For readers, there’s nothing quite like finding a unicorn, one those ridiculously rare, perfect-specimen books that knock you flat. The problem is, the more seasoned a reader you become, the harder it is to find a genuine unicorn, so when you do find one, it becomes something like a moral imperative to share them (sometimes forcefully) with as […]
Math: it either excites your mind or fills you with a boredom-tinged dread. For many, math is something to be survived through years of schooling, them promptly forgotten. For others, math is the secret programming language of the universe, a gateway to dimensions many will never perceive. It’s little wonder that a lot of science […]
Italo Calvino wrote, “Wherever humanity seems condemned to heaviness, I think I should fly like Perseus into a different space. I don’t mean escaping into dreams or into the irrational. I mean that I have to change my approach, look at the world from a different logic and with fresh methods of cognition and verification.” […]
Beyond the bread-and-butter science fiction (take your pick: milSF, space opera, alt history, what have you) lies the realm of metaphysical sci-fi, a subgenre that plunges headfirst into the surreal. In metaphysical science fiction, the boundaries of reality can stretch and break, and the human mind is as uncharted and alien as the outer reaches of […]
Writing a book that blends the conventions of more than one genre is admirable. Writing a book that incorporates as many genres as possible? That’s insane. Which is to say, it’s something that should be approached with great care. But when it’s done well, amazing things happen. Books that defies all genre conventions can create something entirely new—even if […]