A Coffee Table Book that Traces the Earliest History of Science Fiction
Science fiction scholar Mike Ashley provides a textual accompaniment to the British Library’s exhibition Out of This World Science Fiction: but not as you know it with his large full-color coffee table book that traces various themes within science fiction history. “Science fiction,” says Ashley in his introduction, “is that speculation about the impact of…
Puns, Puzzles, and Easter eggs in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is justly admired as one of the great dystopian novels, but just how deep does it go? Daniel Abraham, author of The Dragon’s Path and many other novels, and co-author of Leviathan Wakes, explores the clues in Atwood’s weirdly playful text. “I don’t tell him about the claw hammer, or…
The First Lesbian Science Fiction Novel, Published in 1906
Like most genres of popular literature, science fiction has been slow to present lesbians in a positive light. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, lesbians were entirely unrepresented in science fiction, with homosexuality an act only depraved men engaged in. Which makes Gregory Casparian’s The Anglo-American Alliance. A Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast…
If it is realistic or plausible, then it is not science fiction
Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, publishes a new essay collection next week called In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination. Throughout her career, Atwood has questioned the idea of the science fiction genre, preferring that her books remain uncategorized. Now, at last, she has collected her thoughts on…