One of the great criticisms aimed at science fiction and fantasy is that it is “escapist,” framed as if that’s some terrible indictment—and the impulse to escape is a character flaw. This is, to use the Latin: stercore de bovem, or, in the vulgate: bullshit. The idea that escape is inherently tainted is fundamentally an […]
I remember the first time I read a character I wanted to re-write. It was Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody. I was angry that Mad-Eye, who had the same eye that I do, hadn’t actually been the character I had gotten to know in the book. I was frustrated that, like with most of the other disabled […]
Uncanny Magazine would like to thank the following people for supporting us on Patreon. This magazine would not be possible without their support. Space Unicorn Ranger Corps COMMANDERS Alan J. Zimmerman, Bliss Ehrlich, Crystal Huff, Dain Unicorn, Daniel Sales, Edmund Schweppe, Hisham El-Far, Jayme Lundeen, John Benedetti, Kate O’Conner, Kevin Lyda, Marielle Kaifer, Maureen Empfield, […]
This was supposed to be hilarious. But at the age of 49, I’m sitting at my desk staring at hundreds of pages of character sheets, drawings, histories, blueprints, maps, Centaurian language notes, castle budgets, and constitutional documents I created for my imaginary Dungeons and Dragons world as a kid in the 1980s, and I’m overwhelmed. […]
I’ve always had a big imagination. I was the kid who would pretend to be a Power Ranger or come up with intricate backstories for the Mortal Kombat characters via Barbie dolls because surely, they had lives outside of the tournament, right? If I wasn’t playing make believe, I was writing stories in notebooks with […]
Faster than light travel is not scientific. Fight me. Time travel? Not scientific. The list of science fiction tropes and the list of tropes deemed not scientific enough to count as science fiction are pretty much identical lists. So the question becomes: whose science fiction is science fiction? Whose is hard science fiction? Whose science […]
I love the Terminator saga with a sincerity often reserved for critically acclaimed or independent film. The first two installments are cinematic marvels that inspired genres and resound throughout pop culture: a stunning pair that played the long game, subverting expectations through evolutions in technology and character. But what I love is the story taken […]
Uncanny Magazine would like to thank the following people for supporting us on Patreon. This magazine would not be possible without their support. Space Unicorn Ranger Corps COMMANDERS Alan J. Zimmerman, Bliss Ehrlich, Crystal Huff, Dain Unicorn, Daniel Sales, Edmund Schweppe, Hisham El-Far, Jayme Lundeen, John Benedetti, Kate O’Conner, Kevin Lyda, Marielle Kaifer, Maureen Empfield, […]
I. The Ghost You should know three things about Chinese ghosts. One: They are victims of bad death. We must distinguish ghosts (gui) from spirits. Spirits are benevolent. Our ancestors watch over us from above, accept our sacrifices, and stay obediently rooted to their burial tablets. But to both the early Chinese of the Western […]
I like to think the Fates don’t hate me, but I did wonder when, for the third summer in a row, an instructor had to cancel two days before they were due in Seattle to teach for Clarion West. The first year, Paul Park had emergency eye surgery and was warned not to fly for […]