All science fiction fans are grimly familiar with the idea that readers of literary fiction can be rather sniffy about the field.
What's less often acknowledged, at least from the science fiction side of this equation, is that some fans of the genre are just as guilty of snobbery.
Certainly, there are some good reasons to be sceptical of certain lit-fic writers' excursions into the future. There have, down the years, been plenty of examples of dilettante science fiction: books that take on a familiar trope, but don't do enough with it becaus the writer doesn't have the knowledge to realise that they're covering old ground.
But this kind of novel gets into print less often than in previous years. This is perhaps partly because editors are now more aware of the problem. More positively, it's because science fiction is far more central to mainstream culture than it was even 20 years ago. For a serious novelist such as Emily St John Mandel - to name but one science fiction is just one part of her toolkit.
We mention all this because there will be SFX readers who'll question whether we should be reviewing a book of short stories by George Saunders, a man best known for winning the Booker Prize for a historical novel, Lincoln In The Bardo (2017).
To understand why we believe we should, the opening story, which gives this collection of nine tales its name, is a good place to start. First of all, it's quite simply one of the best science fiction short stories to be published in the 21st century so far, concerning enslaved actors, who in crucial ways have lost their sense of self, reenacting Custer's Last Stand for the sake of a privileged audience.
It's a story where, as we noted when interviewing the author last issue, past, present and future play into each other in ways that constantly catch you by surprise.
Bu hikaye SFX UK dergisinin December 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye SFX UK dergisinin December 2022 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