I just read China Mieville's The City and the City and really enjoyed it. I have a long train ride tomorrow and would like to download some more books for the road. Can you recommend some intelligent, literary speculative fiction, including perhaps others by Mieville? [more inside]
posted by foxy_hedgehog on Apr 19, 2013 - 28 answers

As a reader of fiction (especially if you're a devotee of speculative fiction), how much do you like detailed descriptions and/or lists as part of the story? What if the story switches between detail and expediency? [more inside]
posted by batmonkey on Dec 28, 2012 - 12 answers

I'm looking for the best sci-fi and speculative fiction written by women in the past 10-or-so years. I don't care if it's hard or soft sci-fi, merely that it creates a realistic world and is well-written. If it helps, my favourite authors include Umberto Eco, Susanna Clarke, and George R. R. Martin. I'm still chewing through Perido Street Station, so I don't quite know if I like Mieville or not. Any recommendations?
posted by flibbertigibbet on Feb 20, 2012 - 38 answers

Help me construct a typology of fictional (but familiar) technological epochs -- along with the genre-conventions and stock-elements that characterize each. [more inside]
posted by foursentences on Jun 28, 2011 - 7 answers

I want to talk with people about potential future trends as background research for near-future speculative fiction. Where wouldn't this be chatfilter? [more inside]
posted by Alterscape on Oct 4, 2006 - 7 answers