By Adam Rowe
Forbes Magazine
December 31st, 2021
Science fiction never predicts the future as much as it reflects the present time in which it was written — which is good news as we enter 2022, the same year during which dismal dystopian classic Soylent Green is set. During the 60s and 70s, that meant that the sci-fi genre reflected a radical zeitgeist, with a new generation of left-wing New Wave authors coming up alongside the older and, in general, more conservative science fiction authors of the Golden Age.
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre and published in October 2021, rounds up a swathe of 24 essays exploring various aspects of science fiction authors and societal change at the time.
It’s the third such collection from these editors, who were behind 2018’s exploration of postwar youth culture, Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats, as well as 2019’s look at revolutionary and counterculture pulp fiction, Sticking It to the Man. All three collections deliver on their promise of taking a critical, serious look at the frequently undervalued cultural impact of pulp and genre fiction.
Some of my favorite topics tackled in this volume include Rebecca Baumann’s look at the revolutionarily gonzo sci-fi erotica published by Essex House in 1968 and 1969, Nick Mamatas’s examination of R.A. Lafferty’s rule-breaking legacy (the author “is a genre of one”), and Michael A. Gonzales’s detail-rich history of Octavia Butler’s life and career.
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre and published in October 2021, rounds up a swathe of 24 essays exploring various aspects of science fiction authors and societal change at the time.
