publisher iron sunrise
Lovecraftian horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that emphasizes the cosmic horror of the ___MASK2___ ( and in some cases , unknowable ) more than gore or other elements of shock , though these may still be present . It is named after American author H . P . Lovecraft ( 1890  1937 ). Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific accuracy . The term was first used in print in 1957 by P . Schuyler Miller in a review of John W . Campbell , Jr .' s " Islands of Space " in " Astounding Science Fiction ". The complementary term soft science fiction , formed by analogy to hard science fiction , first appeared in the late 1970s . The term is formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the " hard " ( natural ) and " soft " ( social ) sciences . Science fiction critic Gary Westfahl argues that neither term is part of a rigorous taxonomy ; instead they are approximate ways of characterizing stories that reviewers and commentators have found useful . Charles David George " Charlie " Stross ( born 18 October 1964 ) is an award - winning British writer of science fiction , Lovecraftian horror and fantasy . Science fiction ( often shortened to SF , sci - fi or scifi ) is a genre of speculative fiction , typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and technology , space travel , time travel , ___MASK63___ travel , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations , and has been called a " literature of ideas ." It usually avoids the supernatural , and unlike the related genre of fantasy , historically science fiction stories were intended to have a grounding in science - based fact or theory at the time the story was created , but this connection is now limited to hard science fiction . Islands of Space is a science fiction novel by author John W . Campbell , Jr .. It was first published in book form in 1957 by ___MASK75___ in an edition of 1 , 417 copies . The novel originally appeared in the magazine " Amazing Stories Quarterly "; the text was " extensively edited " for book publication , with Campbell ' s approval , by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach . A paperback edition was published by ___MASK48___ in 1966 . In 1973 , " Islands " was included in a Doubleday omnibus of all three " Arcot , Wade , and Morey " novels . A German translation appeared in 1967 as " Kosmische Kreuzfahrt ", and an Italian translation was published in 1976 as " Isole nello spazio ". Iron Sunrise is a 2004 hard science fiction novel by author Charles Stross , which follows the events in Singularity Sky . The book was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 2005 . Singularity Sky depicts a future where human societies have been involuntarily taken from Earth and widely distributed across the Milky Way galaxy , seemingly at random , in the wake of a technological singularity which has led to the onset of strong AI , in the form of the Eschaton . The events in both novels take place consecutively some time after the immediate aftermath of the singularity . Gary Wesley Westfahl ( born May 7 , 1951 ) is a scholarly author and reviewer of science fiction . He has written reviews for the " ___MASK8___ ", " The Internet Review of Science Fiction " and Locus Online . He worked at the ___MASK31___ , Riverside until 2011 and is now an Adjunct Professor at the University of La Verne . Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe , often but not always without any locations , events , or people from the real world . Most fantasy uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element , theme , or setting . Magic and magical ___MASK46___ are common in many of these imaginary worlds . Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes , respectively , though there is a great deal of overlap between the three , all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction .