This is a book about theology, atheism and the idea of God, from the perspective of a science fiction writer. Wilson is a significant contemporary SF writer whose fiction output has slowed in recent years; I reviewed his 2015 novel The Affinities here but for some reason didn’t read his 2016 novel Last Year, and there’s been nothing since then. (See SFE for background; earlier great novels by Wilson include Spin, Darwinia, and Julian: A Christmas Story.)
Except this short nonfiction book, published last year. It’s only 146 pages long, though the volume includes two short stories as appendices filling out another 45 pages. I heard about this book almost a year in advance, when the author announced it on Facebook, and I looked forward to it in part because of the inherent fascination of its topic, but also because I wondered how it might compare to my own approach in comparing science fiction, science, and even philosophy in the essay I was just completing… I read the book shortly after it was published, but being distracted by trying to figure out what to do following the death of my friend Larry Kramer the previous month, did not get around to writing my notes up here.
Subtitled: “A Science Fiction Writer Explores Atheism, Agnosticism, and the Idea of God”. (Pitchstone Publishing, Sep. 2023, 205pp, including 47p of two short stories, 12p of notes and bibliography; no index.)
Having reread my notes on the book just now, for this book I’m going to copy them relatively complete into this post, but precede the long summary with some points I found especially interesting.
So first some key ideas and takeaways…. Continue reading →
