Sci-Fi Perfection

[source: Moving Image]

Here at Quirk, we love science fiction. There is nothing as entertaining as a good piece of speculative fiction with great story lines and characters. While there are some writers who are well established science fiction masters like Harlan Ellison, Philip K. Dick and Octavia Butler, there are also some creators who have the skills to make some of the best science fiction to ever hit the shelves but simply haven’t gone down that path yet. With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to speculate on what the future of science fiction writing may look like.

[source: Telegraph UK]

Joe Hill

The writer of some of the greatest modern horror fiction and dark fantasy, Joe Hill has earned himself a huge following over the past decade and a half. The son of writing master Stephen King, Hill was born to tell stories. While he is great at the phantasmagoric, it would be interesting to see what he could do in a far flung future. His descriptive prose would paint a beautiful mental picture in the minds of his readers for whatever dystopian world he created.

[source: Billboard]

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda has shown that he has a strong grasp on the present day with his play In the Heights and the past with Hamilton but now it is time for him to really stretch and see if he can write a musical about the future. Miranda is known for his as it brings diversity to the stage and it seems that some of the most diverse times are yet to come. To see the future he envisions may be just what Broadway needs.

[source: Publishers Weekly]

Emil Ferris

A skilled artist and writer, Emil Ferris, the creator of My Favorite Thing is Monsters has thus far focused her comics work on pulp and monster fiction. A multi-Eisner award winner, Ferris draws all of her material in ball point pen. Her images are vivid and visceral and the low tech way in which she creates her art would make a perfect juxtaposition to the high tech work being created in comics today. What would be better than a science fiction piece drawn in ballpoint pen?

[source: The Daily Beast]

Joel and Ethan Coen

The Coen Brothers are kings of period piece films, but not in the old stuffy British kind of period piece. Their focus has always revolved around specific moments in American history. From the depression era south of O Brother Where Art Thou to 1950’s Hollywood in Hail Caesar!, the Coen’s have a grasp of America few writers have these days. Since history informs the future, who better to write and direct a sci-fi adventure that would, no doubt, depict an accurate sci-fi America?

[source: Doms Life]

Percival Everett

One of the greatest current authors, Everett has written some of the greatest novels about the black experience in America. His novel Erasure understood code switching well before the term became common usage. In I Am Not Sidney Poitier, lead character Sidney Poitier ends up living his life in moments from his namesakes films. There is an absurdist humor to Everett’s work which is reminiscent of the best works by Douglass Adams and Terry Gilliam. Everett would no doubt bring a new twist to Afrofuturism.

[source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Clive Barker

The Macabre became even more gruesome when Clive Barker hit the scene. His works have inspired films and a strong cult following. Barker’s work has almost been exclusively in horror fiction, focusing heavily on body horror. It is exactly in this vein that Baker could write some of his best science fiction. Perhaps a post-humanist piece would suite his particular style best.

[source: Telegraph UK]

J.K. Rowling

What is there to say about J.K. Rowling other than that she created one of the most popular fantasy worlds ever in her Harry Potter novels? Now she is doing it all over again in the mystery genre with her Strike series under the nom de plume Robert Galbraith. She could easily create another beloved series in the sci-fi genre that people will be talking about for years.