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Message Fiction: Politics in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literature
I want to talk about politics in science fiction and fantasy. But first, a story… I spent the summer of 2000 in Croatia, a country most people now associate with sun, wine, seafood—fun stuff. But in...
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Message Fiction: Power Rivalries and Interstellar Cold Wars
Welcome to the second installment of “Message Fiction: Politics in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literature!” In the introductory post I outlined a framework for analyzing the political messages encoded into...
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Warp-speed Action: The End of All Things by John Scalzi, Episode One: “The...
The End of All Things is John Scalzi’s sixth foray into the Old Man’s War universe, and a direct sequel to The Human Division (2013). Like its predecessor, it is being serialized prior to the paperback...
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A Surprising Interlude: The End of All Things by John Scalzi, Episode Two:...
The End of All Things is John Scalzi’s sixth foray into the Old Man’s War universe, and a direct sequel to The Human Division (2013). Like its predecessor, it is being serialized prior to the paperback...
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Return to the Source: The End of All Things by John Scalzi, Episode 3: “Can...
The End of All Things is John Scalzi’s sixth foray into the Old Man’s War universe, and a direct sequel to The Human Division (2013). Like its predecessor, it is being serialized prior to the paperback...
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A Race to the Finish: The End of All Things by John Scalzi, Episode 4: “To...
The End of All Things is John Scalzi’s sixth foray into the Old Man’s War universe, and a direct sequel to The Human Division (2013). Like its predecessor, it is being serialized prior to the paperback...
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Katherine Kurtz’ Deryni Rising — Precursor to A Game of Thrones?
Provocative title? Sure–and only partially true. But to the obsessive genre reader, Mr. Martin’s unfinished Song of Ice and Fire series can often read like a collage of influences, drawing from a wide...
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Old Man’s War, 10 Years On
I remember the first time I saw Old Man’s War. It was in my local Borders—a good one, where the books mostly had their spines intact and the staff actually knew what they were talking about. I asked...
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Hard Truths from a Harsh Universe: Scalzi’s The Ghost Brigades
Last week I discussed the significance, both literary and personal, of John Scalzi’s Hugo-nominated novel Old Man’s War (2005). Today I shift focus to The Ghost Brigades (2006), the direct sequel and...
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Expansionary Ambitions: John Scalzi’s The Last Colony
This essay, on The Last Colony, is the third installment in an on-going retrospective of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. Previous installments have covered Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades. The...
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A Fresh Perspective: Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi
This essay, on Zoe’s Tale, is the fourth installment in an on-going retrospective of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. Previous installments have covered Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades and The...
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New Beginnings: The Human Division by John Scalzi
This essay, on The Human Division, is the fifth installment in an on-going retrospective of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. Previous installments have covered Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The...
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What’s Next for the Old Man’s War Universe?
I started the summer by reviewing John Scalzi’s new Old Man’s War novel, The End of All Things (episodes 1, 2, 3, 4). Then, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series, I re-read books 1-5. It was...
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The Politics of Star Wars: Aftermath
When Disney bought LucasArts, with plans for a proper sequel to Return of the Jedi, they had a major decision to make. See, over the past forty or so years LucasArts had solicited a sprawling...
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Black Hole: The Slow Death of the Destination City
One of science fiction’s strengths, relative to other literary genres, lies with its ability to extrapolate present conditions onto imagined futures, and to ponder what life might be like if today’s...
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Re-enlisting in the Old Man’s War
I remember the first time I saw Old Man’s War. It was in my local Borders—a good one, where the books mostly had their spines intact and the staff actually knew what they were talking about. I asked...
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