Repetition, with a Difference: On “Deathloop”By assimilating gameplay repetition into its story, “Deathloop” hints at resolving the dissonance between game form and narrative form....NATHAN WAINSTEINSF
An Offbeat Ghost Story: On Priyanka Champaneri’s “The City of Good Death”“The City of Good Death” deals in stereotypes related to India, but it also vividly presents the life of the characters in its lush prose....SUPARNO BANERJEESF
Whither Harmony Square?: Conspiracy Games in Late CapitalismToday’s conspiracy fantasies come from a world where we feel that we are trapped in a game we can’t win. Can counter-conspiracy games be the antidote?...MAX HAIVEN, A. T. KINGSMITH, ARIS KOMPOROZOS-ATHANASIOUSF
A Revisionist Mythos: Frankenstein Versus CthulhuNew novels by Kim Newman and Michael Shea illustrate the power of popular myth....ROB LATHAMSF
Nine-10ths of a Triumph: On John Steinbeck’s “Murder at Full Moon”Although not the werewolf novel it was initially reported as being, “Murder at Full Moon” is something even better: a metafictional novel with teeth....JESS NEVINSSF
The Tyranny of Neutrality in “AI 2041”Virginia L. Conn reviews the new collection of scientific fiction from Chen Qiufan and Kai-Fu Lee, “AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future.”...VIRGINIA L. CONNSF
The Future Is Always with Us: On Jennifer Marie Brissett’s “Destroyer of Light”Steven Shaviro reviews the new novel by Jennifer Marie Brissett, “Destroyer of Light.”...STEVEN SHAVIROSF
Five Questions for V. Castro Regarding Her Novel, “The Queen of the Cicadas”Daniel Olivas asks Latinx horror writer V. Castro about her debut novel, “The Queen of the Cicadas.”...DANIEL A. OLIVASSF
Deep(er) Nostalgia: Formulating Tech’s In-Control Valley and Uncanny AsymptoteWith the release of MyHeritage’s Deep Nostalgia, Justin Tackett reflects on how reproduction technologies throughout history have honed “the human.”...JUSTIN TACKETTSF
Final Girls and Fantasies: On Stephen Graham Jones’s “My Heart Is a Chainsaw”In “My Heart Is a Chainsaw,” Jade Daniels wields an encyclopedic knowledge of horror as a tool of protection against her — and her town’s — disturbing past....KALI SIMMONSSF
The Future Is Divergent: On “Literary Afrofuturism in the Twenty-First Century”“Literary Afrofuturism in the Twenty-First Century” stands firm in the messiness of it all, proclaiming that said messiness as, in fact, a part of its making....SUYI DAVIES OKUNGBOWASF
Writing from the Scene of the Crime: On Stephen Graham Jones’s “The Only Good Indians”Billy J. Stratton is haunted by “The Only Good Indians,” the recently published novel by Stephen Graham Jones....BILLY J. STRATTONSF
The World Is Our Oyster — and BeyondDan Friedman enjoys the tales in “The Best of World SF: Volume 1,” edited by Lavie Tidhar....DAN FRIEDMANSF
Roleplaying a Communist Cop in the Ruins of Revolution“Disco Elysium: The Final Cut” is a roleplaying game that turns a murder mystery into a surreal voyage through the history of capitalism and empire....CHRISTIAN P. HAINESSF
Octavia Butler and the Pimply, Pompous PublisherHow my 14-year-old self commissioned sci-fi writer Octavia Butler in 1979 to write an essay that still resonates today: “Lost Races of Science Fiction.”...MIGUEL ESTEBANSF
Our World, Our People: Nationalism and Sovereign Power in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”Despite its promising beginning, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” deserted its noble ambitions as the story moved forward....JUSTICE HAGANSF
Feral Monstrosity: On Rivers Solomon’s “Sorrowland”Christina Orlando reviews "Sorrowland," the latest novel from Rivers Solomon....CHRISTINA ORLANDOSF
The Ecstasies of Arthur MachenArthur Machen sensed a deeper reality stirring underneath the superficial surfaces of suburban London....SCOTT BRADFIELDSF
Toward an Omega Woman: On Alison Stine’s “Road Out of Winter”Alison Stine’s “Road Out of Winter” is well written and a poignant reminder of how we chronically neglect ourselves and our world....D. HARLAN WILSONSF
Alfred Döblin’s AnthropoceneAlfred Döblin’s 1924 futuristic dystopian novel “Mountains Oceans Giants: An Epic of the 27th Century” is really a history of the present....ALEX LANGSTAFFSF
The Problem Belongs to Every Last Person: On Matt Bell’s “Appleseed”Matt Bell’s “Appleseed” explores a world led by Silicon Valley types for whom saving the planet is just another business venture....MORGAN FORDESF
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 CANAVANSF
Metabolizing the FutureIn a country ruined by World War, a generation of Japanese visionaries in literature and architecture imagined ways to survive global apocalypse....DE WITT DOUGLAS KILGOREART & ARCHITECTURESF
The Forgotten Genius of Leo PerutzDaniel Polansky offers an overview of the unfortunately neglected novels of Leo Perutz....DANIEL POLANSKYFICTIONSF
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