Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Swords, Spells, and Serpents, Oh My!
A few years back, I attended a local writer’s conference. We talked about all aspects of writing: grammar, dialogue, character development, punctuation, world building, blah, blah, blah. At the end of the conference, a few of us decided to divulge more subtle problems. Among our issues, someone brought up the difficulties engendered by writing original, fantasy stories.
By Aaron Dennis8 years ago in Futurism
Ad Boosters
RC looked like most other children his age, but he didn’t have a mother or father. He wasn’t an orphan, though. He was decanted from a vat, when he looked to be about six-years-old, fully formed and with all the knowledge most six-year-olds would have and a peculiar bump on the back of his neck containing the latest solid-state biometric chip. As soon as he was cleaned up and dressed, RC was given a plastic lunchbox and backpack both with a Royal Crown Cola logo emblazoned on both. His favorite colors were blue and red, just like colors of his clothes, his lunch box, his backpack, and all the notebooks and pencils in his backpack and the colors seen on the Royal Cola logo.
By Isaac Shapiro8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.5
Outlander 3.5 finally got Claire and Jamie back together — 20 years after they last were together, in the 1700s, with Jamie now in Edinburgh. There were lots of nice touches, including Jamie being located by a literary device — literally — I first noticed in Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (still my all-time favorite time travel story) back in the 1950s. The person in the past wanting to let someone in the future know where to find him or her puts an ad in a newspaper with some reference to some event that hasn't happened yet (Asimov's method) or a poem from the future (Jamie's method) as a marker for the future to see. It's a nice, soft touch, and usually does the trick.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Best Gene Wolfe Books
Gene Wolfe is widely considered to be one of the best living science fiction writers, and many consider him to be the best writer period. Award winning author Michael Swanwick certainly thinks so: "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today."
By Joseph Farley8 years ago in Futurism
What to Avoid When Writing Sci-Fi
It cannot be denied that science fiction is one of the hardest genres to write because you, the author, are creating entire planets from scratch. You are the Creator in the sense that you decide how people travel through space, what alien species exist in your universe, and what sort of scheme will potentially destroy the universe this time.
By Danielle McDougal8 years ago in Futurism
Abducted
I was being led through a long silver hallway. It was like I was sleepwalking. I had no control over my body. The floor felt cold beneath my bare feet as my body moved farther down the corridor. My footsteps echoed as I walked along the metal corridor, but they weren’t the only ones. Behind me I could hear the heavy clanking of metal against metal. I started to panic. I couldn't turn my head to see who was there and I couldn’t stop myself from walking. What was happening? Who was this person?
By Erica Antonakis8 years ago in Futurism
Journey to New Emerald
The sun beats down on me as I wander the unfamiliar terrain, surrounded on either side by enormous redwood trees; half of which are dead, the other half, mutated so that their needles glow softly in the night. Am I lost? No, I couldn’t be. The contents of the heavy backpack I wear can be heard shifting slightly as I pull it off my back and set it down on the cracked pavement beneath my feet. The goggles I wear to shield my eyes from the unforgiving rays of the sun begin to fog up as I kneel; digging through the side pockets of my bag until I finally find the item I’m searching for.
By Olibia Bailey-Odom8 years ago in Futurism
The Message in 'Children of Men' is Buried too Deep to Be Found
Children of Men never fails to receive huge accolades as one of the best science fiction movies ever made, and when those same writers explain it to me, I am persuaded. But that’s not how it works. There’s way too much misdirection in this film to give rise to the subtle messages it seeks.
By Rich Monetti8 years ago in Futurism
Best Sci-Fi Movies on Amazon Prime
Sci-fi films can take us anywhere, and that's part of the reason why movie addicts can never get enough of them. New films are coming out in theaters all the time, but what if you don't feel like schlepping down to the cinema and dropping $15 on a movie that might suck? This is where Amazon Prime comes in.
By Bill Shaffir8 years ago in Futurism
