Does society need science fiction as a literary genre?

Science fiction serves many purposes in society in many other ways than simply entertaining us in sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Blade Runner or in books like Neuromancer and 1984. Science fiction is especially important to society in helping us solve problems that occur in the real world, developing new modern technologies like those seen in William Gibson’s Neuromancer, and analyzing the rights and wrongs of different societies like those Read More…

Blog post #4

Science fiction writers have been discussing the greenhouse effect for decades, and the more recent term global warming is practically a given in contemporary science fiction’s views of a future Earth. But in warning about the possible effects of processes that are already underway, do writers run the risk of sensationalizing these real-life risks and Read More…

Blog Post #3

 Stories set in wastelands or ruined cities have long been popular, whether the source of the catastrophe lies in science fictional speculation, such as nuclear war or environmental collapse, or in supernatural occurrences, such as zombie uprisings or even end-times revelations. What are the sources of this appeal? In other words, why are stories of post-apocalypse Read More…

Blog post #2

The generation-starship tale, in which a space voyage may last for centuries, provides authors with an opportunity to speculate on both the mechanics of space travel and the question of how to develop a sustainable society within a closed environment. What can such stories tell us about the nature of social organization and stratification in Read More…

Blog Post #1

Utopian works were consistently popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but in recent decades, the darker dystopian vision has seemed to predominate. Why? Is there some relationship between the anxieties of our own time and the kinds of futures we imagine?   In the early 19th and 20th centuries, there was far less Read More…

Introduction

My name is Montana, I currently live in Ontario, Canada and I am working on completing grade 11. My current classes are Gym, English, Construction technologies, and Business leadership. For this school year I am most looking forward to finishing another English credit and completing all of my classes with decent grades.