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SF

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

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
What Is Space Opera in the 2020s?
Grant Wythoff surveys recent books by Tade Thompson, Becky Chambers, and Arkady Martine that could be called space operas.
Grant WythoffMay 28, 2022
- SF
Violent Acts of Alien Intelligences: On Cixin Liu’s “The Three-Body Problem” and Mark Bould’s Climate Criticism
Sungshin Kim and Kurt Guldentops read Cixin Liu's Three-Body Problem trilogy against Mark Bould's criticism.
Kurt Guldentops, Sungshin KimMay 21, 2022
- SF
So Much More Than Nigerian Harry Potter: On Nnedi Okorafor’s “Akata Woman”
Jonathan P. Lewis reviews the third book in Nnedi Okorafor’s Nsibidi Scripts series, “Akata Woman.”
Jonathan P. LewisMay 20, 2022
- SF
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature