Some people say that space is the final frontier.
But given how little of the deep ocean we’ve explored…
In his new science fiction novel Oceanus (paperback, Kindle), writer Scott Overton takes us under the sea, where we find…well, you’ll see.
In the following email interview, Overton discusses what inspired and influenced this story, including why he set it underwater instead of in that other as-yet unexplored void.
Though it was released in 1977, the original Star Wars was somewhat different from other science fiction movies that came out in the ’70s. It wasn’t as slow paced, it wasn’t more intellectual than action-oriented, and it wasn’t set in a world that was clean to the point of feeling sterile.
Which is why it’s interesting that the Disney+ show Star Wars: Andor — the first season of which is now available on 4K and Blu-ray as Star Wars: Andor: The Complete First Season — would be the most ’70s-esque entry in the Star Wars canon, despite being made in the ’20s.
As a Dungeons & Dragons fan who was playing the game religiously during the infamous “satanic panic” of the 1980s, I still have a soft spot for my fellow dice throwers, especially when other people think badly of them.
It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to interview writer Stephen S. Schreffler about his sci-fi seasoned horror novel The Bleed (paperback, digital), in which a pair of D&D fans go on the run after some of their mates go M.I.A.
In the following email interview, Schreffler discusses what inspired and influenced this story, as well as why this singer and guitar player didn’t write it as a rock opera.
While Star Wars fans remain divided over the prequels, those movies had their fans then, and they have their fans now. And as one of them, it’s been great that the people who oversee Star Wars are not divided, but supportive. Hence why we get novels like John Jackson Miller’s The Living Force, which takes place a year before The Phantom Menace, and Steven Barnes’ upcoming Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss, which it set right after that movie.
It’s also why we got the Disney+ show Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, in which Ewan McGregor got to reprise his role as the titular Jedi, and bring some of his co-stars along as well.
Thankfully, for people who don’t have Disney+ or who prefer physical media, we also now have Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Complete Series on 4K and Blu-ray, and yes, I’m going to say it: The Force is strong with this one.
At first glance, the sci-fi hack & slash action game Stellar Blade (PlayStation 5) seems like it was made by people who really love the Devil May Cry games, the Bayonetta series, and other games in which someone uses sharp instruments and expert gymnastics to take down monstrous enemies.
But the more you play Stellar Blade, the more you realize that the good people at Shift Up love other games, too, and it’s that love which has led them to create a compelling and engaging game of their own.
Rage is a strong emotion. And it can be a powerful motivator.
Just ask A.D. Sui, who, in the following email interview about her new “anti-military and anti-empire sci-fi” novella (paperback, Kindle) says that it was inspired by, “Rage, mostly rage. We don’t talk enough about disabled rage and how disabled people can often feel like some version of their future was taken away from them following injury.”
In space-based science fiction stories, the main character is usually the leader; like, say, the captain of the ship. The commander of the military. It’s one of many reasons why Alien was such a revelation when it came out in 1979; its main character was an officer, just not the one in charge.
It’s something author S.A. Barnes is doing as well in her psychological space horror novel Ghost Station (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), in which the main character is not the one leading an expedition, she’s a psychologist in the crew.
In the following email interview, Barnes discusses what inspired and influenced this scary sci-fi story.
When we think of artificial intelligence, we usually expect it to be, well, intelligent.
But in his new “sci-fi that’s a bit cyberpunky” novel Mal Goes To War (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), writer Edward Ashton gives us an AI who, well, let’s just say he’s perfectly capable of making bad decisions.
In the following email interview about Mal, Ashton talks intelligently about what inspired and influenced this smart story.
The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer once said something to the effect of “all good things must end.” And while the exact wording of what he said has been lost to time, it doesn’t make the sentiment any less true.
Which brings me to Disquiet Gods (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook) the sixth and penultimate novel in Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series.
Though as Ruocchio explains in the following email interview, Disquiet Gods isn’t actually as close to the end of this epic science fiction space fantasy series as you might think from a penultimate entry.