Ukrainian science fiction subgenre predicted current conflict

Cory Doctorow 6:00 pm Fri Jul 18, 2014

For years, Ukrainian science fiction writers have been producing novels about a Russian takeover of Ukraine.

It's more evidence of science fiction's facility for predicting the present, reflecting back the day's anxieties and aspirations about technology and the future. Ukrainian sf writers have penned novels about, variously, a brutal Kiev cracking down on the Russian population of eastern Ukraine; and brutal Russian-speaking separatist militias trying to tear the country apart.

Today, the writers of these novels are part of the soft-power war, producing online videos and providing commentary to news agencies about their version of events, making reference to their works — one just posted his conspiracy theory that MH17 was actually loaded with corpses and was deliberately crashed to discredit Russian separatists.

The Sci-Fi Writers’ War [Cathy Young/Slate]

(via Beyond the Beyond)

Test

Comments test post. READ THE REST
Ahsoka is coming!

..and we're ready for it! READ THE REST
AIR.TV test #4

The following YouTube video should get swapped for air.tv content. READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST