Articles tagged with: Speculative Fiction
Afterword to Terranova: The Black Petaltail; Imagining an Alternative World
(Note: Regular GeoCurrents posts will begin again on Wednesday, January 11.)
Note: The full text of my science fiction novel Terranova: The Black Petaltail can now be downloaded here, and will remain freely available on this website. This long post is designed as an afterword to the novel, explaining the manner in which I have constructed an alternative world and crafted …
Speculative Fiction, Imagined Geographies, and Social Alternatives
People are drawn to history and geography for various reasons. For myself, the major appeals have always been variety and complexity. I find variations in physical environments, social organizations, and belief systems intrinsically interesting. Obscure cultures, places, and times have particular appeal, as they help break the spell of the commonplace. It is all too easy to assume that one’s …
How to create an “exotic” language: Na’vi and Dothraki
Although Klingon is by far the best known example of a “sci-fi language”, it is not the only one. Two more recent examples of languages artificially created for sci-fi films include Na’vi, the language of the aliens in the film Avatar, and Dothraki, a language created for HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy tale, A Game of Thrones. …
Speculative fiction and language
While the alter-worlds of the sci-fi literature and film may not always be geographically accurate, if not “positively simple-minded”, as Martin Lewis puts it, they do a little bit better from the linguistic perspective. In older (American) series everyone on all planets spoke idiomatic English, and American English at that! (And in sci-fi films produced in other countries, alien creatures …
Geography and Science Fiction: the Creation of Realistic Alternative Worlds
(Note to readers: As GeoCurrents is technically on vacation, it seems like a good time to explore an issue that falls outside of the blog’s basic field of concern. For the next week, posts will focus on speculative fiction, culminating with the free release of my own science fiction novel, Terranova: The Black Petaltail, on this website. Regular GeoCurrents posts …
Terranova: The Black Petaltail - A Novel
Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (5th Edition)
Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World (3rd Edition)
