The Commodity of Time: Review of Jaroslav Kalfař’s A Brief History of Living Forever

Lillian Liao Under Review:A Brief History of Living Forever. Jaroslav Kalfař. Little Brown and Company, March 2023. “The body is political”—this, we have always known. From the body politics of the medieval times to capitalist exploitations of labour and the feminist fight for reproductive rights in the 20th (and 21st) centuries, Western history has indeed … Continue reading The Commodity of Time: Review of Jaroslav Kalfař’s A Brief History of Living Forever

The Unlikely Utopia: Review of The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

E.G. Condé Under Review:The Mimicking of Known Successes. Malka Older. Tordotcom, March 2023. “Perhaps there’s a discipline, or trans-discipline, of flexibility and reactiveness, or a calculation of the principles involved in ecosystem survival rather than the literal mimicking of known successes.” Imagine a humanity exiled from the Earth they once called home, confined to live … Continue reading The Unlikely Utopia: Review of The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

Particles and Puzzle Pieces: Review of Quantum Radio

Particles and Puzzle Pieces: Review of Quantum Radio Alex Kingsley Under Review:Quantum Radio. A.G. Riddle. Head of Zeus, March 2023. A.G. Riddle’s Quantum Radio is a fast-paced military sci-fi adventure that morphs into alternative history. It’s full of interesting concepts, but on a narrative level it makes a lot of promises that it doesn’t quite … Continue reading Particles and Puzzle Pieces: Review of Quantum Radio

The Importance of Imagined Futures: Review of Annalee Newitz’s The Terraformers

The Importance of Imagined Futures: Review of Annalee Newitz’s The Terraformers Alex Kingsley Under Review:The Terraformers. Annalee Newitz. Tor Books, January 2023. The Terraformers is a new novel by journalist and SFF writer Annalee Newitz. It tracks the progress of fictional planet Sask-E and its inhabitants. Six thousand years in the future, the concept of … Continue reading The Importance of Imagined Futures: Review of Annalee Newitz’s The Terraformers

Out of the Fog of Memory: A Review of The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta

Out of the Fog of Memory: A Review of The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta Niall Harrison Under Review:The Moonday Letters. Emmi Itäranta. Titan Books, July 2022. In the home stretch of Emmi Itäranta's resonant new novel, one of the diegetic chapter epigraphs provides an introduction to Fog, a synthetic cannabinoid approximately a thousand times … Continue reading Out of the Fog of Memory: A Review of The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta

Double the Hustle: A Review of The Sleepless by Victor Manibo

Double the Hustle: A Review of The Sleepless by Victor Manibo Alexander Pyles Under Review:The Sleepless, Victor Manibo. Erewhon, August 2022. Science fiction is never about the future, in the same way history is rarely about the past: they're both parable formats for examining or commenting on the present. A. A. Gill This sentiment of … Continue reading Double the Hustle: A Review of The Sleepless by Victor Manibo

An Introduction to the Speculative Fiction of Percival Everett

Bren Ram In 2018, a French academic pulled me aside at a conference and asked if I thought Percival Everett was the most important novelist in America. I was surprised—I had only just heard of Everett that year, and while I was ravenously making my way through his prolific catalog of novels and short stories, … Continue reading An Introduction to the Speculative Fiction of Percival Everett

Monumental Muting: A Review of Mat Johnson’s Invisible Things

Monumental Muting: A Review of Mat Johnson’s Invisible Things Jeremy Brett Under Review:Invisible Things, Mat Johnson. One World, June 2022. One recurring lesson in science fiction is the realization—in all its sadness and its joy—that we take into outer space everything that makes us who and what we are, everything that makes us human. Space … Continue reading Monumental Muting: A Review of Mat Johnson’s Invisible Things

Mechanics of Speculation: Review of Cameron Kunzelman’s The World Is Born From Zero

Mechanics of Speculation: Review of Cameron Kunzelman's The World Is Born From Zero Eric Stein Under Review:The World is Born from Zero: Understanding Speculation and Video Games. Cameron Kunzelman. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, July 2022. The eighth volume in De Gruyter's Video Games and the Humanities series, Cameron Kunzelman's The World Is Born From Zero is … Continue reading Mechanics of Speculation: Review of Cameron Kunzelman’s The World Is Born From Zero

A Ship is a Dream of Whispers: A Review of Eversion by Alastair Reynolds

A Ship is a Dream of Whispers: A Review of Eversion by Alastair Reynolds Daniel A. Rabuzzi Under Review:Eversion. Alastair Reynolds. Orbit, August 2, 2022. In Eversion, his twentieth novel, Alastair Reynolds interleaves reflections on selfhood, agency, and the possibilities of narrative within a cracking yarn of nautical adventure and a mysterious edifice. The titular … Continue reading A Ship is a Dream of Whispers: A Review of Eversion by Alastair Reynolds