Tag: science fiction studies
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Emanations Vol. 8
The eighth volume of the critically acclaimed Emanations literary anthology series, Octo-Emanations , includes a new Penny Turin story by Bill Ectric, “The Psychogeography of the Gnostic Phalanx Society.” The book also contains stunning new art, illustrations, and writing from around the world. The forty-two contributors represent South Korea, Canada, India, Oman, Kenya, Nepal, France, Nigeria, the United Kingdom,…
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Aylett’s Inferno
An Essay by Bill Ectric on Steve Aylett’s Shamanspace This essay first appeared in the book Steve Aylett: A Critical Anthology; Published by Sein und Werden Books, Copyright 2016 by Sein und Werden and Bill Ectric. All rights reserved. WARNING: This review contains spoilers. —∞— “Of making many books there is no end, and much study…
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What Science Fiction Leaves Out
Gary Westfahl discusses four things that are seldom included in science fiction stories, either in print or on film.: 1. Journalism 2. People in the future speculating about their future 3. The pursuit of enjoyment 4. Normal pets, like dogs and cats In looking for illustrations for the above collage, I came to realized just…
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Voltaire and Aylett: Two Peas in an Alien Pod
It’s a good thing Steve Aylett writes “little books,” as The Complete Review calls them. Aylett’s books are so dense with information and ideas, if they were any bigger they would sink like slabs of gold into our gray tributaries. This is one of the reasons I enjoy them. In fact, I deliberately chose gold over…
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A Sublime Cinema Dreamscape: DVD Savant on Invaders From Mars
From DVD Talk, a reviewer known as DVD Savant (apparently a modest and unassuming guy named Glenn Erickson , as he rarely seems to write under his own name), has written a very enjoyable two-part review on Invaders From Mars (1953). Part One describes how the film is often derided as a low-budget kid’s movie. In Part Two (my favorite),…
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Satire, Cyberpunk, and Synesthesia
Preliminary notes on my Steve Aylett thesis. I used to called Aylett’s work a combination of cyberpunk, satire, and psychedelia. But “psychedelia” is too limited, too narrow. Aylett’s work is characterized by three things: Cyberpunk settings, classic satire, and a visual image orientation. I. Cyberpunk a. Rudy Rucker’s definition of cyberpunk: “Fast and dense. It…
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Time’s Arrow and the End of Certainty
Ilya Prigogine book The End of Certainty and a postage stamp in his honor. I recently finished reading Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix Plus. This is a novel that starts out pretty good, gets better, coasts briefly, then gets better and better and then, unexpectedly, oustandingly better still! It peeks profoundly and ties up loose ends satisfyingly. Here’s a example of smart writing: Descendants…