The Communist Extraterrestrial
A World Without Religion For a young person raised in a communist society, where systematic atheism – also known as “dialectical and historical materialism” – was the…
Science Fiction and the Struggle for Individualism
Twisted Metal, a cautionary tale written by a British science fiction author named Tony Ballantyne, talks about the flaws of individualism from a pro-individualistic perspective when the…
Predicting Our Own Demise
In the world of science fiction, technology plays a significant role in shaping the imaginative landscapes that captivate audiences.[1] From spaceships and time travel to aliens and…
Gnostic Reality and Horror Theology: Matt Cardin’s Guide to Modernity’s Apocalypse
The horror genre, despite boasting literary classics such as Frankenstein, Dracula and the Castle of Otranto (to name but a few), is not often associated with high…
Heresy as Method
The most significant obstacle confronting the academic study of science fiction and the linkages it creates between science and society is the academic study of science fiction…
Between Science and Society: Charting the Space of Science Fiction
Between Science and Society: Charting the Space of Science Fiction. Douglas A. Van Belle. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2021. Between Science and Society starts with a…
Science Fiction and Political Philosophy: From Bacon to Black Mirror
Science Fiction and Political Philosophy: From Bacon to Black Mirror. Timothy McCranor and Steven Michels, eds.. Lanham, MD.: Lexington Books, 2020. Science Fiction and Political Philosophy…
“The Fifth Element”: Unconscious Christianity & Science Fiction
Luc Besson’s now cult classic The Fifth Element gave us a retro-futuristic take on the apocalypse and messianism which was suffused with Christian motifs and symbolism. In…
Love and Sacrificial Salvation: The Hidden Theology of Science Fiction Filmography
The Enlightenment mythology usually goes something like this: Humans had been wallowing in darkness and superstition for a long time, then, sometime in the seventeenth century, a…
Review of Short Stories and Political Philosophy: Power, Prose, and Persuasion
Short Stories and Political Philosophy: Power, Prose, and Persuasion. Erin A. Dolgoy, Kimberly Hurd Hale, and Bruce Peabody, eds. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2019. I have…
Short Stories and Political Philosophy: Power, Prose, and Persuasion
This edited volume explores the relationship between short stories and political philosophy, broadly understood. More specifically, each chapter analyzes a single, brief fictional narrative to address the…
Human Nature and Politics in Utopian and Anti-Utopian Fiction
Anti-utopian fiction has recently gripped the American imagination. Books such as The Hunger Games and the Divergent series have sold millions of copies and the movies based…
Review of Human Nature and Politics in Utopian and Anti-Utopian Fiction
Human Nature and Politics in Utopian and Anti-Utopian Fiction. Nivedita Bagchi. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018. In Human Nature and Politics in Utopian and Anti-Utopian Fiction,…
Aldous Huxley: The Political Thought of a Man of Letters
Behind the renowned artistic and literary production of Aldous Huxley[i] is a political thinking that proves decisive for a full analysis of the entire intellectual career of…
Review of Aldous Huxley: The Political Thought of a Man of Letters
Aldous Huxley: The Political Thought of a Man of Letters. Alessandro Maurini. Lexington Books, 2017. Few books bridge the divide between serious literature and popular entertainment…