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Rise of the streaming sci-fi anthologies
Will we see more shows like Black Mirror or Dimension 404?
When I was young, I spent what many would (and did) consider an unconscionable amount of time reading science fiction — particularly science fiction anthologies. If memory serves right, Asimov’s Foundation was perhaps the first science fiction book I devoured, and it led me on a rewarding journey reading Heinlein, Arthur Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, Crichton and of course loads more Asimov. The reward for suffering through the process of cramming for my exams was often the chance to lose myself in yet another space-opera or science-gone-awry tale, only to see the rational, adventurous, and surprisingly verbose underdog protagonist emerge victorious in his/ her quest.
I was quite surprised to learn that all these stories I loved ere written and published roughly in the same decade, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. In hindsight, this makes complete sense: World War II advanced science immensely, and the focus on science trickled down into everyday consciousness. Influential figures like John W. Campbell drove an emphasis on hard science and strong scientific characters during the 1940’s, as Asimov outlines in the video below. The conditions were ripe for an explosion of science fiction literature and a “science-important” culture, delivered in anthology form through science fiction…
