Monthly Archives: January 2011

Cardigan n. – 1. a fan of Orson Scott Card. 2. umbrella term for any sort of gay-bashing right-wing loon belonging to the science fiction community. Uses: We need a convention just for Cardigans so those pinko communist gay-lovers from … Continue reading →

Utopia n. a never-ending ComiCon; an ideal society in which its cool to be a geek; a place where everyone wears costumes, all the time. Uses: I want to live in a utopia / I want to dress like Superman … Continue reading →

Wholigan n. Dr. Who fan. Uses: This guy I used to work with, Andy, was a six-foot ex-bouncer with a massive collection of Dr. Who memorabilia – he was right a Wholigan!

Anthologit n. a derogatory term for an anthologist; applied for wide variety of reasons which may include a dubious Table of Contents; silly concept or title; unsavoury promotional practices; factory-line production of no-pay, sub-par volumes purchased only by the authors … Continue reading →

Fur and Fang Romance n. an incredibly successful brand of fiction, also called Urban Fantasy (US), Dark Fantasy (UK) and other terms, none of which satisfy. Features a female protagonist who may or may not be supernatural but is thrown … Continue reading →

Time-Anchoring n. the act of being anchored in a previous time, usually but not exclusively the 1950s. Uses: Analog is firmly time-anchored, isn’t it? Do you think they’ll ever find out about the Internet? We get a lot of time-anchored … Continue reading →

Science Fiction n. the genre that lies between literary fiction and Steampunk.

Heinleinistas n. umbrella term for the literary heirs of Robert A. Heinlein, [AKA the cadets]. Heinleinista write glorified military tales, stop for lengthy philosophical and ideological discourses, and are likely to include awkwardly-written sex scenes. Uses: Romance novelists will be … Continue reading →

Dystopalyptic n. Condition afflicting many authors, leaving them unable to imagine or create an actual working future. Uses: mainstream writers turning to SF are uniformly dystopalyptic. [Attribution: BT]

Dirty Old Man SF n. a generic term encompassing novels by male novelists wherein their teenage fantasies are re-enacted on the page, sometimes endlessly. These include pretty much the complete oeuvre of Robert A. Heinlein. Uses: Peter F. Hamilton’s Misspent … Continue reading →