Book covers have been telling us to fear extraterrestrial visitors for over a century
Our total destruction at the hands (or tentacles) of alien visitors has been gloriously featured on book covers since the dawn of science fiction. Writing in Granta Magazine, Jeremy Sheldon explores why so many book covers feature horrifying extraterrestrials. That we should fear extraterrestrial beings in real life makes perfect sense. Consider that for this…
Where did steampunk come from?
The task of defining “steampunk” has become surprisingly difficult. Wildly differing definitions are currently in use, from the strictly traditional (late 19th century London-based alternate history science fiction) to the Lewis Carrollian (steampunk means whatever a person wants it to mean). But certain tropes appear in most definitions of steampunk. Steam power and dirigibles are…
Planetary romance, zombie mentors, and the rise of fascism: European pulp fiction 1914-1945
In my previous column I covered the history of European sci-fi pulps from their origins up to the beginning of World War I. Now we’re ready to delve into their history up through World War II. https://gizmodo.com/an-introduction-to-pulp-fiction-in-europe-before-1914-5785897 Not surprisingly, the European pulp industry was heavily affected by World War I. 45 new pulps debuted in…