Synthesized Sunsets

This week we talked to Gautam Bhatia, the coordinating editor of speculative fiction magazine Strange Horizons and an advocate for South Asian speculative fiction right here on Substack (Words for Worlds). We discussed his latest novel The Sentence, the state of South Asian science fiction, and the tension between movements on the periphery of science fiction and its mainstream institutions. Oh, and fanfiction.

This season will bring a second segment to the show: Synthesized Sunsets Backstage. In this more casual segment, Gordon and myself will unpack the main part of the episode and also discuss the most recent Synthesized Sunsets article. In this episode, we will discuss the article ‘17776’ by Jon Bois and the Slow Cancellation of the Future.

Thanks for listening!

The audio in this episode was edited more aggressively than usual, so please let us know if this was too much or just right. We apologize for any volume issues, as we had a bit of trouble with peaking and normalizing across the different tracks. We are still experimenting with ways to stabilize the audio quality, but you can expect it to keep getting better in future episodes!

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:37 - Gautam's latest novel The Sentence

00:04:21 - Moral luck and Greek v. Shakespearean tragedy

00:08:24 - The importance of hero / martyr figures and villains

00:10:43 - Parallels to The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

00:12:07 - Limits of post-scarcity narratives

00:15:00 - South Asian ideas in spec fic

00:17:17 - Is New Delhi more similar to London than the neighboring village?

00:18:57 - Ideas of "one-ness" in Cixin Liu's Three-Body Problem

00:19:59 - You may not find the ideological diversity you seek in English-language works

00:21:42 - How do you strike a balance between Western and native influence in a budding science fiction scene outside?

00:23:16 - The gap between sci-fi audiences and sci-fi institutions

00:26:01 - Is web fiction the new pulp?

00:27:11 - Gautam's Wheel of Time fanfiction on Dragonmount.com

00:31:09 - Surviving as a semiprozine in 2025

00:33:49 - Where to find science fiction criticism (Strange Horizons)

00:35:39 - Conclusion and Gautam’s final recommendations

* “Thousandth Night” by Alastair Reynolds

* “Rat and Finch Are Friends” by Innocent Chizaram Ilo

00:36:26 - Synthesized Sunsets Backstage starts

00:38:12 - Disruptive reanimations of political figures feat. MLK

00:40:55 - Article discussion starts ('17776' and the Slow Cancellation of the Future)

00:44:18 - Mark Fisher and the slow cancellation of the future

00:45:37 - COVID and non-consensual Internet usage

00:47:57 - In the 2010s, technology felt like it was moving in a direction

00:51:48 - 17776 by Jon Bois

00:52:35 - Would you want to live in 17776 society?

00:54:49 - Is there anything you would do in 17776 society to preserve your will to live?

00:55:29 - The one guy in 17776 who edges his experience of literally all media

00:58:15 - "Zima Blue" by Alastair Reynolds

01:00:18 - Finding novelty in strange purpose

01:01:26 - Conclusion and Kevin’s final recommendations

* “After the God Has Moved On” by Kate Elliott

Welcome to the third season of Synthesized Sunsets: a seasonal magazine about speculative fiction and the future of pop! This winter, the mag will get properly into full swing: we’ll be starting a regular update schedule (posts every Thursday and the occasional Monday), hosting trivia for paid subscribers, and writing original fiction.

This issue is all about purgatory. Think liminal spaces, the afterlife, and spaces outside of time. Liminality is a pet fascination for many Internet enthusiasts, and I am no exception. I like how liminality can be found in settings that are both ethereal and mundane: from the spectacle of the Bifrost to the creepiness of the Backrooms.

The art for this issue will be more centered around symbolism, albeit symbolism with a romantic touch. Symbolism turned away from the more realistic aspects of fine art, instead taking inspiration from metaphors, dreams, and the spirit world. It was an important stepping stone to surrealism, which would come a few years later.

One painting that fits the bill is Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin. I love how it is able to create an environment that feels so completely disconnected from the rest of the world using familiar elements. But interestingly enough, most of Böcklin’s oeuvre does not resemble this most iconic painting of his. So in this issue, we are instead featuring Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, a contemporary artist who was heavily inspired by Böcklin. He even painted his own version of Isle of the Dead, shown below:

Diefenbach was really into alternative social movements— championing veganism, polyamory, and pastoral utopian communes. He was also apparently known as the “kohlrabi apostle”. But the core focus of his painting was mysticism independent of organized religion. Most of his work features elements that are recognizably spiritual and yet resist attribution to any particular tradition. We hope that his paintings will inspire us (and you!) to imagine worlds outside of time and space.

The other artist I we are featuring is Léon Spilliaert, a delightfully creepy Symbolist who paints with striking black-and-white contrasts to create stark, dreamlike worlds. He painted in the 1800s, but I think his work looks as fresh ever in 2025:

Spilliaert was very invested in literature, becoming friends with Belgian writers like Maurice Maeterlinck and taking inspiration from authors like Edgar Allan Poe. His paintings scratch a similar itch for me as Caspar David Friedrich’s, with their lone figures and contemplative scenes. But of course, Spilliaert approaches things with a very different distinctive style. I hope you enjoy his paintings as much as I do!

