A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story

Sci-fi and fantasy fiction is entering a golden age of short fiction thanks to social media, crowdfunding and a loyal community of ardent fansA man wakes up from a car crash to find that he is an "electric ant": an android programmed to believe it is human. At home he uses micro-tools to open up his own chest and discovers a tiny spool of tape inside. Punching new holes in the tape makes new objects appear in his world, obscuring a section makes the world disappear. The android cuts the tape, and hears a rushing wind as all reality is revealed to him.The contradictory concepts at the heart of Philip K Dick's 1969 short story The Electric Ant have fascinated me ever since I first read it 20 years ago. It's the capacity of the science fiction story to get us thinking about intriguing concepts that gives the form its punch. Today, the short-story magazines that helped to popularise science fiction are all but gone. But a new generation of online magazines has taken their place, and is transforming the genre again. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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