary, singular, surprising. Le Robert Dictionary 1 – Write the first sentence of a novel, short story, or book of the weird yet to be written. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Dark Lord in posession of a plot to destroy theContinue reading “Questionnaire with a Dark Lord.”
Meta-content is the future of the book
This evening I bought Jeffrey Eugenides ‘The Marriage Plot’ from the Amazon Kindle store. I would love to say that I always buy books when it would be just as easy to download a pirate version for free, but I would be being dishonest. But buying the book has recently become a far more likelyContinue reading “Meta-content is the future of the book”
Winter reads: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
This potent rite-of-passage tale offers readers some useful pointers on keeping the heart warm in allegorically wintry times. The novel that raised Haruki Murakami to literary superstardom ranges across the seasons, but the heart of its meaning is found in winter. When 30-something Toru Watanabe hears a fragment of the titular Beatles track after a long airplaneContinue reading “Winter reads: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami”
Damien Walter 