Category Archives: Science Fiction
A Rant on Exclusion and Genre Pedantry
The other day, I read a fascinating (and wonderfully titled) essay by Simon Spanton, Deputy Publishing Director for Gollancz, wherein he discusses speculative fiction’s relationship to mainstream literary fiction. At first, the thought of yet another volley in the interminable … Continue reading
CROSSROADS: An Exploration of Science Fiction Romance
For this week’s Crossroads post at Amazing Stories, I take an in-depth look at science fiction romance, and explore how its non-literary pop culture support may contribute to it selling less than paranormal romance. There’s also an in-depth discussion of … Continue reading
In Defense of Complexity
Hi, my name is Chris, and I like complex stories (this is the point where a chorus of “Hi, Chris!” wouldn’t go amiss ). For the last century, we’ve been trained by television and cinema – much more constrained narrative … Continue reading
Satire and the Fantastic
NOTE: Sorry for missing the post last week! It has been a really crazy several weeks, and I’ve been absolutely swamped offline as a result. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this week’s post even if it is a little bit behind schedule! … Continue reading
Ephemeral Horror and the Diffusion of Genre Markers
Content, when it comes to genre taxonomy, is king: we categorize stories based on the conventions they employ and the devices that show up within their texts. Spaceships, time travel, aliens? Let’s call it science fiction. Magic and knights? Let’s … Continue reading
Speculative Fiction 2012 Contributors Announced!
With this cold I’ve got, I’m a little late bringing you this exciting news (but better late than never…): Over at The Staffer’s Book Review, Justin Landon and Jared Shurin (from Pornokitsch) have announced the lineup of contributors to Speculative … Continue reading →