Elvia Wilk: Oval (2019)

“In the near future, Berlin’s real estate is being flipped in the name of “sustainability,” only to make the city even more unaffordable; artists are employed by corporations as consultants, and the weather is acting strange. When Anja and Louis are offered a rent-free home on an artificial mountain–yet another eco-friendly initiative run by a corporation–they seize the opportunity, but it isn’t long before the experimental house begins malfunctioning.

After Louis’s mother dies, Anja is convinced he has changed. At work, Louis has become obsessed with a secret project: a pill called Oval that temporarily rewires the user’s brain to be more generous. While Anja is horrified, Louis believes he has found the solution to Berlin’s income inequality. Oval is a fascinating portrait of the unbalanced relationships that shape our world, as well as a prescient warning of what the future may hold.”

Publisher Soft Skull, New York, 2019
ISBN 9781593764050, 1593764057
pages

Reviews: Katy Waldman (New Yorker, 2019), Angelica Frey (Hyperallergic, 2019), Michael Friedrich (LA Review of Books, 2019), Jason Sheehan (NPR, 2019), Yvonne C. Garrett (Brooklyn Rail, 2019), Will Preston (Full Stop, 2019), Alex Ronan (Nation, 2019), Stan Portus (C Magazine, 2020).

Publisher
WorldCat

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Seminar, 1: Inverse Universe (2019) [Korean]

The inaugural issue of the art and visual culture zine Seminar.

“시각문화예술 웹진 ⟨seminar〉 창간호를 공개합니다. 첫 호의 제목은 ‘여성적 상상력’을 주제로 한 ‘Inverse Universe’ 입니다.”

Publisher Ágrafa Society, Seoul, 2019
Open access

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Gary Westfahl: William Gibson (2013)

“The leading figure in the development of cyberpunk, William Gibson (born in 1948) crafted works in which isolated humans explored near-future worlds of ubiquitous and intrusive computer technology and cybernetics. This volume is the first comprehensive examination of the author of the seminal novel Neuromancer (and the other books in the Sprawl trilogy, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), as well as other acclaimed novels including Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History. Gary Westfahl draws upon extensive research to provide a compelling account of Gibson’s writing career and his lasting influence in the science fiction world.

Delving into numerous science fiction fanzines that the young Gibson contributed to and edited, Westfahl delivers new information about Gibson’s childhood and adolescence. He describes for the first time more than eighty virtually unknown Gibson publications from his early years, including articles, reviews, poems, cartoons, letters, and a collaborative story. The book also documents the poems, articles, and introductions that Gibson has written for various books, and its discussions are enriched by illuminating comments from various print and online interviews. The works that made Gibson famous are also featured, as Westfahl performs extended analyses of Gibson’s ten novels and nineteen short stories. Lastly, the book presents a new interview with Gibson in which the author discusses his correspondence with author Fritz Leiber, his relationship with the late scholar Susan Wood, his attitudes toward critics, his overall impact on the field of science fiction, and his recently completed screenplay and forthcoming novel.”

Publisher University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 2013
Modern Masters of Science Fiction series
ISBN 9780252037801, 0252037804
xi+210 pages
via jl

Reviews: Benjamin Gabriel (Strange Horizons, 2013), D. Harlan Wilson (Extrapolation, 2013), Michael M. Levy (Science Fiction Studies, 2014), Lars Schmeink (Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts, 2014).

Publisher
WorldCat

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