Speculative Fiction from Around the World
by Athena Andreadis Note: this is part of a series in which I discuss works of the contributors to The Other Half of the Sky. Links to other entries in the series appear at the end of each discussion. The article originally appeared at Starship Reckless and recent discussions within the SFF community make it... Continue Reading →
by Athena Andreadis; originally posted at Starship Reckless There has been a resurgence of arguments over grimdark fantasy, sparked by Joe Abercrombie’s recent second salvo after his earlier pas-de-deux with Leo Grin. This time around, Abercrombie equated “realism” (as in: non-stop pillage and teen-level gothness… or is it kvothness?) with “honesty” while arguing with a... Continue Reading →
by Athena Andreadis; originally posted at Starship Reckless. "Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful." -- Philip K. Dick When Margaret Atwood stated that she does not write science... Continue Reading →
The Portal interviews Lavie Tidhar, about the World SF Blog, nomination for the World Fantasy Award, the World SF Travel Fund, writing and new novel Osama: Q: What does the blog’s tagline “ideologically suspect” encompass? A: Well, it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, obviously. Occasionally I’d play with different sub-headings. But I think it has a serious... Continue Reading →
by Athena Andreadis; originally posted at Starship Reckless. Note: This 2-part article is an expanded version of the talk I gave at Readercon 2011. It appeared at the same time as overlapping discussions by Cora Buhlert and Aliette de Bodard. Perhaps this means the time is ripe for change. Part 1: Science Recently, I read... Continue Reading →
by Athena Andreadis; originally posted at Starship Reckless. Note: This 2-part article is an expanded version of the talk I gave at Readercon 2011. It appeared at the same time as overlapping discussions by Cora Buhlert and Aliette de Bodard. Perhaps this means the time is ripe for change. I originally planned to discuss how... Continue Reading →
by Athena Andreadis; originally posted at Starship Reckless. How well like a man fought the Rani of Jhansi, How valiantly and well! -- Indian ballad My opinion of steampunk is low. However, last week's lovely Google doodle by Jennifer Hom reminded me that I like at least one steampunk work. After I wrote my Star... Continue Reading →
The full contents of the World Literature Today special SF issue supplement have now been posted online: Call for papers: 2011 Eaton SF Conference J. Madison Davis' essay, Two Ways of Describing the Elephant: Science Fiction and the Mystery Paul Di Filippo's reviews, The Best Speculative Fiction of 2009 James Gunn's essay, Science Fiction around the World James... Continue Reading →
Three chapters of Aliette de Bodard's upcoming novel, Servant of the Underworld, is up at My Favourite Books. Servant of the Underworld is currently available for pre-order from Amazon UK. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 An excerpt: I knelt by his side and looked at him, trying to see evidence of guilt, or remorse... Continue Reading →
Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column interviews Zoran Živković. Here's an excerpt: Since you started writing, we've seen all of the tropes of science fiction and fantasy become parts of mainstream culture — and yet there is still a very strong sense of what is genre and what is not. As far as I am... Continue Reading →
