‘Astronauts check our scripts!’: inside the new age of sumptuous sci-fi TV

With clone emperors in haute couture and exotic wolf-lizards poised to attack, Foundation and For All Mankind herald a new era of ravishing spectaculars. Can they do for sci-fi what Game of Thrones did for fantasy?Dynastic infighting, the decline and fall of a mighty empire, tyrannical rulers and fantastical beasts. You might be forgiven for thinking that Apple’s Foundation – starring Jared Harris and The Hobbit’s Lee Pace – is staking a claim as heir presumptive to the iron throne of Westeros. Or at least that the new adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s seminal series of books – a galactic saga that takes place over several centuries – might succeed in doing for science fiction what Game of Thrones did for fantasy.Certainly, sci-fi TV has never looked so sumptuous, with court scenes resplendent with couture that wouldn’t look out of place at the Met Gala, and as many candles and torches as there are strip lights. But for David S Goyer, the showrunner charged with bringing the ambitious story to TV, the influence of the fantasy hit was more nuanced. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-23 15:57:15 UTC ]

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Did This Iconic 1962 Short Film Show Us Our Dark Future?

This past summer, I stumbled across a link on social media to Chris Marker’s 1962 science fiction film La Jetée. For those who don’t know it, Marker’s miniature masterpiece—its running time is 28 minutes—mixes black-and-white stills with narration to tell the story of a man who circles back in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-07 09:49:34 UTC ]
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Apocalyptic Childhood: On Cixin Liu’s “Supernova Era”

CIXIN LIU IS having a moment. The recent publication in English of his Three-Body Problem trilogy has been rightly hailed as a sea change for Chinese science fiction in translation, garnering myriad awards and receiving wide acclaim — including an endorsement from Barack Obama. The Wandering... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-29 17:00:45 UTC ]
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The biggest barrier to future space exploration is in our heads

With enough time, the technological challenges of sending humans to Mars and beyond are solvable. But psychologically, we’re not ready to leave our home. In 1945 British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke—now best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey—correctly predicted the invention of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-10-22 00:00:30 UTC ]
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Paranormal Parallels: How Netflix’s 'Stranger Things' Enhances the Gospel

In his latest book, Michael S. Heiser illustrates how the popular science fiction series can teach us about the Bible and God’s love for humanity. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Dark Books for Dark Times

Read these spine-tingling works of science fiction and fantasy at your own risk. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-10-18 19:00:09 UTC ]
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Battelle's drone-dropping technology acquired by San Francisco startup

Battelle technology that can drop drones from the sky has been acquired by a San Francisco startup specializing in defense against unmanned aerial devices. Dedrone has acquired the assets to DroneDefender for undisclosed terms. Looking like a science fiction blaster, the device disrupts... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-10-08 16:38:06 UTC ]
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The weird, the wacky, the underappreciated: A new look at science fiction and fantasy

Our new columnists highlight the works of NYi-Sheng, Fernando A. Flores and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-08 14:00:00 UTC ]
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9 Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories about Music

Translating one medium into another is tricky. Music is music and art is art and dance is dance; to try to convey the power of another art in fiction is its own sleight-of-hand. My own first novel takes on that challenge. In A Song For A New Day, musician Luce Cannon was on the cusp […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-10-07 11:00:15 UTC ]
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7 Sci-fi and Fantasy Books to Curl Up With This Fall

These new science fiction and fantasy titles will be your perfect fall companions. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-10-04 10:36:35 UTC ]
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Continental Divide: Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019–2020

Authors look to Africa and its diaspora and find the fantastical and futuristic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Present Tense: Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019–2020

The future’s uncertain, and the end is always near. Here’s what new SFF has to say about it. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Who is ‘The Clockwork Man’? He may be literature’s first cyborg.

E.V. Odle’s 1923 science fiction novel stars a most unusual — and fascinating — character Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-25 20:52:59 UTC ]
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6 Science Fiction Books About Space That Are Out Of This World

Earth can be an exhausting place, so let's look beyond our planet and explore these science fiction books about space and other worlds. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-24 10:35:51 UTC ]
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5 Great YA Science Fiction Series

If the idea of saying goodbye to epic sci-fi worlds fills you with sorrow, check out this list of great YA science fiction series and read on! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-17 10:31:05 UTC ]
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Science fiction offers a useful way to explore China-Africa relations

Science fiction writing often serves as a thought experiment that explores shared and hidden beliefs whose material and political reverberations lie further in the future. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2019-09-16 11:39:25 UTC ]
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Blood Quantum injects zombie horror genre with an Indigenous perspective

Telling original, Indigenous-focused stories in different genres, filmmaker Jeff Barnaby is helping to normalize the presence of Indigenous people in a variety of realms: horror, science fiction and the broader cultural world. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2019-09-10 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is getting very, very good at faking your face

But just how “real” is it? Five years ago, Mark Zuckerberg stated in no uncertain terms that Facebook was going to build the metaverse, a digital world that’s a surrogate for our real one, predicted by science fiction for decades. That’s why he bought Oculus, and invested heavily in VR. But a... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-09-04 09:00:55 UTC ]
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John W. Campbell Award Is Renamed After Winner Criticizes Him

Jeannette Ng, who won the prize this year, said the man it was named after “set the tone of science fiction that still haunts the genre.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-28 22:27:26 UTC ]
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Baen Books, RBmedia Partner On Audiobooks

Independent science fiction and fantasy publisher Baen Books has partnered with audiobook company RBmedia for an audiobook program. Under the agreement, the two companies will publish more than 170 audiobooks over the next three years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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