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SF

"The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it." — Frank Herbert

Fractal Subjects, Fractured Narratives: On Marlon James’s “Moon Witch, Spider King”
Kashif Sharma-Patel reviews Marlon James’s “Moon Witch, Spider King.”
Kashif Sharma-PatelSep 3, 2022
- Fiction
- SF
Alternate Atlanta: Michael Bishop’s “The City and the Cygnets”
Doug Davis explores the Urban Nuclei of Michael Bishop's "The City and the Cygnets."
Doug DavisAug 27, 2022
- Fiction
- SF
Re-visioning the Mermaid Romance: Monique Roffey’s “The Mermaid of Black Conch”
Jalondra Davis discovers that in Monique Roffey’s “The Mermaid of Black Conch,” fishermen sing, women scheme, and mermaids shed their tails for sneakers.
Jalondra A. DavisAug 20, 2022
Retroactive Abortion: Time Travel and the Unborn Baby
Lauren Collee shows how time-travel movies of the 1980s reinforced Christian ideals of destiny, presenting abortion as a disruption to a “natural” timeline.
Lauren ColleeAug 13, 2022
- Film
- SF
Anthropocene Gothic
Steven Shaviro reviews "Dark Scenes from Damaged Earth," a new academic collection of weird ecocriticism edited by Justin D. Edwards, Rune Graulund, and Johan Höglund.
Steven ShaviroAug 6, 2022
Coconuts, Corporations: On Vauhini Vara’s “The Immortal King Rao”
Lauren Nelson takes on “The Immortal King Rao,” the new novel by Vauhini Vara.
Lauren NelsonJul 30, 2022
- SF
Rockets and Voltaire: A Dialogue on Ada Palmer’s “Terra Ignota”
Rebecca Ariel Porte and Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft discuss Ada Palmer’s “Terra Ignota” series.
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, Rebecca Ariel PorteJul 16, 2022
- SF
Janelle Monáe Offers Stories of Hope for Our Dystopian Times
Dan Hassler-Forest reviews “The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer” by Janelle Monáe.
Dan Hassler-ForestJul 9, 2022
- SF
In Defense of Wasting Time: On C. Thi Nguyen’s “Games: Agency As Art”
If you think games are a waste of time, it is only because you have fundamentally misunderstood how humans decide how to spend their lives.
David Zvi KalmanJul 2, 2022
- SF
Orientalism in Our Code: “The Matrix Resurrections,” Hollywood, and Anti-Asian Violence
The Matrix's final lesson to me, in watching The Matrix Resurrections, is that I can no longer swallow its bitter pill.
Jerrine TanJun 18, 2022
- SF
The Radical Opening of the Human and Black Love in Amazon’s “Black Stars: A Galaxy of New Worlds”
Bernabé S. Mendoza reviews a collection of SF stories that includes work by Nnedi Okorafor, Nisi Shawl, and Victor LaValle.
Bernabé S. MendozaJun 11, 2022
- SF
The Inhumanity of Work: On Olga Ravn’s “The Employees”
Lauren Nelson evaluates “The Employees,” a novel by Olga Ravn translated by Martin Aitken.
Lauren NelsonJun 4, 2022
- SF