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@gerikson@awful.systems

Post #3251972

2026-06-10 09:34 UTC

Wake up babe new genre definition just dropped …substack.com/…/programmer-science-fiction Includes all the usual suspects, but notably doesn’t mention Ken MacLeod whose Fall Revolution series is probably too socialist[1]. Also avoids discussing Stross post-Singularity Sky. [1] MacLeod’s Corporation Wars trilogy has immersive VR, artificial conciousness rebelling against authority, and literal p-zombies but is also very anti-fascist, so no wonder it’s not mentioned (also, it’s unfortunately not very good)

Replies (4)

  • @cstross@wandering.shop 2026-06-10 10:03

    @gerikson@awful.systems @techtakes Technical nit-pick: "American hard science fiction space opera like Timelike Infinity is also influential"— Timelike Infinity was written by Steven Baxter who is *very* English indeed. Best contextualized as mid-period Interzone generation hitting its imperial phase.

    Open ##3251968

  • @scotclose@indieweb.social 2026-06-10 15:48

    @gerikson@awful.systems @BlueMonday1984@awful.systems I was surprised not to see emeritus CS prof Rudy Rucker (from my alma mater SJSU).

    Open ##3260179

  • @blakestacey@awful.systems 2026-06-10 20:03

    Viral: “read a second book” Spiral: “read a second Borges story” The author of “Death and the Compass” and “Emma Zunz” is unrecognizable from the description there.

    Open ##3266937

  • So there are a bunch of people on this forum more literary and authorial than I and I welcome any of them to correct me on this, but I’m skeptical of the whole project here of seeking to identify or define a new subgenre that is pushing speculative fiction as a whole forward. It’s always seemed to me like the real creative energy behind this kind of movement doesn’t originate from a defined subgenre as much as from a community of authors in conversation with each other. The identification and labeling comes afterwards as outsiders try to talk about it. In that sense, I don’t think he’s actually identifying that kind of community. Just naming a bunch of writers he likes, to the point of excluding several who he admits would be in this kind of community as defined but he just doesn’t like as much.

    Open ##3298714