Gerry Canavan

Gerry Canavan is a professor and chair of the English department at Marquette University. He is the co-editor of Extrapolation, Science Fiction Film and Television, The Cambridge History of Science Fiction, and Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction (MIT Press, 2022). He is also the author of Octavia E. Butler (University of Illinois Press, 2016).

Articles

The Éowyn Mystique
Gerry Canavan reviews Kenji Kamiyama’s animated film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.”
Gerry CanavanJan 10
- SF
- Film
Essential Worker, Expendable Worker: On Edward Ashton’s “Mickey7”
Gerry Canavan discusses Edward Ashton’s “Mickey7,” the basis for Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” follow-up.
Gerry CanavanOct 22, 2022
- SF
What Does It Take to Create a World?: On Lynell George’s “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler”
Gerry Canavan visits the world of Octavia E. Butler in Lynell George’s “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky.”
Gerry CanavanJun 19, 2021
- SF
Of Course They Would: On Kim Stanley Robinson’s “The Ministry for the Future”
Gerry Canavan reviews Kim Stanley Robinson's new book, "The Ministry for the Future."
Gerry CanavanOct 27, 2020
- SF
Does Chris Ware Still Hate Fun?
Gerry Canavan reviews "Rusty Brown," the recently published collection of Chris Ware's comics.
Gerry CanavanJan 4, 2020
- Comics
Apocalyptic Childhood: On Cixin Liu’s “Supernova Era”
Cixin Liu’s “Supernova Era” offers a tantalizing glimpse into another universe where parents won’t simply let their children die without a fight.
Gerry CanavanOct 29, 2019
- Around the World
- SF
Welcome to “The Handmaid’s Tale” Expanded Universe
As literature, "The Handmaid’s Tale" condemned us — but, as franchise fiction, "The Testaments" is full of miracles.
Gerry CanavanOct 19, 2019
- Fiction
- SF
We Are Going on an Adventure: On Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Children of Ruin”
Gerry Canavan reviews Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Ruin," the sequel to his 2015 novel "Children of Time."
Gerry CanavanJun 29, 2019
- SF
For the Purposes of Education as Well as Recreation: Historical Notes on “The Handmaid’s Tale (Special Edition)”
None of the adaptations of “The Handmaid’s Tale” have yet found themselves able to include the actual ending of the novel.
Gerry CanavanApr 28, 2018
- SF
No Follow-Through
“Star Trek” seems paralyzed by the idea of doing the one thing the fans of the series actually want.
Gerry CanavanFeb 17, 2018
- SF
- Television
No, Speed Limit: John Scalzi’s “The Collapsing Empire”
John Scalzi’s “The Collapsing Empire” is one of the most important revisionist hyperspace narratives to come along in some time.
Gerry CanavanSep 23, 2017
- SF
Utopia in the Time of Trump
The future is here, it just hasn’t finished melting yet.
Gerry CanavanMar 11, 2017
- SF
The Discovered Country: “Star Trek Beyond”
“Star Trek Beyond” is fine. It’s mostly enjoyable … It’s "Star Trek", neither at its best nor its worst, and I like "Star Trek" even at its very worst.
Gerry CanavanJul 29, 2016
- Film
- SF
Quiet, Too Quiet
Cixin Liu's "The Dark Forest" takes up the Fermi Paradox as one of its central narrative and thematic problems.
Gerry CanavanFeb 12, 2016
- SF
The Warm Equations
"Aurora" and "Seveneves" break us out of our supremely well-rehearsed habit of apocalypse and let us see the option of a different future than permanent, hopeless standoff.
Gerry CanavanJun 23, 2015
- SF
“There’s Nothing New / Under The Sun, / But There Are New Suns”: Recovering Octavia E. Butler’s Lost Parables
Gerry CanavanJun 9, 2014