Tag Archives: science fiction

Blog

A soft spot for hardware – the future of human/robot intercourse

4 Comments

robot-masks The robotic love-slave- it’s a science fiction trope as old as the hills, but that doesn’t stop it getting dragged out of retirement by the occasional academic … not to mention science and technology websites looking for a humorous Valentines Day item. Ahem. [Image by kaibara87]

Cosmos Magazine talks to David Levy, a professor of gender studies and artificial intelligence, about what he sees as the inevitability of robot lovers:

“[He] is convinced the demand is there and that market forces will provide the financial drive to overcome any technical – or psychological – obstacles. “It is only a matter of time before someone in the adult entertainment industry, which is awash in money, thinks, ‘Gee, I could make a pile of money’,” he says.”

The less charitable might possibly conclude that a similar line of thought may have given rise to Levy’s book …

I’m particularly fond of The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett, a science fiction novel that deals with a man falling in love with an android prostitute; it also has a whole lot to say about the conflict between science and religion, and a redemptive ending with zero schmaltz.

Any robot romance reading recommendations from the audience?

Blog

Should science fiction short stories be more optimistic?

8 Comments

Make-it-happen-graffiti For obvious reasons, science fiction short stories are much on my mind at the moment. But it’s not just me – a long-standing feature of the science fiction scene, the sheer quantity of debate that the topic of short stories produces on a regular basis is an indicator that those who care about it care enough to speak their mind.

For example, our good friends over at SF Signal have a new iteration of their “Mind Meld” group interview articles in which they quiz various luminaries of the sf short story markets about the purpose of short fiction.

Leaving purpose aside for a moment by treating it as a given, what about tone? Regular readers here at Futurismic will be aware we try to take an optimist/realist attitude with our blogging topics – there’s no point ignoring the problems we face, but nor is there any point in descending into fatalism. It’s not constructive, and it’s not fun to read.

Jason Stoddard, who has had a number of stories published here at Futurismic (as well as numerous other markets), finds himself wishing for a similar attitude in science fiction short stories, and vows to walk the walk:

“I really, really think things will work out. Some of today’s writing is so dark that it makes me want to slit my wrists and slip into a warm tub. It might be technically excellent, and the characters may be fully rendered and real, but man oh man, it’s not what I want to read.

So take a look at the new tagline on this site: Strange and Happy. Consider this my new personal emblem, and a challenge to not only writers everywhere, but to the world in general.”

I’m a sucker for a dark setting – I saw Mad Max 2 at a very impressionable age – but it should be plain from my blogging here that I like to think we can work through the issues facing us. And after reading Stoddard’s post, I realised he has a point – there does seem to a shortage of optimistic science fiction. [Image by solidstate76]

Question is – is it just me and Stoddard and a few others? Or are you hungry for some science fictional optimism as well?

Blog

Star Wars meets Lara Croft on stage in Fight Girl Battle World

1 Comment

Noshir Dalal as Adon-Ra and Melissa Paladino as E-V; photo by Theresa Squire You know, when I decided that it would be fun to be the Futurismic blogger who kept tabs on science fiction stage productions, it never occurred to me there would be so many. But here it is another week, and here’s yet another SF-on-stage extravaganza:  Fight Girl Battle World, produced by Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, created by co-artistic directors Qui Nguyen and Robert Ross Parker, written by Nguyen (who also did the fight choreography) and directed by Parker. (Via BroadwayWorld.)

Here’s how they describe it:

Star Wars meets Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in this action-packed space odyssey for the stage! Set in a futuristic universe where the human race is on the brink of extinction, Fight Girl Battle World is the story of E-V, the last human female in all the known galaxies, and her quest to find the last human male before he is destroyed by alien forces. Accompanying her is a rag-tag team composing of an ex-military General, an alien spaceship pilot, and an overly sarcastic robot sidekick.

The production combines stage combat, puppetry and multi-media. Performances begin March 6 at Center Stage, NY (48 West 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues). The show officially opens on Sunday, March 9, and will run through March 39.

(Photo: Noshir Dalal as Adon-Ra and Melissa Paladino as E-V; photo by Theresa Squire)

[tags]Star Wars, Lara Croft, theatre, science fiction[/tags]

Blog

Robert J. Sawyer on SF and Hollywood

4 Comments

The Canadian TV show “Big Ideas” on TV Ontario had homegrown SF author Robert J. Sawyer on to talk about the effect Hollywood, and specifically the blockbuster concept of Star Wars, has had on the genre of science fiction – specifically how the social commentary edge to it has been dulled on the silver screen, which has extended to writing as well.

Sawyer gives a history of science fiction and how certain works have stood up over time, while others have not.  It’s quite interesting, at least for those of us who like to get meta about our reading genres.  In many past societies, direct criticism of rulers or social norms were ill-received, often ending in prison sentences or worse, while analogies and euphemisms thrived under plausible deniability.  But today, it’s not such a big deal.  Does this spell the end for disguised social critique?  Or do we still need to have our ideas challenged in surreptitious ways?  What say Futurismic readers?

Give the podcast a listen, and as a bonus, listen to Steven Pinker swear on the same page.

[Edit: Fixed the link, thanks to commenter Nancy Jane Moore]

Blog

The future is … expensive

1 Comment

pile-of-dollar-bills Wired’s Gadget Lab blog has a piece on science fictional technologies or engineering projects that are within our grasp in almost every way … except financially. It’s a decent enough blend of informative and snarky that I can forgive the use of the term “sci-fi” in the title … 😉

Floating cities, Transatlantic tunnels … it’s kind of sad to think that, as the commenters there keep pointing out, most of the projected costs would vanish into the budget for the Iraq “liberation” and rattle around like a ball bearing in an oil tanker. Also pointed out is the conspicuous absence of the space elevator – I seriously want to see one of those built before I die. [Image from stock.xchng]

Additional bonus! The last two entries in the Wired piece are about rail guns and space travel; frequent Futurismic commenter Brian Wang combines the two in a post about the potential of rail guns to be used as economical launch systems to lift payloads to orbit.