Guided by the Beauty of Their Weapons: Notes on Science Fiction and Culture in the Year of Angry Dogs

By Elizabeth Sandifer

2015 was a messy and contentious year for science fiction, dominated by the Sad Puppies controversy, in which fascist entryists led by Vox Day, the pen name of Theodore Beale, exploited flaws in the Hugo Award nomination process to dictate the nominees, selecting works that favor his politics in an attempt to, in his view, save western civilization from people who poop wrong. This anthology of essays written by acclaimed Marxist occultist critic Philip Sandifer during 2015 starts from the Puppies controversy, presenting an alternative vision of science fiction grounded in progressive politics and the ability of the genre to explore strange and unthinkable ideas - one that holds that its primary value is its ability to do new things, as opposed to being in permanent debt to antiquated ideas and styles.The book includes:Guided by the Beauty of Their Weapons, an epic takedown of Vox Day.A transcript of a debate between Sandifer and Day about the relative merits of Iain Banks's classic novel The Wasp Factory and Puppy nominee One Bright Star to Guide Them.Essays on Orphan Black, Hannibal, True Detective, Janelle Mone, Ex Machina, Mr. Robot, and more.A lengthy essay on V for Vendetta excerpted from the forthcoming first volume of The Last War in Albion.Recursive Occlusion, a non-fiction novella about Doctor Who and occultism.An exclusive interview with superstar Doctor Who writer Peter Harness.Many other weird things.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1522841644
• ISBN13: 9781522841647
• Release Date: December 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
• Length: 568 Pages
• Weight: 1.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.3" x 5.5"