An afrofuturist science fiction novel written by Nnedi Okorafor and published in 2014. The basic premise is: What if first contact between humans and aliens didn't take place in a large, rich Western nation? What if it took place in Lagos, Nigeria?
Our lead characters are Adaora, a marine biologist whose husband's religious devotion is pushing him into abusive rage; Agu, a soldier on the run after he attacked comrades attempting to rape a woman; and Anthony,…
An overly simplified history of SF film would note that giant monsters, spaceships, and alien invaders dominated the 1950s. After 1977, many SF movies took their cue from Star Wars. In between, we had a lot of mysterious, cerebral films that explored the territory more typical of written SF. These often had head-expanding twists…
Catherynne M. Valente has penned a range of works and won numerous awards and accolades. Her 2018 novel, Space Opera, channels some version of Douglas Adams in a twisted tale of an interstellar song competition. The riff: for reasons related to a past space war and the need to establish sentience, representatives of each civilization in known space gather regularly for the musical Metagalactic Grand Prix. First-time competitors must not place last—or they will be eradicated, all…
People ask, "How's the new job?" and I answer, "It is shockingly easy to ask strangers if they hear voices."
We had gotten a community call (i.e. an e-mail from local millionaires who, out of enlightened self-interest, funded our annual operating budget in exchange for junkie-free jogging paths) about homeless encampments near the train tracks and found a young man set back in the trees, friendly but distracted. I steered him toward the social worker.
She didn't…