All posts by Paul Raven

Blog

Fruitless Recursion #2 is live – critics criticising criticism

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The latest issue of online sf criticism zine Fruitless Recursion – curated by Jonathan “Blasphemous Geometries” McCalmont, no less – is online and awaiting your eyeballs.

Fruitless Recursion - science fiction metacriticism ezine

You can read Jonathan’s editorial/introduction to start with, or you can dive right into the articles:

  • Paul Kincaid‘s review of Mike Ashley’s Gateways to Forever: The Story of Science Fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980.
  • Alvaro Zinos-Amaro‘s review of Gabriel McKee’s The Gospel According to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier.
  • Niall Harrison‘s review of Michael Chabon’s Maps and Legends.
  • Jonathan McCalmont‘s review of Studies in Modern Horror, edited by NGChristakos.
Fiction

NEW FICTION: THE RIGHT PEOPLE by Adam Rakunas

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Imagine what high school would have been like if dealing drugs had been legal when licensed, mobile social networking had been ubiquitous and the in-crowd had more leverage than most political parties… what would the smart-but-slightly-crazy outcasts end up doing?

In Adam Rakunas‘s novella “The Right People”, they’re in the lucrative but precarious position of selling clandestine bootleg sex toys to the overachievers, but the rug is about to be pulled out from under their operation…

It’s simultaneously a slice of full-bore gonzo science fiction blended with a Brat Pack movie, and a timely metaphor for the present presidential tussle, and Futurismic is very proud to present “The Right People” as Adam’s first fiction sale – in fact, I think we’re lucky to have found him first!

Do be warned, though – this one’s definitely not for the very young or the easily offended!

The Right People

by Adam Rakunas

So, it’s Wednesday after school, delivery time, and we’re doing the usual: I’m checking invoices on my cell, and G.R.’s violating the safety parameters of our merchandise.

“Gene,” he says, gripping the pickup’s wheel with one sweaty hand and his cell in the other, “check this out.” G.R. thumbs the keypad until his torso makes an unnatural beep, and then he sprouts breasts.

No. One breast. Right in the middle. A grin spreads on G.R.’s ruddy face like mildew on a locker room floor as he unbuttons his shirt, revealing a pink, rubbery udder.

I shake my head. “G.R., you know the rules.”

His smile wilts. “But–”

“No playing with the product in public.” I thumb in an override code, and the Pleasure Chest (we boosted this review model from my parents’ samples before leaving the house) sags to its default flatness. “You gotta be discreet.” Continue reading NEW FICTION: THE RIGHT PEOPLE by Adam Rakunas →

Blog

Are antisocial kids just cortisol deficient?

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Research at Cambridge University has found a link between delinquent behaviour in children and reduced levels of the so-called stress hormone, cortisol, which “enhances memory formation and is thought to make people behave more cautiously and to help them regulate their emotions, particularly their temper and violent impulses.”

First of all, I find this a little worrying, as it seems to be part of a trend to reduce all psychiatric problems (especially in kids) to phenomena that can be regulated with the correct cocktail of chemicals. Secondly, assuming for a moment that the link is confirmed, is this a recent development? In other words, have low-cortisol brains evolved as a response to an increasingly stressful world, or is the cause environmental?

And thirdly, has anyone thought of doing cortisol level testing on politicians? [story via FuturePundit]

Blog

Starpirates – browser-based sf MMORPG

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We got some email from the owners of StarPirates, a free space-based MMO-type game that you can run in your browser (meaning you can probably play from work or school and not get in trouble, though on your head be it if you do – we don’t need any lawsuits, thanks).

StarPirates logo

Anyway, they’ve offered our readers some additional freebie action. It’s pretty straightforward: if you click on this link here you’ll be entered into the draw automatically after setting up your character. Three people who sign up through that link will get 1000 StarPirates points to build up their Pirate.

They apparently have a pretty strong community with lots of chatter, and you can set up fleets – so if someone wants to setup a Futurismic fleet, drop us a line and we’ll post the details up so other Futurismic readers can join up if they want to.

Did I mention it’s free to play? Enjoy!

Blog

It’s easier to knock the optimists if you ignore what they’re actually saying

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If nothing else, Damien Walter’s post about positivity in sf has poked up the embers and got some debate crackling. But when I say “debate”, I may actually mean “knee-jerk reactions to someone suggesting that change wouldn’t be a bad thing”…

Jason Stoddard decided to codify his ideas in a Positive Science Fiction Manifesto, and Jetse de Vries chipped in again as well. Jason’s manifesto made the error of mentioning capitalism in a positive light, however, causing David Moles to mis-paraphrase him as saying “the problem with contemporary science fiction is that it doesn’t love capitalism enough“, and for io9 to do an unusually sloppy job of yeah-what-he-said bandwagoneering. Both posts address half a point out of the five that Jason lists… is it overly capitalistic of me to be keeping score?

Just for the record, I’m very fond of dystopic fiction but I’d quite like to see some more optimistic pieces as well; I don’t see why both can’t coexist, given the number of specialist niche venues in the market. What I find grimly amusing is to see the same knee-jerk reactions that the Mundane SF manifesto caused happening all over again… so much for sf readers being open to change, huh?