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Politically Incorrect Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy
A guide to the most illuminating literature of the modern world.
Science fiction and fantasy comprise some of the great works of the human imagination—and some of the most abhorrent. This is your Politically Incorrect Guide® to a literary tradition that is a key to understanding the modern world.
Before men knew how to write, they were telling each other stories of gods and monsters. But science fiction and fantasy are not escapist literatures and they never have been. Science fiction grapples with the great questions of technology and human society. Fantasy grapples with the great questions of the human spirit. A reader who can find his way to the enduring classics of these genres will be immeasurably enriched.
In this book you’ll learn about futurists and dreamers such as Ray Bradbury and J. R. R. Tolkien, master storytellers such as Orson Scott Card and Isaac Asimov, troubled scribes such as J. K. Rowling and George R. R. Martin, and failed visionaries preaching a dysfunctional anti-human future such as Ursula LeGuin and her covens of woke disciples infesting the literature of the imagination.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy is a gazetteer to futures filled with big dreams and innovation, imparting a healthy sense of wonder and mapping those dangerous regions filled with dragons waiting to consume with fire the careless, uninformed, and prideful.
All is chaos, yet nothing is new. This is the perfect moment to give guidance to readers and to new practitioners alike.
Science fiction and fantasy comprise some of the great works of the human imagination—and some of the most abhorrent. This is your Politically Incorrect Guide® to a literary tradition that is a key to understanding the modern world.
Before men knew how to write, they were telling each other stories of gods and monsters. But science fiction and fantasy are not escapist literatures and they never have been. Science fiction grapples with the great questions of technology and human society. Fantasy grapples with the great questions of the human spirit. A reader who can find his way to the enduring classics of these genres will be immeasurably enriched.
In this book you’ll learn about futurists and dreamers such as Ray Bradbury and J. R. R. Tolkien, master storytellers such as Orson Scott Card and Isaac Asimov, troubled scribes such as J. K. Rowling and George R. R. Martin, and failed visionaries preaching a dysfunctional anti-human future such as Ursula LeGuin and her covens of woke disciples infesting the literature of the imagination.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy is a gazetteer to futures filled with big dreams and innovation, imparting a healthy sense of wonder and mapping those dangerous regions filled with dragons waiting to consume with fire the careless, uninformed, and prideful.
All is chaos, yet nothing is new. This is the perfect moment to give guidance to readers and to new practitioners alike.
216 pages, Paperback
Published April 15, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 21, 2025
This is a broad overview of the history of the genre and its current state, but with a sense of humor. It goes from ancient influences to older entires, the pulps and mid 20th century books landing us in modern SFF. It’s not exhaustive but it is a very good overview that you’re sure to get some good recommendations from. An overview that’s informative but very entertaining which is more tricky to pull off than you’d think.
The book covers not only the big authors of the genre, but also broad themes that were covered at different times as well, including Butlers axe to grind with hard magic and Grimdark. (Which as always is entertaining to hear him cover but also……………he’s…not…wrong…) Near the end of the book he also covers a brief history of the Hugo’s and the Sad Puppies incident, as well as the scandals at the 2023 Hugo’s. The whole guide ends putting agency back in the lap of the average reader. It is we who define what is good and what will last by reading outside of the big names, and helping spread the word!
Overall this book doesn’t overstay its welcome at all, in fact it left me wanting more. Much more.
The book covers not only the big authors of the genre, but also broad themes that were covered at different times as well, including Butlers axe to grind with hard magic and Grimdark. (Which as always is entertaining to hear him cover but also……………he’s…not…wrong…) Near the end of the book he also covers a brief history of the Hugo’s and the Sad Puppies incident, as well as the scandals at the 2023 Hugo’s. The whole guide ends putting agency back in the lap of the average reader. It is we who define what is good and what will last by reading outside of the big names, and helping spread the word!
Overall this book doesn’t overstay its welcome at all, in fact it left me wanting more. Much more.
Displaying 1 of 1 review