Tevun-Krus #26 - Alternative Universe

Closing Time, and Looking to the Future!

And that brings this rather fantastic Alternative Universe issue to an end! A massive mothertroopin' thank you to those of you who contributed to this edition and hey... Look at what we've got coming up!

28th March - Easter Monday SF FanFic Spectacular! - Submissions by Monday 21st Mar

Got a favourite Sci-Fi show, book, graphic novel, cartoon or movie? Well this is your chance to delve deep into that Universe and pen some top notch Sci-Fi FanFic!

1st May - Theological SF - Submissions by Monday 25 Apr

'Theological works often present explanations or commentary on religion and religious ideas. These vary from simple refutations of religion as primitive or unscientific, to creative explanations and new insights into religious experiences and beliefs (e.g. Gods as aliens, prophets as time travelers, metaphysical or prophetic vision gained through technological means, etc.). Like any form of literature, SF can be used both to denounce and promote religious ideologies, and SF authors' opinions on the subject of religion are as diverse as their writing.

As an exploratory medium, SF rarely takes religion at face value by simply accepting or rejecting it. As with any topic in SF, when religious themes are present they tend to be investigated very deeply. The reader is invited to step outside the conventional understanding of the subject and consider wider possibilities.

Also, since the genre deals explicitly with humanity's understanding of itself in the face of great technological and social change, in a certain sense most SF grapples with questions of a spiritual or religious nature.'

5th June - Punk Wars! - Submissions by Monday 30th May

Thanks to for this one, 'cos it's a damn awesome idea! Ever wanted to see two (or more) of the 'punk,' sub-genres clash? CandlePunk knights fighting SpacePunk marines? SteamPunk ladies and gents showing up in a PiratePunk world? Now's your chance to make it happen!

3rd July - PiratePunk - Submissions by Monday 27th June

Pirates and Science Fiction?! Are there two things more awesome? Probably but hey, when they're mashed together you get PiratePunk, and that's definitely awesome! Be they Space Pirates of the far future raiding commercial vessels out beyond Charon or pirates of old, like Calico Jack and Anne Bonny, but with fusion-powered pirate ships and pulse weaponry, it's all good as far as we're concerned!

7th August - Dying Earth - Submissions by Monday 1st Aug

The Dying Earth sub-genre is a sub-category of science fantasy which takes place at the end of Time, when the Sun slowly fades and the laws of the Universe themselves fail, with the science becoming indistinguishable from magic. More generally, the Dying Earth sub-genre encompasses science fiction works set in the far distant future in a milieu of stasis or decline. Themes of world-weariness, innocence (wounded or otherwise), idealism, entropy and the hope of renewal generally abound.

4th September - AtomPunk - Submissions by Monday 29th Aug

Atompunk relates to the pre-digital period of 1945-1965, including mid-century Modernism, the Atomic Age and Space Age, Communism and concern about it exaggerated as paranoia in the USA along with Neo-Soviet styling, underground cinema, the Sputnik programme, the rise of the US military/industrial powers and the fall-out of Chernobyl.

It is likely this particular sub genre will overlap with Super Human SF.

Its aesthetic describes a retro-futuristic vision of the world.

2nd October - Generation Ship - Submissions by Monday 26th Sept

A generation ship is a hypothetical type of starship that would travel much slower than light across great distances between stars (see interstellar travel). Since such a ship might take thousands or tens of thousands of years to reach even nearby stars, the original occupants would die during the journey, leaving their descendants to continue traveling.

It is estimated that, in order to assure genetic diversity during a centuries-long trip, any generation starship would require at least 500 inhabitants (though this could also be achieved for a much smaller crew through the use of sperm banks or egg banks brought along for the journey). Additionally, the ship would have to be almost entirely self-sustaining so as to provide food, air, and water for everyone on board. It must also have extraordinarily reliable systems that would not fail even over long periods of time, or alternately that could be repaired by the ship's inhabitants if they did.

30th October - GothPunk All Hallows Special - Submissions by Monday 24th Oct

A blurring of the line between science fiction and Gothic fiction. Gothic science fiction often takes conventional Gothic concepts (mythology, magic, monsters etc.) and attempts to explain them scientifically. A good example of this would be vampirism explained as a rare blood disease.

Plenty of awesome sub-genres coming up, as you can see! If there's any of the above you fancy contributing towards then pop on over to the 'Ooorah2016,' thread in the SF club. We only set phasers to stun, honest!

But before you go, there's still a few weeks left to vote for our 2016 Christmas issue so click the external link, cast your vote - or y'know, as many votes as you like - sit back, relax, and wait for the next edition of Tevun-Krus!