| GUEST COLUMN |
A Superversive Scribe in a Subversive Land by Richard Paolinelli
I’ve been feeling a little down about the future of science fiction/fantasy for a few years now. It seems to me that the “highly-acclaimed” works have all been
venture, intrigue, romance and – most importantly – was filled with hope for better days ahead. We call this Superversive writing. It isn’t easy being Superversive in a world seemingly being consumed by the forces of the subversive. The subversive, by its very nature, seeks to tear down that which has been built up over the years, decades, and centuries. We see it at work whenever we watch the news on TV or on the ‘Net. We even see it in the realms of fiction within the last decade. Long established characters and franchises with followings created over decades, are being “re-imagined.” The alterations tearing down what had been built up and what has emerged from the rubble is hardly recognizable. This has become even more prevalent in science fiction over the last few years. A recent award-winner viciously attacked the memory of one of science fiction’s greatest masters – and was hailed for it by those that adhere to the subversive philosophy.
dystopian in nature. Everything is bad, everything is dark and the future is only going to be darker. After a year-and-a-half of a world caught in a dystopian nightmare called COVID-19, do we really need our entertainment to be equally as dismal? Can we not have some small measure of escape from this reality? Making matters worse, I was getting the feeling that very few others out there shared my longing for release from a 24/7 nightmare. Then came a ray of sunshine and suddenly I realize that there are many more out there that share my point of view. During a recent appearance on a radio show to talk about my book, Galen’s Way, both of the hosts mentioned that they enjoyed the book and one of the reasons why was that it was not dystopian. Even though bad things happened to the characters in Galen’s Way, the book was still filled with fun, ad86 | UncagedBooks.com
A review of what used to be considered the crème de la crème of SF/F awards, the Hugos and Nebulas, shows how pervasive the subversive mindset has become. Those awards are now warnings of what to avoid as opposed to the best SF/F has to offer. Which is where the Superversive creators come in. We seek to return SF/F to its former glory, one book, one graphic novel, one comic book, one short film, one animated film, one film, one video game and one magazine at a time. We seek to tell uplifting stories that the reader will be happy they read and will want to read over and over again. We seek to make SF/F a joy again. To fill the consumer with a sense of awe, wonder, adventure, and joy again as
