HG Wells is often called “the father of science fiction” But HG Wells almost certainly never heard the term “science fiction” and there is no record of him ever using it So how did HG Wells describe his own books and stories? In an interview early in his career with the Pall Mall Gazette, WellsContinue reading “HG Wells – father of SFF (Socialist Science Fiction)”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Dune: Exposition launches its Jihad Against Subtext
HOLLYWOOD, CA – In a move sure to thrill fans of endlessly explained lore and on-the-nose dialogue, Legendary Entertainment today debuted “Dune: Exposition,” a new streaming series set to obliterate any lingering shred of subtlety in Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic. “We heard the fans loud and clear,” said showrunner Baron Harkonnen the Third (no relation).Continue reading “Dune: Exposition launches its Jihad Against Subtext”
Mind as Demiurge
The most Important act of critique is on the stories you most love. I like this comment on The Culture of Iain M Banks because it gets to the heart of why. I love the Culture, but I’ve spent the last year, while researching and making the video essay, trying to destroy it. To seeContinue reading “Mind as Demiurge”
Postmodern Propoganda
Modern propaganda wanted to make you believe something that may or may not have been true. Soviet propaganda, for instance, wanted you to believe in a communist utopia. Postmodern propaganda wants you to believe nothing. It wants you to believe only that there is nothing to believe. Postmodern propaganda isn’t trying to recruit you toContinue reading “Postmodern Propoganda”
Was H.G.Wells racist?
Did H.G.Wells write these words? “Those swarms of blacks, and brown, and dirty-white, and yellow people … will have to go” You will find this quote used in many attacks on H.G.Wells that accuse him of racism. The source is rarely if ever cited. So are these the words of H.G.Wells? The simple answer isContinue reading “Was H.G.Wells racist?”
Nazi Kitsch
Legendary Polish science fiction writer said of American science fiction that it was “…a literary form that claims to be a mythology of technological civilization while in fact it is simply bad writing tacked together with wooden dialogue.” In his essay Looking Down on Science Fiction: A Novelist’s Choice for the World’s Worst Writing. AndContinue reading “Nazi Kitsch”
Are games EVIL?!!
Some years ago I gave up playing games. I occasionally backslide and start playing online chess again. I think The Player of Games by Iain M Banks is a big part of why. It’s my favourite novel in The Culture series. I’ve read it many times and will hopefully read it many more. The bookContinue reading “Are games EVIL?!!”
We are in a Seldon Crisis
We are in a Seldon Crisis. A pivotal moment of transition, from one stage of civilisation to another. A transition we can make better…or worse…by learning from history. Isaac Asimov crafted a powerful metaphor for exactly the situation we are in with Hari Seldon and Psychohistory. So it’s great that a big budget tv showContinue reading “We are in a Seldon Crisis”
DON’T PANIC Post-Election Sanity Check
Good afternoon Science Fiction community. Today I took a walk among the the rice-fields of Bali and recorded 45 minutes of thoughts on today’s election results, and our ongoing discussions of science fiction, Actual Viable Stories for our future, the end of Modernity, and what a post-modern science fiction might look like. And DON’T PANIC…becauseContinue reading “DON’T PANIC Post-Election Sanity Check”
Cronenberg meets Ballard
One of the best moments researching the JG Ballard video essay was watching Crash Cronenberg is an unnervingly gifted filmmaker. Crash is a lot like an 80s straight-to-video erotic thriller. Because it kind of is, except it’s now the mid 90s, and Crash, at $10 million dollars, is one of Cronenberg’s higher budget outings. SoContinue reading “Cronenberg meets Ballard”
The Birth of Sci-fi
It was the 1980s and science fiction was becoming SCI-FI Star Wars had blown-up the box office and every new science fiction movie was trying to be the next sci-fi blockbuster Big men. With big muscles. And even bigger GUNS! Arnold Schwarzenegger was dominating the cinema screen, and the body counts were skyrocketing But underContinue reading “The Birth of Sci-fi”
Scifi Plato
The true meaning of SILO It’s Plato’s Republic And they ain’t subtle about it The Silo itself is basically the “ideal” society described by Plato and the Silo residents spend half their time watching images projected on the cave wall while a heroic few climb upwards to the truth it’s a pretty cool idea HughContinue reading “Scifi Plato”
Damien Walter 