It is, Kim Stanley Robinson notes, quite possible “to conclude that we’re doomed, that the trajectory we’re on is so powerful that we won’t get our shit together fast enough to avoid a mass extinction event and total catastrophe”. But what if humanity could find a way through the problems, largely caused by global heating, that lie ahead?
Robinson imagines one such potential route in The Ministry For The Future, set in the “very near future” and likely, he says, his last “big long novel”. It’s a book where things begin to get better only after a terrible event has shaken enough people out of complacency. With visceral power, Robinson shows us a “wet-bulb 35” incident in India, where a combination of temperature and humidity overwhelms the human body (35 °C being the threshold beyond which it can no longer adequately cool itself ).
“I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s the way to start,’” Robinson says, speaking via Skype from his garden in California. “Let’s smack people in the head with what’s coming down, and then go on from there and try to explore what the ramifications will be.”
Robinson shows us how this ugliness ends with a good outcome in an unusual way. The book cuts between multiple viewpoints and, amid a jumble of sources, eyewitness testimony is especially important. This was ideal for telling a global story, because such first-person narratives are typically condensed as people look back and judge what they saw.
Bu hikaye SFX dergisinin October 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye SFX dergisinin October 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Making Alien - Jaws in Space - Forty-five years on from its original release, Alien continues to terrify. We dissect what arguably remains the most chilling instalment in the saga
The seven-strong crew of the commercial mining spacecraft the Nostromo seal their fate after reluctantly responding to a mysterious distress signal on a hostile planet. Here, a face-hugging alien from a derelict ship impregnates and later kills executive officer Kane (John Hurt) after its offspring is birthed onboard. After being unleashed, the fearsome newborn with acid for blood proceeds to dispatch the remainder of the crew.Ridley Scott's much more convoluted prequels have yet to reveal how the knowledge that led to this initial interception was acquired. However, the premise of the original Alien is perfect in its uncomplicated purity.
PURE AND SIMPLE
IN THE FINAL PART OF OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, SHOWRUNNER RUSSELL T DAVIES TALKS RELAUNCHING DOCTOR WHO
TO CAP IT ALL OFF
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE BBC SERIES THE TRIPODS
FRENCH REVOLUTION
THE WALKING DEAD SPIN-OFF SHOWRUNNER DAVID ZABEL ON BEING GIVEN THE TOUGH TASK OF REUNITING DARYL AND CAROL IN FRANCE
SILENT KILLERS
THE DIRECTOR OF HOLLYWOOD'S SPEAK NO EVIL REMAKE ON HORROR, COMEDY AND JAMES MCAVOY
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
THE GHOST WITH THE MOST RETURNS FINALLY - IN BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
TEENAGE DREAM
JOE LOCKE HITS THE ROAD RUNNING
MOB RULE THE PENGUIN
GOTHAM'S UP FOR GRABS IN BRUISING NEW CRIME SAGA BUT WHERE IS THE BATMAN?
SEASON OF THE WITCH
AS MARVEL TELEVISION CARVES OUT A NEW PATH FOR ITSELF, WE SPEAK TO CREATOR JAC SCHAEFFER, PLUS A CAST OF STARS LED BY KATHRYN HAHN AND JOE LOCKE, ABOUT THE MAGIC OF WANDAVISION'S SPIN-OFF AGATHA ALL ALONG
Ghouls Allowed
Even silence can't save you at this year's Halloween Horror Nights