SF | Los Angeles Review of Books

SF

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

Experiments in Postcapitalism: On Dempow Torishima’s “Sisyphean”
Dempow Torishima’s “Sisyphean” is a mosaic novel that combines elements of irrealism, bio-horror, biopunk, fantastika, and techno-absurdity.
D. Harlan WilsonAug 3, 2019
- Around the World
- SF
Even Further Afield: On Charlie Jane Anders’s “The City in the Middle of the Night”
“The City in the Middle of the Night” is both a sprawling epic and an urgent exploration of the political exigencies of the Anthropocene.
Rebecca EvansJul 27, 2019
- SF
Dispatches from the Future of a New China
“Broken Stars” gives voice to an eclectic group, serving as a who’s who of SF authors, critics, and other anchors in China’s burgeoning SF culture industry.
Nathaniel IsaacsonJul 20, 2019
- Around the World
- SF
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Finding and Losing Oneself in “Invisible Planets”
Virginia L. Conn visits "Invisible Planets," a collection of Chinese SF stories and criticism edited and translated by Ken Liu.
Virginia L. ConnJul 20, 2019
- Around the World
- SF
Past and Pastiche in Howard A. Rodman’s “The Great Eastern”
Brian Evenson finds Howard A. Rodman’s sprawling, engaging novel "The Great Eastern" “a kind of return to what adventurous literature used to be.”
Brian EvensonJul 15, 2019
- Fiction
- SF
Grim Hints and Nervous Portents: On Dennis Etchison
The late horror author’s vivid snapshots of bleak Southern California suburbia.
Rob LathamJul 13, 2019
- SF
Writing in the Shadow of “V”: Adventures in Speculative Fiction with Stephen Graham Jones
A lively interview with Bram Stoker Award–winning author Stephen Graham Jones on his turn to speculative fiction and genre.
Billy J. StrattonJul 13, 2019
- SF
A Different Handmaid’s Tale: On Joanne Ramos’s “The Farm”
Joanne Ramos's "The Farm" doesn’t always make it easy to classify who is the oppressed and who is oppressor, and this is one of the book’s strengths.
Hayley PhelanJul 13, 2019
- Fiction
- SF
“Nonexistence Seems Preferable”: Post-Truth, Feed Identity, and the NPC Afterlife in Neal Stephenson’s “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell”
“Fall; or, Dodge in Hell ” is a superior successor to “Reamde” and a worthy if imperfect addition to the Waterhouse-Shaftoe stories.
Jonathan P. LewisJul 7, 2019
- SF
Stonewall, Before and After: An Interview with Samuel R. Delany
Alex Wermer-Colan interviews sci-fi legend Samuel R. Delany about queerness, history, literature, and identity as the author moves into his late career.
Alex Wermer-ColanJul 6, 2019
- Gender & Sexuality
- 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
The Wide, Forbidding Cosmos: The Weird Fiction of John Langan
John Langan’s latest collection of weird fiction is a fresh waypoint, if not a landmark, in his creative journey.
Paul StJohn MackintoshJun 16, 2019
- SF