Author Archives: diannefox
When Science Makes Fiction Obsolete
It used to be that you could write a novel and put it in a drawer for six to twelve months. In fact, that used to be recommended. Lately, you can’t stop for long at all before your science fiction just becomes the present. NASA has just validated the principles behind an “impossible” space drive, […]
What Will They Think of Next?
A torus is a shape that crops up often in science fiction, when space stations and other creations—like the Halo of the eponymous video game—are imagined. Basically, it’s a very big donut, which seems to be an open invitation to snacking by space creatures but it’s been a popular idea all along. Now, apparently, someone’s […]
Helix
New science fiction shows are a constant source of excitement in the Fox household. No matter how many times the best or most promising ones get cancelled, we’re still full of hope at every new opportunity. So, when Helix was announced on the SyFy channel, we settled in to watch. The show had a promising […]
Future Ethics 2 — Changing Minds
The future is now. And the ethical implications are…uncertain. We’re on the verge of literally being able to change people’s minds in the here and now. There are new medications—or new uses for medications—that will allow people to change how memory and trauma affect them. Anti-depressants already alter the chemistry of our brains for better […]
Future Ethics — The Past
The future is already here in many ways, bringing us ethical challenges that make for fantastic stories and gripping conflicts, both now and in the distant future. Some of those issues have been explored in blockbusters such as Jurassic Park, which speculates about a present in which science has outstripped present progress. Bringing back the […]
AI: Friends or Enemies
The term ‘robot’ was first used in R.U.R. or Rossum’s Universal Robots by writer Karel Čapek—robota means “forced labour” in Czech. In their very first outing in science fiction, robots—in this case, semi-organic, intelligent, manufactured creatures—don’t behave very well. They rise up, overthrow their human overlords, and set fire to civilization. Not a great start. […]
SF in 2014
2014 is going to be great! There’s so much to look forward to. As we made this list of what we’re looking forward to from SF in 2014, we got all distracted by geeking out about how much fun it was all going to be. TV Sense8 is a Netflix series debuting in late 2014. […]
In the Future: Holidays in Space!
Humans developed holy days and rituals around the observable events and changes in their environment—solstice and equinox, the passing of comets, the changing of seasons, the migration of animals. When we go to space, we’ll be leaving behind us everything that made for the underpinnings of our social ritual. Will those things mean more or […]
In the Future: Seasons of Change
In half the world it’s turning from fall into winter and in the other half it’s getting ready for the furnace blast of summer. The seasons have been a vital part of being human since long before we began recording what it’s like to be the odd creatures that we are. Our lives are marked […]
Saying Goodbye
A.C. Crispin passed away last month. I never met her, but I cried anyway. I won’t say that reading her books made me feel like I knew her or that her work at Author Beware saved my career…but I can say that reading her books changed the way I think about science fiction, about reading, […]
Contact – Infinite Futures 