Fantasy

Ursula Le Guin in 2008

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The writer Ursula Le Guin passed away on Monday. The causes of her death were not revealed but her health deteriorated over the past year. She was an extraordinary writer, famous in the fantasy genre for the Earthsea Cycle and in the science fiction genre for her Hainish Cycle.

Ursula Le Guin has been an extraordinary writer for her ability to create realistic worlds even in her fantasy stories with characters of great depth. The influence of her father, an anthropologist, led her to develop stories in which her worlds’ cultures with their social and political complexities were very important. Her points of view with a genuine feminism and sometimes anarchist, went far beyond so many science fiction and fantasy clichés. She was really an important writer far beyond any genre label.

Nancy Kress between Delia Sherman and Ellen Datlow

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Nancy Anne Koningisor – this is her birth name – was born on January 20, 1948 in Buffalo, New York, USA. Nancy Kress’s career as a writer started in 1976, initially writing short fiction. Her first novels were fantasy but she obtained her biggest success with her science fiction works, from the Beggars series to the most recent novels and short fiction.

Throughout her career, Nancy Kress showed how the division between hard and soft science fiction can be difficult writing many stories based on scientific concepts, often genetic engineering, using them to tell the consequences of the society of their developments. It’s one of the skills that made her a writer of great value appreciated by the public.

John Carpenter in 2010

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John Howard Carpenter was born on January 16, 1948 in Carthage, New York, USA. He’s been the director of a number of movies that sometimes had little commercial success but in time became cult movies such as “Dark Star”, “Halloween”, “The Fog”, “Escape from New York”, “The Thing”, “Big Trouble in Little China”, “Prince of Darkness”, and “They Live”.

Ridley Scott in 2015 (Photo NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, England. He started working as a director for television then moved to cinema and had his debut with “The Duellists” in 1977. He marked science fiction cinema with “Alien” (1979) and “Blade Runner” (1982). He obtained great results in other genres as well with movies such as “Thelma & Louise” (1991) and “Gladiator” (2000).

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

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The novel “All the Birds in the Sky” by Charlie Jane Anders was published for the first time in 2016. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

Patricia is still a child when she starts talking to birds but she can’t control her magic skills. Laurence invented advanced equipment since his childhood and in time creates an artificial intelligence. Patricia and Laurence meet for the first time in the junior high school they attend, where they’re considered the two weirdest students.

Patricia and Laurence’s paths get separated, also because of the decisions of their idiotic parents. They meet again years later when she’s become a witch part of a cabal and he’s part of a group of geeks who invent revolutionary devices. Despite their differences, events bring them closer.