by Eleanor Konik Often, speculative fiction relies on common government types, like monarchies and republics, because they’re familiar to readers. History, however, offers other examples of sociopolitical systems. They can be a gold mine for worldbuilding ideas that stretch beyond the mainstream. Informal Governments Many societies worked just fine without strict hierarchical leadership. Power […]
by Naomi Norbez With the release of Cyberpunk 2077 a few months back, there has been some debate about what it means to be cyberpunk, and how that genre should be executed. As someone making a response game called Eyewear Cleaner 2077, I thought I’d throw in my two cents. In a world of free data […]
by J.D. Harlock Sometimes, outlining is a never-ending struggle. Too much? Too little? You can never really tell until you finally start writing that first draft. That may seem like a stretch, but keep in mind that for a good many writers, the outlining process stretches way past the planning stages and well into the […]
by Andrew Hoe Human martial arts styles are biased: they’re specifically designed to fight other humans. Of course, watching Neo trade Kung Fu blows with Agent Smith is awesome, but perhaps our focus on human fighting systems in sci-fi affects our imagining of alien/robot bodies. Put simply, it makes composing fight scenes easier. By […]
by Priya Chand All narrators are unreliable. If you’re reading this thinking “hey, you’re misusing the term; ‘unreliable narrator’ refers to a specific convention”–well, I’m narrating this post, so what follows is all my interpretation! I do, though, genuinely mean to say that all narrators sell readers on a specific version of events and […]
by C.K. Larsen Surely, nothing screams sexy like a bisexual+ woman asking, “How does it feel to kill someone?” Cue the eye roll. Sharon Stone’s persona in Basic Instinct depicts an openly bisexual+ character who is revealed as a violent, sex-craving psychopath, and is just one of the many cases of harmful tropes that […]
by Noah K. Sturdevant It seems fair to say that authors are constantly scrambling for time to write. I previously wrote about managing this with a baby, and I thought I had things covered. Now I have a two year old. Who knew that a person lacking reason and driven by impulse and the […]
by Henry Lien (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.) Something I’ve noticed repeatedly in my author appearances, conference panels, and lectures is that discussions about representation and diversity in the arts today focus on the importance of diverse characters and creators. As crucial as that is, diversity can and should also include […]
by Hannah Abigail Clarke In the opening credits of Zach Snyder’s Watchmen, the phrase LESBIAN WHORES is briefly scrawled in blood on a wall. The lesbian couple from whom said blood was extracted lie adjacent, lifeless in lingerie. The lesbians here exist to display death. Death binds the lesbians to this opening credit spot, allowing […]
by Tim Waggoner The horror genre is undergoing a renaissance these days, with audiences devouring popular and critically acclaimed books, movies, and television series. If you’re a science fiction or fantasy writer who’d like to add more horror to your authorial toolbox, but you’re not quite sure how to go about it, you’re in […]
It is eighteen-year-old Kibo Kozlov’s dream to join Bastion. But some dreams aren’t meant to be, as Kibo had never been able to control the weave of magic. He had nearly given up hope, until he stumbled upon a artifact that could change the world.
Peter Soyer Beagle is the internationally bestselling and much-beloved author of numerous classic fantasy novels and collections, including The Last Unicorn. He has also been honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award.
