Lexington Books
Pages: 170
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-7936-4735-1 • Hardback • January 2022 • $100.00 • (£77.00)
978-1-7936-4737-5 • Paperback • August 2023 • $39.99 • (£30.00)
978-1-7936-4736-8 • eBook • January 2022 • $38.00 • (£30.00)
Ryan Lizardi is associate professor of digital media and humanities at SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
Preface
Chapter 1: Early Existential Science Fiction
Chapter 2: Modern Existential Science Fiction
Chapter 3: Gravity, Ad Astra, and Generational Connections
Chapter 4: Interstellar, Arrival, and Continuity of Identity
Chapter 5: Annihilation and Refraction of Identity
Chapter 6: Legion and Fractured Identity
Chapter 7: Westworld and the Embellished Remake
Chapter 8: Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock, and Alternative Histories
Chapter 9: Interactive Existential Science Fiction
Concluding Remarks
Bibliography
About the Author
A scholar of digital media and humanities, Lizardi distinguishes existential science fiction from existentialism in science fiction. Though he engages with existentialist philosophers, the emphasis is on narratives highlighting broad questions of human existence and identity rather than conflict with antagonists…. [T]he author is convincing in arguing that media have increasingly explored existential questions. Recommended… Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students.
— Choice Reviews
While contemporary science fiction media is often criticized for privileging digital effects over story, Ryan Lizardi demonstrates that sublime images are not the enemy of complex ideas. The thoughtful analyses in Existential Science Fiction reveal a new Golden Age of films, shows, and games that explore both outer and inner space.
— Bradley Schauer, University of Arizona