The freedom granted to authors of science fiction and fantasy is kind of awesome: when a world is limited only by the writer’s imagination, exploring complex themes and pushing back against the expected becomes a matter of choice, much more so than in other types of fiction. And in genres that often explore other cultures and alien worlds, what […]
In the new sci-fi epic The Medusa Chronicles, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds expand upon and continue the story of Arthur C. Clarke in 1971 novella A Meeting with Medusa. It’s a successful rejiggering, but there are always risks in approaching a classic (even if, in this case, the estate of Mr. Clarke was entirely on board, […]
For genres obsessed with ideas and new concepts, science fiction and fantasy produce a surprising number of comprehensible stories with well-defined settings, sharply shaded characters, and plots that coalesce into a perfectly sensible series of events—once you push through a few twists and reveals. And then there are the eight books on this list. These […]
Kameron Hurley, who knows something from revolutions, has a new book out about two women who inhabit a broken world and must choose if they can work together to build a better one. After you read The Stars Are Legion (and you really should), she suggests five more books to inspire you to make tomorrow […]