It has often been said that two big tropes of science fiction are really closer to fantasy. The first is FTL (faster-than-light) travel upon which most, if not all, galactic [...]
In college, I had a renowned creative writing professor try to convince me to stop writing “genre” fiction and put my talents to better use. My answer to him was [...]
There is nothing quite like the discovery of science fiction. Somewhere in the world, a youngster is attracted to a book the way a planet is drawn to a star. It is something [...]
One of my favorite science fiction stories of all-time is Lester del Rey’s “The Day Is Done” which appeared in Astounding some 72 years ago in May 1939. The [...]
One of the more recent criticisms of science fiction is that it never predicted the Internet. I object to this premise on two counts: First is that, in my opinion, science [...]
John W. Campbell wrote an editorial in the October 1939 Astounding in which he talked about his future vision of robots. By late 1939, robots were already a growing trope of [...]
Welcome to the inaugural post of Jamie Todd Rubin‘s new column, The Wayward Time Traveler, in which he explores the science fiction of yesteryear. – Editor I have [...]