Existential Science Fiction

Existential Science Fiction
Author: Ryan Lizardi
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2022-01-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1793647364

This book explores contemporary existential science fiction media, including film, television, and video games, and their influence on society’s conceptions of memory, identity, and humanity. Most poignantly, Ryan Lizardi argues, are the ways in which a recent cluster of science fiction media, including Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), Legion (2017-2019), Westworld (2016-present), Soma (2015), and Death Standing (2019), among others, present a vision of the future that is inextricably tied to an exploration of humanity that is more contemplative and comparative than traditional science fiction. The combination of the existential nature of this current trend in science fiction with the genre’s ability to manifest these abstract concepts in a generic environment that is historically focused on new frontiers and ideas creates a powerful set of media texts that ask audiences to contemplate what it means to exist, think, and connect as human beings. Scholars of media studies, film studies, television studies, genre studies, and philosophy will find this book particularly useful.

There's Something Weird Going On

There's Something Weird Going On
Author: ego_bot
Publisher: ego_bot
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2024-05-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

A young man uses hallucinogenic drugs to escape what he believes is a simulated reality. Two wildlife biologists discover video evidence of Bigfoot on a trail cam. A tree posits the origin of the Universe and the meaning of life. From cyber dramas about population decline and AI art to a planetary invasion by giant monsters shaped like an ancient religious symbol, There's Something Weird Going On offers ten tales of empathy for thinking beings in a rapidly changing world. Emanating from the heartfelt fiction of Ted Chiang and Greg Egan, and fueled by the existential angst of the modern era, this collection weaves morality and metaphysics, consciousness and conservation, and love and loss into visions of haunting optimism, offering an ember of solace to all souls who call this strange reality home.

Existential Threat

Existential Threat
Author: Chris Berkness
Publisher: Chris Berkness
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2022-02-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781735004792

Science fiction

Void

Void
Author: Andrew Patrick
Publisher:
Total Pages: 87
Release: 2018-02-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781977061768

In space, everything is trying to kill you.Arturus Lang thought he understood life in space: the boredom, the depression, the routine of collecting junk from space battles to leave credits to heirs he'll never see on Earth. But then, something odd started to happen. His crew began to change in front of him, change from individuals to replicas created by an alien force beyond his understanding. As Lang struggles to escape and make sense, his mind and very soul are challenged to defend the value of human life.

Existential

Existential
Author: Ryan Aslesen
Publisher: Crucible
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-02-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781543919585

The Alaskan wilderness holds a nightmarish secret that threatens all of humanity in this epic sci-fi horror thriller. A book so scary that it requires a warning label, and a global phenomenon that is on track to sell over 1 million copies. Looking for a blockbuster thriller that combines explosive sci-fi action with intense horror that will have you on the edge of your seat? This is the book for you.

Walter Tevis Sci-Fi Novels

Walter Tevis Sci-Fi Novels
Author: Walter Tevis
Publisher: Rosetta Books
Total Pages: 655
Release: 2020-10-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0795351313

Three science fiction novels from the Nebula Award–nominated author of The Hustler and The Color of Money. The Man Who Fell to Earth After his home planet is devastated by war, an alien disguised as a human comes to Earth on a mission to save his people. He begins amassing wealth needed to build a spacecraft to bring his people to join him, but his plans get sidelined when he descends into alcoholism. Mockingbird On a post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity has suffered devastating losses, people are drugged from childhood on, there is no art, and reading is illegal. A suicidal machine runs the world, while the passion between two humans provides the only hope for humankind. The Steps of the Sun When the world’s richest man travels to the stars in search of the mineral wealth America needs to get it out of an energy crisis, he finds more than he bargains for—and gets more than he ever believed was possible . . . “Among the finest science fiction novels . . . . Just beneath the surface it might be read as a parable of the Fifties and of the Cold War. Beneath that as an evocation of existential loneliness, a Christian fable, a parable of the artist. Above all, perhaps, as the wisest, truest representation of alcoholism ever written.” —James Sallis, Fantasy & Science Fiction on The Man Who Fell to Earth “A moral tale that has elements of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Superman, and Star Wars” —Los Angeles Times Book Review on Mockingbird “Engaging and effortlessly readable.” —Publishers Weekly on The Steps of the Sun

2052

2052
Author: Jack R. Ernest
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2019-08-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780244609566

This inflated novella contains three distinct stories that are intertwined with each other. In one story, the world is on the brink of destruction with an asteroid heading for collision. Law and order breaks down and man tries desperately to maintain survival by sending space ships to the stars, hoping to find a new home. In the second story, three friends embark on a crusade to conquer the film industry in Hollywood. They laugh, smoke, and drink, and try to forget their failures. In the third story, a man keeps a diary of his time in a psychiatric hospital. This work of philosophical fiction deals with existential and nihilistic themes.

Sirius

Sirius
Author: Olaf Stapledon
Publisher: DigiCat
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2023-11-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Sirius is a dog with humanlike intelligence. He is raised by scientist Thomas Trelone in North Wales, near Trawsfynydd. Thomas embarks on a program of using steroids and other chemicals to rapidly develop cognitive power of dogs, resulting in super sheep dogs. Sirius, however, proves to possess a dog intelligence comparable to a normal human being, as he is able to communicate with English words, although it takes some time for the humans to understand his canine pronunciation. He is born at the same time as his creator's human daughter, Plaxy, and the two of them are raised together as brother and sister. When Plaxy leaves for school they drift apart and troubles for Sirius begin. With human intelligence and emotion he declines to lead a life of a regular dog and he tends to develop as a person, but keeps running into obstacles.

The Philosophy of Paranoia

The Philosophy of Paranoia
Author: Jack R. Ernest
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2018-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780244983451

This collection of short stories contains six stories that revolve around science-fiction and existential themes. In one story, the unnamed narrator who lives in solitude in the wilderness, discusses his life of seclusion. In another story, a planet called Elysium is the last refuge of mankind. The stories encompass themes of alienation and existentialism.