If SF is grounded in hard scientific fact, and science is killing God, then what place does that leave for divine intervention in the pages of SF literature? When I tweeted this question, @MirabilisDave gave Arthur C Clarke’s famous dictum a twist, quipping that “Any sufficiently advanced technocrat will be indistinguishable from God.” Read moreContinue reading “Does God have a place in science fiction?”
Category Archives: Weird Things
Big Brother, big data and the creator culture
News of secret courts being introduced in the world’s oldest democracy should scare any rational human. The right to a public trial has survived feudalism, Henry VIII and the industrial revolution, but couldn’t stand up to the forces of global capitalism. Secret courts could be an idea from Alan Moore’s polemic on Thatcher’s Britain, VContinue reading “Big Brother, big data and the creator culture”
The rise of the artisan author
The community of SF writers has reason to dislike digital copying, or “piracy” as it’s commonly labelled in the tabloid press. Genre writers exist, by and large, in the publishing mid-list, where mediocre sales might seem most easily eroded by the spectre of illegitimate downloads. SF, fantasy and horror are also the literature of choiceContinue reading “The rise of the artisan author”
Damo’s Sci-Fi prophecies for 2013
2012 has been a year of transition for science fiction and fantasy literature. SF’s reputation as home of the Bearded White Male hides a more interesting story. SF is the literature of geeks, and today, geeks run the world. Geek culture isn’t infiltrating the mainstream: it is the mainstream. And geeks come in all ages,Continue reading “Damo’s Sci-Fi prophecies for 2013”
Alif the Unseen
It is significant that all of our great religions were born in the face of oppression. Moses led the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians. Jesus challenged the power of Rome. The Islamic calendar begins with the migration of Muhammad and his followers to escape the persecution of Meccan tribes. Even the awakening of GautamaContinue reading “Alif the Unseen”
London Gothic
Mystery is the doorway to fantasy. Dark forests, far away galaxies, roads that wind into the distance: any space that allows our imagination to play without the interference of mundane reality can be a portal. And there are few places more expectant with mystery than cities. Every road, building and doorway is a new unknown.Continue reading “London Gothic”
Ursula K Le Guin : stories for the ages
The power of Le Guin’s work will surely guarantee it an audience for centuries to come. A century from now people will still be reading the fantasy stories of Ursula K Le Guin with joy and wonder. Five centuries from now they might ask if their author ever really existed, or if Le Guin wasContinue reading “Ursula K Le Guin : stories for the ages”
An open letter to Ed Miliband on sci-fi and post scarcity
Comrade! The party conference season is all but over. Our leaders have delivered their vision of our future. We expect reactionary ideas from the Tories, while the Liberal Democrats make policy commitments they can later apologise for having ever committed to. But a leader on the progressive Left needs a vision of progress. And I’mContinue reading “An open letter to Ed Miliband on sci-fi and post scarcity”
I interviewed Ian Livingstone creator of Fighting Fantasy about the future of gaming
When I was 10 I wanted, for a brief period, to be a professional Fighting Fantasy player. I was so fascinated with the now-iconic green-jacketed gamebooks, emblazoned with the legend “Thrilling fantasy adventures in which YOU are the hero!”, that I hatched a plan to make playing them my job as a grown-up. The marketContinue reading “I interviewed Ian Livingstone creator of Fighting Fantasy about the future of gaming”
Chauvinist SF misses the point of the future
There’s a logical fallacy in this club’s claims that it welcomes women members, which is rather like the rhetoric of the well-schooled military officer. Of course they want women in the army. It’s just, well, a soldier must be physically strong, naturally violent and preferably have a todger so you can pee standing up. Any woman who fulfilsContinue reading “Chauvinist SF misses the point of the future”
The battle for geek culture
As a fan of fantasy fiction, it’s been entertaining watching mainstream cultural critics’ baffled responses to Game of Thrones, which has surprised many by becoming the biggest show on TV this year. Gina Bellafante of the New York Times was among the first to come a cropper when she made the rash statement that noContinue reading “The battle for geek culture”
All hail the New Pulp
Imagine a scale of literary productivity. At one end, place current darling of the American literary scene Jeffrey Eugenides, bating a steady average of one book per decade. At the other, put Jack Vance – at 95, perhaps the last of the great pulp fictioneers – who has produced 60 novels across the SF, fantasyContinue reading “All hail the New Pulp”
Damien Walter 