Tag Archives: science fiction

Reviews and Criticism

BOOK REVIEW: Fast Forward 2, edited by Lou Anders

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Fast Forward 2 by Lou Anders, ed.

Pyr Books, October 2008; 360pp; $15 RRP – ISBN13: 9781591026921

The first thing I’m going to mention about Lou Anders‘ second Fast Forward anthology is the John Picacio cover artwork, which is a real Zeitgeist catch. Below is strife, carnage, religious angst; thrusting upwards is bionic monkey-man, his chains broken asunder, transcending mundane squabbles for the promise of space and rationalism (bubble chamber tracks?). The religious discord is heightened by the DNA motif, explicitly repeated in the exhaust blast of robomonkey… if you wanted to encapsulate the hope for a triumph (or at least secession) of a rational worldview, I think you’d struggle to make a more arresting and vivid image in the process.

So, how does Fast Forward 2 match up to this thrusting visual metaphor? Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Fast Forward 2, edited by Lou Anders →

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Erotic science fiction and fantasy flash fiction advent calendar?!

We get email… some of which is unprintable, naturally, but some of which is more… well, I think I’ll just let this one speak for itself:

‘Tis the season for gift-giving and independent publisher Circlet Press is in the spirit. Each day of December up to the 23rd, a free story will appear at circlet.com in what the publisher calls their “Erotic Sci-Fi Advent Calendar.”

Just like the advent calendars which deliver a chocolate treat each day, circlet.com will have one delicious short story of erotic fantasy or erotic science fiction. Stories will only be up for 24 hours, though, so visitors must return each day to collect their next gift.

The selection will be as eclectic as the publisher, including all sexualities and orientations, and a range of science fiction and fantasy topics from vampires to artificial intelligence. Some of the stories will be from Circlet’s new line of ebook publications, others will be drawn from anthologies the publisher has produced over the past 16 years.

There you have it, folks. I swear this season gets weirder every year…

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The science fiction art of L E Spry

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It’s not often we feature artwork here at Futurismic, and it often occurs to me that I should look into addressing that oversight.

A recent spur of reminder came while browsing for images on Flickr recently, when I stumbled across the striking CGI images created by one L E Spry. While he’s quite keen on glistening starships and serried ranks of grumpy robots, he also produces images that fit into the near-future remit of Futurismic‘s aesthetic. Behold:

New Heights by L E Spry

Containment Zone by L E Spry

Channel by L E Spry

The uppermost one reminded me almost instantly of the Fastness from Iain M Banks‘ Feersum Endjinn, one of my favourite science fiction novels, but it could just as easily be a conurbation from a much closer future than the one depicted in that book. Some savvy publisher should be dropping Mr Spry a message, I think…

Do you think we should host more artwork here at Futurismic? Are there any waiting-to-be-discovered artists you think we should be checking out?

Fiction

NEW FICTION: WILLPOWER by Jason Stoddard

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I’m willing to bet a pretty big percentage of people reading this have harboured the fantasy of being an astronaut, even though you knew it was a virtually unattainable dream. But sometimes dreams can come true by the least expected route possible… even when those dreams are not necessarily your own.

Jason Stoddard is no stranger to the pages of Futurismic or numerous other science fiction publications, both online and off – and with good reason. In “Willpower” he walks the talk of his own ‘Positive SF’ manifesto, balancing old-school optimism and sensawunda with a plausible (and far from utopian) future setting. Enjoy!

Willpower

by Jason Stoddard

Michael Delgado needed something to do. Today. His last willfare job had ended last Friday, which meant tomorrow morning was contract breach. The foodcard would stop working, and the ever-efficient borgots of the Balboa Arms would be down to usher him out of his 300-square-foot studio apartment. Not that he’d miss it, with Van Nuys cranking to 105 today and him with only a swamp cooler.

He scanned quickly through the willfare crapwork and sinkers:

Job2309170342546

Dog walking, Cerritos area, 0.5D willfare credit (4 dogs, large, aggressive). ACCEPT >>

No way. Not for a half-day credit.

Job2309170342554

Street cleaning, crew of 16, Chinatown and surrounds, multiday contract. ACCEPT >>

(Currently 11 accepted)

Surrounds, as in southeast LA, no way.

Job2309170351565

Research assistant, UCLA medical campus, great status! Includes transpo and housing. Minimum 45-day contract (90 willfare creds), extensible to 90-days. Standard disclaimers. ACCEPT >>

And take a chance that the cancer they infect you with they might not be able to cure? Oh, no.

Michael Delgado frowned, the chant of the taxpayers echoing in his head. WE pay your salary, so you do what WE want. We want you to cut our grass, you get out here pronto! And Congress agreed. Needed for a smooth transition to a post-scarcity economy, they said. Allows them the dignity of productive work, they said. Gets them off the streets, they said. They who drove comfortably to jobs not-yet-outsourced in SUVs with large leases not-quite-paid.

And then:

Job2309170355443

Take my place on the Ares. 180 day contract. I’ll vouch for the full 720 willfare days, even if I have to pay ’em. I’m done. ACCEPT >>

Michael felt something like an electric shock as he eyeblinked on ACCEPT. Strange shivers worked up and down his spine. He heard something like a whisper, deep within his mind. He felt suddenly strong, powerful, alive.

Oh, no. Continue reading NEW FICTION: WILLPOWER by Jason Stoddard →

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Friday Free Fiction for 28th November

All is quiet on the blogosphere… at least until tomorrow, when the States have recovered from Thanksgiving, I expect! Still, in the meantime here’s some free fiction to keep you busy until the bloggers get their engines cranked back up to speed.

There’s nothing from the big two this week, so let’s get straight to the webzines:

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Afterburn SF presents “Gliese 581” by Lee Gimenez.

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News from Paolo Bacigalupi:

Thanks to Lou Anders at PYR Books, my short story “The Gambler” which appeared in the original anthology Fast Forward 2 is now available online for free reading at PYR’s website.

A great story by a great writer in a great anthology. If you follow just one link from this week’s Friday Free Fiction, let it be this one.

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Strange Horizons presents “Up In the Air” by Richard Larson

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Tor.com presents The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold. (Download for registered users only, but that don’t cost you nuthin’, mister.)

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COSMOS Magazine presents “Loop” by Peter J Bentley – “Being ‘born again’ and having the opportunity to live your life all over again sounds like a great idea – until it actually happens.”

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Electric Velocipede presents “Season of the Long Now” by Robert J Howe

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A handful via SF Signal, without whom we’d miss a great deal:

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And it just wouldn’t be a Friday without a little bit of Friday Flash Fiction, would it? Let’s see: Neil Beynon is “Remembering Lisa“, while Gaie Sebold is “Empty“.

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And that’s your lot, folks – your tip-offs and plugs are always welcome, though. I hope none of our American readers have mortally injured themselves by overindulging in seasonal NOM NOM NOM action, and that everyone has an equally great weekend.