"As writers we have a responsibility, sometimes, to make the future seem real.” John Ironmonger
Posts tagged "science fiction"
Space unicorns and magic ovens

Space unicorns and magic ovens

I’M SITTING WITH MA as she prepares dinner. It’s one of her rules, of which there are more every year. “I don’t mind cooking for you, Jem, while you’re young,” she says. “But I’m not your servant and I’m not working while you watch TV or read comics. So it’s either homework, or come keep...
Virginia Woolf and science fiction

Virginia Woolf and science fiction

They rode in the dark, arriving at Yorkshire in the pre-dawn. The Astronomer Royal had set up a camp directly on the line of totality. In Southport, on the beach, a quarter of a million people gathered. Woolf and her group left their train and walked uphill towards Richmond. Everybody waited. The sun came up,...
Worlds beyond

Worlds beyond

Penguin Classics Science Fiction has launched with ten titles in a stunning new series design, featuring essential works of space opera, dystopia, slipstream and satire from the great science fiction writers of the US, Russia, Argentina, Germany and beyond. Masters of the genre James Tiptree, Jr., Andreas Eschbach and Angélica Gorodischer are published alongside favourite classics from the likes...
Deciding not to die

Deciding not to die

Increasingly frequently, when out in the street, I run into people I know, but when I go to kiss them I remember they’re dead and realize to my horror that I’m about to kiss a doppelganger. It’s pretty unsettling, having to stop yourself saying hello to the dead. “Hi Régine!” “Excuse me?” “You’re… you’re not...