Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals.
Category Archives: Columns
BOOK REVIEW: Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic Science Fiction by Jetse de Vries (ed.)
Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic Science-Fiction by Jetse de Vries (ed.)
Solaris Books, April 2010; 416pp; £7.99 RRP – ISBN13: 978-1906735661
I’ve been talking about Jetse de Vries’ Shine project for a long time now, for a number of reasons: not only is Jetse a good friend and former colleague, but I’m a sucker for manifestos and movements that attempt to turn against the grain within their chosen field. I supported the call for optimistic science fiction for the same reason I supported the Mundane SF movement, in other words, and in the same manner – not in hope of seeing one hegemony replace another, but in hope of seeing the landscape change a little.
Only time will tell whether Shine will cause more than a momentary blip on the stylistic timeline of science fiction, of course. But a number of the stories contained within it seem to prove Jetse’s thesis, namely that you don’t have to write a dystopian or post-apocalyptic future to create an engaging science fiction story. Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic Science Fiction by Jetse de Vries (ed.)
Personal Information: episode 9
Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals.
Personal Information: episode 8
Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals.
Becoming Planetary Gardeners: Geoengineering
The Earth’s climate is a complex web of systems: ocean temperature and current, sea and glacier ice, air, wind, sun, and more. Strands of that web are being plucked by the variety of things which are causing our climate to change: pollution, extra carbon dioxide, soot, cow farts, and maybe even sunspots. Superpower countries are vying for control of the Northern Passage and energy moguls are making record profits while doing serious damage. We’re letting them do it; it’s convenient to drive and shop and waste and live the lives we were taught we’d have. Me, too. Just as guilty as the next person. Heck, I ordered an ipad the first day I could. I, too, want the newest stuff.
One way out? Undo the damage and apply the principles of engineering to the systems that run the earth. Continue reading Becoming Planetary Gardeners: Geoengineering