The Booker prize judges have yet to acknowledge the flowering of British SF and fantasy. Will 2011 be a breakthrough year? Speculative fiction has produced many great works of literature. Even a partial list of SF’s canonical works could fill many blogposts. It would be difficult to talk seriously about the last century of literatureContinue reading “Is speculative fiction poised to break into the literary canon?”
Category Archives: Journalism
Do not judge genre by its covers
Science fiction and fantasy book cover designs are as fashion fickle as an emo kid’s dress sense, and produce the same kind of response. Like some sober-suited middle manager tutting over his son’s electric blue spiky haircut, the literary reader sees the genres’ gaudy covers and wonders how they can go out in public lookingContinue reading “Do not judge genre by its covers”
Steampunk Reloaded reviewed by Lauren Westwood
Lauren Westwood is graduate of Loughborough University’s MA in Creative Writing and was a project intern for the Writing Industries Conference. She is a young writer with a passion for SF and Fantasy, but had never heard of steampunk until accepting my challenge to review the Steampunk Reloaded anthology. Here she gives a fascinating insightContinue reading “Steampunk Reloaded reviewed by Lauren Westwood”
Reality is for people who can’t handle Science Fiction
It’s all too easy to dismiss science fiction and fantasy stories as escapist nonsense. But there’s ultimately something despairing about the charge of running away most readers of these genres encounter at some point. It tends to come from an authority figure of some kind – a teacher, a boss, a parent. It is oftenContinue reading “Reality is for people who can’t handle Science Fiction”
Why Hollywood can’t get the hang of science fiction
If science fiction is a genre of ideas, is there any wonder Hollywood doesn’t get it? Look. There are are only two truly great science fiction movies. The first is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, written in collaboration with Arthur C Clarke. The second is Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and adapted from Philip K Dick’sContinue reading “Why Hollywood can’t get the hang of science fiction”
Bizarro fiction. It’s Shatnertastic!
Jeff Burk’s Shatnerquake is the story of William Shatner. Yes: Wiliam Shatner. All of the characters he has ever played are suddenly sucked into our world on a mission to hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner. As one Amazon reviewer insightfully states, if you have ever wondered what would happen if William ShatnerContinue reading “Bizarro fiction. It’s Shatnertastic!”
Kraken by China Mieville
China Miéville has a passion for London. The multi-award winning author has reflected the city’s surreal side in Un Lun Dun, set it to a drum’n’bass beat in King Rat, and inundated it with vampire imagoes in The Tain. Now, in his new novel, Miéville threatens to destroy the nation’s capital entirely in the tentacledContinue reading “Kraken by China Mieville”
End-of-the-world literature
I’m on the Guardian book podcast again this week, discussing literature of the apocalypse as the Angry Volcano God put us all in that frame of mind. At the end I call Kraken ‘H.P.Lovecraft via J.G.Ballard’. Not sure if that will make it into the final review, but it certainly has a ring to it!Continue reading “End-of-the-world literature”
Is fantasy just entertainment?
Just because fantasy is everywhere doesn’t mean it has to appeal to the lowest common denominator. We must keep sight of its roots in ancient storytelling and its power to transform. There are few things people love more then a well-told tale. We’ve been gathering around the fire (or that 20th-century equivalent, the television set)Continue reading “Is fantasy just entertainment?”
Cheer up! The future is Shiny
The future. If our television screens are to be believed, it’s not a place you’d want to go. Dwindling resources will continue to fuel national rivalries, pitching the world into a state of endless war. Our environment will become ever more chaotic and unpredictable. Our economic system will collapse under its own weight, plunging theContinue reading “Cheer up! The future is Shiny”
A plea to Iain M. Banks
Dear Iain, It’s been 10 years, and I don’t know how much longer I can wait. The millennium was new, the future seemed boundless and Look to Windward had just been published. We, your fans, were ecstatic to see a new novel from Iain M Banks. We had waited patiently as you conquered the worldContinue reading “A plea to Iain M. Banks”
Guardian Books Podcast – SF Special
I have the pleasure of being a guest on this week’s Guardian Books Podcast. This was my second time on the show, but this time around the whole episode is dedicated to speculative fiction. Hurrah! We discuss the new John Wyndham novel (yes, you heard that right) and the reasons why there are so manyContinue reading “Guardian Books Podcast – SF Special”
Damien Walter 