A study of sf: from 2016: from the right

This is about a book. Written by me. I've mentioned it before. Now for a current summation.

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Traditions, the ways of our fathers, the timeless values – are these compatible with spaceships, techno citites and an environment characterized by change? [p. 10]

That's the crux: sf has always been obsessed by "change". However, deep down, sf also has conservative strains, like hailing order and hierarchy. Traditional values can rather easily be found in sf. This is the angle I have in my book, examining 20th century fantastika. The foundation of the book is the four first chapters, treating (early) Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis. These guys are effortlessly conservative in their outlook. Then I move on and look at other 20th century sf/f authors from the aspect of traditional values. The 378 pages also give room for chapters of sf films, sf comics, and the development of the genre at large.

The title of the book is Science Fiction Seen From the Right. It was published in 2016 by Manticore. And it's still in print. All links to online markets is given in this post, where the book also gets a further presentation.

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Over the years, this book has gained a lot of attention.

First we had the site Counter-Currents in November 2016. For instance, it wrote: “With a title like Science Fiction from the Right, one can consider this an automatic purchase for anyone on the Alt Right.”

Then the book was picked up by Red Ice Radio, in the spring of 2017. An episode was made. Henrik Palmgren invited me to talk about the book. And I did. It became a fine, comprehensive treatment, a minor classic in the land of pods, I'd say.

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The Red Ice episode: we talked about books like Starship Troopers, Dune, The Lord of the Rings, and 1984, all of it with an inclination towards conservatism and traditionalism.

So the classics were covered. The books you know. LotR and the rest. But we also dug into a dark horse like C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength from 1945. This kind of topped it off, giving you that extra mile, extra worth, extra effort.

The program's own presentation of the show reads like this:

Lennart Svensson ... joins us to discuss right-wing themes in science fiction. We first consider the fact that contemporary science fiction often comes from a left-wing perspective. Lennart explains that his work, therefore, seeks to remedy this situation. We then explore right-wing themes in a few popular works of science fiction and fantasy, including Starship Troopers, Dune, The Lord of the Rings, and The Hideous Strength. The first hour also touches on relationship between technology and science, with Lennart advocating a spiritualized view of technology as a means to resist lapsing into materialistic nihilism.

Here you will find the episode, still online after all these years.

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The book has been covered in more instances. Like, in 2020/2021 two Swedish pod episodes were made about the book. The pod's editor was one Mr. Råbock, aka. Mohamed Omar. The episodes are not online anymore. But it was, all things considered, an energetic look into the world of right-wing sf, triggered by my book.

Finally, I only have to add this of the reception of the book, namely, what an Amazon.com review said: "As advertised. Very satisfied. Thank you."

All told, the book has created interest, a certain buzz. It's got dazzle, allure, "it". Unique among sf studies it looks at sf from the right, from the perspective of eternal values such as faith, will, truth, responsibility. This is the way for me to talk about any sf author, from Jünger to van Vogt, from Heinlein to Tolkien, from Borges to E. R. Burroughs. All this, and H. R. Giger, await you in the 378 pages of this modern classic.

In other words, it's time to see sf from a right-wing perspective. Time for a little "paleo-conservatism" among the stars...!



Buy the book on Amazon.com

For Swedes, buy the book on Bokus

For Swedes, buy the book on Adlibris



Related
Red Ice Radio about Sf from the right
A presentation of the book on this blog
Heinlein and my sf study