Books

Today, I’m going to explore science fiction through one key concept, called cognitive estrangement, and one key work: Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. But firstly, if you missed it, be sure to check out why you should read science fiction here. Ok, let’s learn some things. What is cognitive estrangement? Science fiction is (usually) a … Read more

  Haruki Murakami’s Kakfa on the Shore is a strange, lurid book. You float through this dreamscape of modern Japan, effortlessly switching between the real, the fantastic, and the absurd. The characters drift through their story, unquestioningly, directed by powers outside of their own will. Everything in the book is subject to its own strange, … Read more

So, you want some science fiction books that’ll keep you glued to the pages? Look no further. I’ve compiled a list of my top 5 best sci-fi books, particularly thinking about what I would choose to get people into the genre. These are some of the very books that I first read in the genre; … Read more

  When we hear the words science fiction—or sci-fi, or speculative fiction, whatever—we think of spaceships, aliens, time travel, and all things outer-worldly. And it’s true that it often is about those things. But the genre still has this sort of low-brow, fringe association; it’s excluded from literature’s mainstream, in favour of realism, romance, and fantasy. … Read more

In the first chapter novel, Grossman ponders: …How could a man be unhappy outside the camp? And from there, such striking and evocative turns-of-phrase pack the pages of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate. Today we’ll review his war epic, often dubbed the Soviet War and Peace… Spanning across Russia’s Eastern front, from the encircled Stalingrad … Read more