Guest contributor Alexander Lumans looks at author Ben Lerner's novel 10:04 and how everything will be as it is now, just a little different in.
Read moreThe Last Days of Magic: Come for the Fairies, Stay for the Research
A decentralized recounting of the English and Catholic conquest of Ireland and its faeries, Celts, and native religions as told through the stories of dozens of characters.
Read moreDenver Comic Con 2016: Enthusiastic Cosplayers and Nervous Writers
The ambitious cosplay of devoted fans, contrasted to the quiet insecurities of blockbuster writers.
Read moreDystopia, Cacotopia, or Cock-a-topia? The Experts Discuss.
Panelists left to right: Claire Vaye Watkins, Alexander Lumans, Thao Le and Mark Springer.
Panelists at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop's LitFest '16 debate “The Resurrection of Dystopian Lit,” and The Unbound Writers speculate.
Read moreThe Unbound Writers Attend LitFest 2016 in Denver
Clockwise: CS Peterson the Viking, Theodore McCombs in the black hat, Mark Springer in the cowboy hat, Christie Lips, fittingly, behind the lip-shaped glasses, Gemma Webster in the horse mask barely visible in the bottom right, and Lisa Mahoney behind rectangles. June 2016.
June is Lighthouse Writers Workshop LitFest time in Denver. The Unbound Writers went to parties, attended short courses, co-sponsored and moderated a panel called "The Resurrection of Dystopian Literature" and interviewed the fabulously talented Claire Vaye Waktins.
Much more about our thoughts on these events will follow in later blog posts, but until then, we hope you will enjoy some candids from our working vacation.
Speculative Worlds at Gaming’s E3
The interactive nature of video games may not make for the purest, strongest story telling, but this year's E3 proves again games are creating some of the most ambitious speculative universes you can find.
Read more2016 Summer Speculative Reading From Fiction Unbound
There is some enchantment here, surely! Cirque de Gavarnie, Haute-Pyrénées, France. Photo by Benh LIEU SONG, 2009, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Ah, summer! It stretches out before us with plenty of lazy afternoons to get lost in a book. But what to read? We have a few suggestions.
Read moreThe Intimacy of Damnation: Hilary Mantel’s BEYOND BLACK
Trivial fiends and ordinary grace in Hilary Mantel's literary fright show.
Read more"Gold Fame Citrus": Eco-Apocalypse Begets Human Apocalypse
Two appreciations of Gold Fame Citrus, the debut novel from Claire Vaye Watkins.
Read morePacked Perfectly for the Apocalypse
The road may be long and treacherous; proper packing is a must. Photo Credit: The Road (2009).
What would you pack for the end of the world?
Read moreMatrilineal Moon Cults & Creepy Orphans
Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Charles Lambert's The Children's Home both want to know, "Are you my mummy?" (and if you're not, then please tell me where you've stashed her and DON'T mention poison).
Read moreSublime Scale in Cixin Liu’s "The Three-Body Problem"
An ambitious masterpiece of Chinese science fiction, reviewed.
Read more"The Water Knife": The Present Is Prologue to a Broken Future
Nevada and California battle over water rights on the Colorado River while the city of Phoenix lies in ashes in Paolo Bacigalupi’s post-apocalyptic novel.
Read morePaolo Bacigalupi: Chilling Worlds of Warning
Paolo Bacigalupi, photo © JT Thomas Photography
Paolo Bacigalupi, the master of the dire sci-fi future, visits Fiction Unbound to talk about black-swan events, speculative fiction's power to contextualize the present, and what he has learned about his own creative process.
Read moreDon’t You (Forget About Jack Finney)
It broke my heart, but I did it anyway. I bought an anthology of 72 time travel stories even though not a single one of them was by Jack Finney.
Read moreGenrequeer
Speculative fiction’s disruptive potential, and an Unbound dispatch from #AWP16
Read moreRoger Zelazny: Pioneer of Genre-Blending and Bending, and his Lord of Light
Zelazny's works are essential speculative fiction classics and represent an important step in the evolution of science fiction and fantasy. He mixed various genres to produce entertaining, trail-blazing, genre-bending fiction.
Read moreMan Is Wolf to Man
Cromwell is the hero of his own life. Flawed, sure, and antihero most definitely, but hero nonetheless. This strong point of view is an asset in humanizing Cromwell, who is often seen as the cunning right hand to a fickle, sex-crazed violent king -- a role that would typically be characterized as a villain.
Read moreLiterature on an Alternate Plane: Audio Speculative Fiction
The Unbound Writers read a lot of speculative fiction, but listening to it sometimes adds another layer of satisfaction. Here are some of our faves.
Read moreThe Story of "The Story of My Teeth"
Mexican novelist Valeria Luiselli's critically acclaimed work of dental fabulism is a sophisticated if remote pleasure.
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