EUtopias and Other Futures: A European Journal of Science Fiction

Above : A snapshot from "Arrowsmith", by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. By Péter MARTON ** Join the  European Science Fiction group  on Facebook for related discussions. ** If you have not heard of the Corvinus Journal of International Affairs so far, that is perhaps because it is no magazine of science-fiction. It is a scholarly publication, with a focus on International Relations. I am bringing it up here, because the next issue, a thematic issue on the 100th anniversary of the Versailles Treaty, features my article on WWI alternative history fiction, along the following lines — as outlined in the article's summary: This article offers a brief overview of the challenges of assessing counterfactual statements in terms of plausibility, to then consider the reasons for the comparative scarcity of WWI alternative histories in published alternative history (AH) speculative fiction. The relative rarity of such fiction may be striking, given the popularity of th...

Depiction of the Lunar Lander, as it would have been. By Péter MARTON ** Join the  European Science Fiction group  on Facebook for related discussions. ** Israel may be about to become the fourth nation on this planet , after the U.S., the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China to complete some kind of proper landing on the Moon. No simple manoeuvre! You have to transition to lunar orbit, get the descent right, and then find a good landing spot, which tends to be complicated in terrain covered by boulders, craters and extensive fully-shadowed areas where there may be... more boulders and craters. Some issues of typology. Lunar landings come in a variety. They can be manned or unmanned, soft (when you can still take off with what you touch down) or hard (when you touch down hard). If you crash-land, it may still be useful for various purposes but obviously requires less of a fine-tuned ability in approaching Luna. The three nations mentioned above are ...

Brighton Pier, for reasons explained below - picture by Jean Housen (Wikimedia Commons) By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** Science fiction would not be what it is today if it wouldn't deal with the topic of climate change as a very prominent subject. Many stories address Europe's future as it may be impacted by related processes, and to do a comprehensive review of all those that are relevant in this respect would be... wonderful! For lack of time, and in appreciation of all the collective wisdom out there, however, this brief post only looks to sow some seeds, mention a few works, call attention to the issue, and, basically, invite others to point out further, other works that pertain to our interests here, in the comments... if there are other survivors out there ready to make such comments. (1) One of the first authors who come to mind, historically speaking, is J. G. Ballard (a.k.a. James ...