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Dear readers, I'm getting increasingly interested in current debates about the reemergence -- nothing new, yet more noticeable in/by the mainstream now -- of the so-called Slipstream literature. These are literary fiction works that combine speculative fiction modes and themes often associated with sci-fi.
Any fans out there? And what is your take on the YT Speculative Reader's video essay about this mode of recent literature? Video essay -- check video from minute 11 onwards.
I'm a big fan, personally. I've always enjoyed scifi that's on the more literary side, so well-written litfic with scifi and/or speculative themes appeals to me too. I'm thinking of novels like The Employees by Olga Ravn, or Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich, etc. I think M John Harrison's The End of Everything winning this year's Booker (two years after Orbital) signifies a real shift in critical and audience tastes.
I was thinking about M John Harrison’s booker when I found the Speculative Reader YT video, actually. My view on this is that, finally, mainstream audiences are getting to know something far better than the slop that inundated the market in the last 10 or so years!
Harrison is a perfect example of what I think is happening, he was a key figure in the new wave of scifi and fantasy in the 60s and 70s that came about during tumultuous social upheaval and was reacting to the status quo of the genre. I think the same thing is happening now and its incredible to see him there at the center of it again. One of my favourite authors.