Unsettling Futures | Matthew Claxton | Substack

Genre writing, show don't tell, and what actually sells

Is SFF using fewer tools than contemporary lit? Yes. The answer is yes.

Mar 21 •

Matthew Claxton

RIP Cyberpunk: 1977-1994

Cyberpunk is dead. What replaced it?

Feb 11 •

Matthew Claxton

The Spear Cuts Through Water is the best overlooked book of the last year

It's got fans. Not in its publisher's promotions department, however.

Jan 7 •

Matthew Claxton

Most Popular

Unsettling Futures - Brandon Sanderson, fame, and the failure of the Long Tail

May 8, 2022 • Matthew Claxton

The Spear Cuts Through Water is the best overlooked book of the last year

Jan 7 • Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures: Is SF bad at tech skepticism?

Nov 5, 2022 • Matthew Claxton

The emotional distance of magic systems

Dec 20, 2022 • Matthew Claxton

RIP Cyberpunk: 1977-1994

Feb 11 • Matthew Claxton

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Community

Moonstruck is the greatest secret werewolf movie of all time

You're seeing this too, right?

Jan 3 •

Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures – FICTION – All the Turns of the Earth

This story first appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact back in 2020, and I honestly thought I’d posted it through the ol’ newsletter ages ago, but…

Jan 1 •

Matthew Claxton

The emotional distance of magic systems

Or, why I will never be Brandon Sanderson

Dec 20, 2022 •

Matthew Claxton

Greg Bear's Eon – a brief appreciation

One of the great writers of SFF is gone

Nov 20, 2022 •

Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures: Is SF bad at tech skepticism?

The answer will not surprise you!

Nov 5, 2022 •

Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures - The Nameless Subgenres of Science Fiction

Or, What We Talk About When We Talk About Genres

Nov 2, 2022 •

Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures - The hollow philosophy of TV Tropes

When incompatible ways of thinking about science fiction writing collide

Sep 23, 2022 •

Matthew Claxton

Unsettling Futures

Unsettling Futures

Overthinking stories about robots and ray guns.

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