Time flies. Or rather, it travels. Especially when you go on a trip to new worlds every week. As we come to the close of 2017, I thought it would be a good idea to pick out some of my best pieces on New Worlds Weekly. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

 

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

‘Dear Ravana, You May Keep Seetha’: The story of Satyajit Ray’s unmade sci-fi classic, The Alien

The complete saga of hope, duplicity and frustration in one place — featuring Arthur C Clarke, Mike Wilson, Peter Sellers, Marlon Brando, Steven Spielberg, E.T., and others. Read here.

Her hideous progeny: The story of Mary Shelley and the birth of the modern Prometheus

How a story-writing challenge issued by Lord Byron to Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and John Polidori changed fantastic fiction forever. Read here.

The interstellar contributions of Kip Thorne, the man Carl Sagan contacted for physics advice

It’s not often that the Nobel Prize in Physics makes waves among sci-fi fans and movie buffs. It happened this year. Read here.

THE UTILITY OF SCIENCE FICTION

SF in the time of disruption: Why companies are crystal gazing through science fiction

Microsoft, Intel and even the US Marine Corps are leveraging science fiction. Here’s why.

Can science fiction really, realistically help build better futures? It’s trying to (yet again!)

Here’s why XPRIZE has set up a Science Fiction Advisory Council. Read here.

ARTISTS & CREATORS

Father of the Alien: The Story of HR Giger and sci-fi’s Most Terrifying Monster

Grotesque. Graceful. Macabre. Beautiful. Bleak. Disturbing. Hopeful. Surreal. Symbolic. Fantastic. Phantasmagorical. Read here.

Designing reality ahead of schedule: The science fictional worlds of Syd Mead, visual futurist

‘Science fiction is nothing but reality ahead of schedule.’ Read here.

Like Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Groot…? Then meet the ‘King of Comics’ who brought them to life!

A brief introduction to the man who created heroes, gods, strange tech, immortal characters, and who made comics krackle. Read here.

FROM THE WORLD OF FILM

Schlock & Awe: How the ‘King of B-movies’ influenced sci-fi and cinema

And discovered talent — from Martin Scorsese to James Cameron and Jack Nicholson. Read here.

Is the current buzz around the 38-year-old Stalker justified? Yes.

It’s not often that lovers of ‘serious’ art films and fans of sci-fi movies look forward to the same thing. Read here.

IDEAS & TOPICS

A matter of Thalience: Karl Schroeder, Ventus and the ‘successor to science’

The high-tech sci-fi of AI & distributed systems, that reads like a fantasy novel in a no-tech world, and which introduced ‘thalient’ entities. Read here.

The Nexialist approach: Van Vogt and the idea that ‘specialisation is for insects’: Read here.

That Sinking Feeling: Climate change, climate fiction, and why they’re both real and here: Read here.

OPINIONS

In defence of dystopian fiction: Why we also need sci-fi that imagines bleak futures

Those who don’t learn from fictional dystopias are doomed to live their reality in it, if not now, in the future. Read here.

Cry havoc and let slip the AIs of war. Read here.

PROFILES

HG Wells: The man who domesticated the impossible (and also ‘invented’ the time machine)

Revisiting Wells’ timeless ideas, enduring legacy and influence – SFnal and otherwise. Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice. Read here.

Brian Aldiss: The Grand Master behind ‘A.I.’ and many more

R.I.P. Brian Aldiss. Read here.

Q&As

‘No poster and no flag’: An interview with Samit Basu. Read here.

Allen Steele, Arkwright and the art of keeping the ‘golden’ spirit of sci-fi alive. Read here.

ALSO READ: The 2016 RECAP

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