scifi

A siloutte of a person with horns in trench coat next to a sports car and a rollercoaster and a distant planet in the dark sky.

The Many Subgenres of Speculative Fiction

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When you’re pitching a speculative fiction story to an agent or publisher, do their eyes sometimes roll back in their heads, and you hear them murmur, “What exactly does that mean?” The term “speculative fiction” says very little about the actual story. And if you try to narrow it to …

Oil well and old house in front of dead corn stalks and sand dunes.

Climate Fiction

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Climate fiction, often referred to as “Cli-Fi,” is a genre of literature that focuses on the impacts of climate change and environmental issues. It explores how these changes affect individuals, societies, and the planet as a whole. The genre can encompass a wide range of narratives, from dystopian futures to …

Red Rising Book Cover with angry clouds in background

Book Review: Red Rising

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Red Rising, by Pierce Brown, takes place in a dystopian version of our galaxy, where a dying Earth sent pioneers to terraform the other planets in the solar system and altered their genetics to ensure their success, using hair and eye color to differentiate between the different levels of hierarchy. …

Yin and Yang of Critique

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Literary criticism and critique are overlapping terms. Criticism means to negatively criticize a work. On the other hand, critique is intended to express a judgement about a work, both negative and positive, the yin and yang. In Chinese philosophy the terms describe opposite but interconnected forces and both are essential. …