I was drawn to this book by its association with John Carpenter’s The Thing, whose alien is a uniquely visceral nightmare. Its physical distortions suggest unknowability, as if it is trying to find a form to express itself, which is a theme picked up on in Adam Roberts’s novel. While The Thing Itself is not a […]
The blend of human and machine goes further in Irenosen Okojie’s ‘Saudade Minus One (S-1=)’. The title reminds us of the nonsense maths of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ and the story inhabits an eerie hinterland informed by the kind of reality in which 2+2 really does equal 5. Identical boys are dispatched across a region of North […]
The first monthly Sci-Fi Session was held at Waterstone’s book shop in Gower Street, London on Monday 26 September 2017. Host Glyn Morgan (R) was joined by two science fiction authors whose work appears to be quite different: Adam Roberts (L) and Jeff Noon (centre). Adam is a lecturer in nineteenth century fiction at Royal […]
Peter F Hamilton (L), BSFA’s Andrea Dietrich & Gareth L Powell (R) Gareth L Powell is the author of so many short stories he has lost count of them and six novels, including the BSFA Award-winning ‘Ack-Ack Macaque’. A lifelong SF reader, his degree is in humanities: a blend of subjects like philosophy and sociology […]
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