• Blog
  • About
  • Stories of Elektra
  • Great Series Read Project
  • Archive

SciFi Mind

Visions of Future Worlds

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Goodreads
  • Mastodon
You are here: Home / Archives for power

The Horizon by Gautam Bhatia

By John Folk-Williams

The Horizon by Gautam Bhatia

In The Horizon, Gautam Bhatia has written a masterful sequel to his first novel, The Wall, that brings together a close examination of the politics of radical change with the songs and stories that can sustain but sometimes also limit the imagination of what is possible in life. Directly following the climactic ending of The […]

Filed Under: Secondary World Fantasy Tagged With: city, Gautam Bhatia, language, memory, poetry, politics, power, religion, revolution, South Asian fiction, The Wall

Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus

By John Folk-Williams

Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus

The remarkable Sweep of Stars, first volume of the Astra Black trilogy by Maurice Broaddus, begins with a naming ceremony, one that draws together the community and traditions of Muungano, the new civilization in space fought for by people of Africa and its diaspora. And what a civilization it is – based on the Moon, […]

Filed Under: Space Opera Tagged With: Africanfuturism, colonialism, community, consensus, individuality, leadership, Maurice Broaddus, poetry, power, song

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott

In a recent interview at Before We Go Blog, Ken Liu mentions Kate Elliott as one of the very best fantasy writers of today and Servant Mage, this gem of a short novel, reveals Elliott as a master story-teller. Servant Mage tells the story of a young woman raised in servitude and taught to despise […]

Filed Under: Secondary World Fantasy Tagged With: class structure, demons, fantasy, mage, magic, power, self-worth, unmasking

Azura Ghost by Essa Hansen (Part 2 of The Graven) – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Azura Ghost by Essa Hansen

Essa Hansen’s Azura Ghost, second book in The Graven series, marks an enormous step up from her already impressive debut, Nophek Gloss. This new story takes us deeper into the mysterious multiverse of the Graven, an ancient race of vast accomplishments that disappeared ages ago but left numerous traces both in architectural and technological remnants […]

Filed Under: Great Series Read Project, Space Opera, Taking on My SFF TBR Tagged With: adventure, alien life forms, consciousness, Essa Hansen, family, memory, multiverse, power, space opera, transcendence

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

From the brilliant opening of Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control, when we meet the confident Sankofa, just fourteen, walking a road in rural Ghana (“Small swift steps made with small swift feet”) the hints of her extraordinary power are everywhere. She is a subject of rumor, people hide from her approach, she wears adult clothes though […]

Filed Under: SciFiMonth Tagged With: Africanfuturism, alien technology, corporate dystopia, legend, Nnedi Okorafor, power, technology

Slipping by Mohamed Kheir – A Review for #SciFiMonth

By John Folk-Williams

Slipping by Mohamed Kheir

Mohamed Kheir has written in Slipping a brilliant series of stories that drop their characters out of time and space for brief periods and interweave their narratives to challenge the limits of story-telling. The effect is like a folding of reality itself as the terms of their lives change directions in a stray encounter here, […]

Filed Under: Science Fiction in Translation, SciFiMonth, Short Fiction Tagged With: dreams, Egypt, memory, politics, power, reality, singing, story-telling

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Page 9
  • Go to Next Page »

Subscribe to SciFi Mind Posts



About SciFi Mind

nebula SciFiMind

Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is. It’s pushing the imaginations of fiction writers to bend and twist familiar forms to try to capture the forces that are hurling us into a barely conceivable future. This blog is my small way of exploring the half-perceived … Read More about About

Search SciFi Mind

Recent Posts

  • Where the Axe Is BuriedWhere the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler
  • The Folded SkyThe Folded Sky (White Space Book 3) by Elizabeth Bear
  • The Demolished ManThe Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
  • Sleep Phase by Mohamed KheirSleep Phase by Mohamed Kheir, Translated by Robin Moger
  • The Potency of Ungovernable ImpulsesThe Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
  • Shroud by Adrian TchaikovskyShroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Categories

© 2025 Copyright by John Folk-Williams · Dynamik-Gen On Genesis Framework