Fluid Futures by Steven Shaviro

Fluid Futures

Science Fiction and Potentiality

Steven Shaviro

Watkins Media · Print & ebook · August 13, 2024

How does science fiction envision new forms of life — plausible yet radically different from what we know?

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Who it’s for
Steven Shaviro examines how science fiction builds possible worlds and rethinks time, narrative, and human experience.
Genres
SF & Fantasy Criticism, Politics in Literature, Futures & Foresight
Published
Watkins Media, August 13, 2024

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About this book

How does science fiction envision new forms of life — plausible yet radically different from what we know? Fluid Futures explores how science fiction offers bold, thought-provoking scenarios that challenge our assumptions about time, technology, and the limits of human experience. Rather than predicting the future, sci-fi reveals how emerging developments could unfold in unexpected and transformative ways.

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As Rod Serling famously said, science fiction is “the improbable made possible.” This book examines three core methods science fiction uses to imagine the future: extrapolation, speculation, and fabulation. Through literature and film, Fluid Futures showcases how sci-fi rethinks time, reconfigures narrative, and constructs possible worlds that stretch our imagination. Instead of imposing a single theory of science fiction, it highlights how the genre itself theorizes and reimagines concepts we take for granted. Key Features: - Extrapolation, speculation, and fabulation—the three essential techniques sci-fi uses to construct futures - Deep dives into literature and film, showing how sci-fi envisions alternative realities - Exploration of time and narrative, revealing how science fiction reshapes our perception of possibility - A fresh perspective on sci-fi theory, emphasizing how the genre creates new ways of thinking Perfect for readers of speculative fiction, futurism, and literary theory, Fluid Futures is an essential guide to how science fiction opens doors to new worlds of thought.

Three Future-Making Methods

Steven Shaviro examines how science fiction builds possible worlds and rethinks time, narrative, and human experience.

Come here for

  • Extrapolation, speculation, and fabulation as ways to imagine futures
  • Explorations of time and narrative in literature and film

Expect

  • Discussion of three methods for imagining futures
  • A perspective on how science fiction theorizes possibility

Where it sits

SF & Fantasy Criticism94%
Politics in Literature63%
Futures & Foresight40%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • SF & Fantasy Criticism
  • Political Philosophy
  • Utopian Thinking
Authors
Steven Shaviro
Publisher
Watkins Media
Published
August 13, 2024
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
SF & Fantasy Criticism