If there’s one speculative fiction work that represents purgatory the most to me, it’s “Descending” by Thomas Disch. It’s a fantastic short story in the style of Kafka, where a man finds himself going down an escalator on his way back from the department store. And then another. And then another. And then another…

For more musings on this story and other purgatorial topics, you can check out our season intro on the podcast! Thanks for reading, and here’s to a great new season ahead!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

0:28 - Why do an intro episode now?

1:42 - What can you expect to find in the magazine?

4:15 - Changes to the podcast moving forward

5:52 - What most defines your taste as a reader of speculative fiction?

6:00 - Gordon: Medieval High Fantasy (The Lord of the Rings), Hard Yet Imaginative Sci-Fi (Death's End), and Web Fiction (The Wandering Inn)

7:00 - Kevin: Sociological Speculative Fiction (Ursula K. Le Guin) and Speculative Short Stories (Ray Bradbury and Ted Chiang)

12:42 - Overlap in Gordon and Kevin’s tastes

15:46 - Our favorite ways to read books (paper v. eBooks v. audiobooks v. doomscrolling pdfs)

18:39 - What we are going for with purgatory as a theme

20:24 - Art for the purgatory issue of the magazine

21:14 - Introduction to Symbolist art

22:05 - Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin

26:08 - Why Isle of the Dead reminds Kevin of Star Wars

29:20 - Why Isle of the Dead reminds Kevin of Pokémon

31:44 - Literary works that represent purgatory

31:57 - The Flower that Bloomed Nowhere by Lurina

37:11 - “Descending” by Thomas Disch

40:36 - Unfinished stairwells and other liminal spaces

45:26 - Conclusion and reminder that submissions are welcome!

This week we talked to fellow fantasy Substacker Clifford Stumme (Past the Dragon) about his essay “The 8 Eras of Fantasy Literature” and how fantasy can enrich our lives beyond simple hedonistic entertainment. We also talk a lot about Ursula K. Le Guin, especially her novel The Beginning Place. And we poke some fun at both anime and romantasy (but hey, Gordon gave Fourth Wing three stars). Check it out now!

We messed around with the audio a bit for this episode, so if it sounds weird we apologize!! Also this is a re-upload because the original only had audio in one ear— sorry about that!

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:37 - Clifford's "Eras of Fantasy Literature" post

00:01:55 - Brief overview of each "Era of Fantasy"

00:09:18 - Kevin's case for the modern LitRPG / New Adult era of fantasy

00:14:19 - Clifford's defense of his “Fantasy Diaspora” characterization

00:18:11 - British v. American science fiction and fantasy

00:22:49 - Is web fiction the new pulp?

00:27:01 - The length of web fiction as a hazing ritual

00:29:31 - Romantasy satire and other predictions

00:34:53 - The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin

00:44:28 - Le Guin and Carl Jung's ideas about the shadow

00:47:18 - The limits of literary pragmatism and "Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons" by Ursula K. Le Guin

00:54:03 - Demystification and childhood

01:00:23 - "The Stalin in the Soul" by Ursula K. Le Guin

01:07:07 - Conclusion and final recommendations

This week we were joined by Rashida Smith who is the program director of Clarion West as well an author of Romantasy novels under the pen name Jasmine Silvera. We discuss the integration of romance and fantasy as genres, her experience as a student at Clarion West taught by Octavia Butler, and the allure of small strange towns. We hope you enjoy!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

0:29 - How did you create your pen name Jasmine Silvera?

1:37 - What is your favorite book that you have written? (“Death’s Dancer”)

2:44 - What did you want to add to the romance genre?

6:16 - The difference between Romance genre fiction and literary fiction that involves romance

10:47 - How can you subvert tropes without letting down the audience?

13:46 - Experience at Clarion West alongside Kat Rambo and Ann Leckie, and being taught by Octavia Butler

18:24 - Who would you recommend Clarion West for?

21:07 - Did Clarion West help you to find your own voice?

25:51 - Sci-fi Magazines and Giganotosaurus

27:26 - Discussing Rashida’s short story “Small Strange Towns”

33:51 - Similar media with strange small towns “Welcome to Night Vale” and “The Left/Right Game”

37:42 - Some real world small strange towns

42:18 - Conclusion and Short fiction Recommendation "These Savage Shores"

This week we sat down with our friend Henry Hale, who made the case for his favorite science fiction novel: Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun. Along the way, we talked about which sci-fi will be remembered, why some fantasy worlds feel “dense”, what gives Catholic its enduring power, and the disintegration of the self. Check it out!

For further context, check out Kevin’s recent article: Gene Wolfe’s ‘The Book of the New Sun’ and the Quest for Timeless Sci-Fi!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

00:00:27 - What causes sci-fi works to last and what causes them to fade away?

00:00:32 - What causes a work of sci-fi to be remembered?

00:03:02 - Is hard / technical sci-fi dying?

00:04:05 - Is hard sci-fi destined to be more decentralized than other parts of the genre?

00:04:14 - Hard science can be more similar to hard fantasy than most space operas

00:06:33 - The assumed body of knowledge has shifted a lot over time in both literary and science fiction

00:08:21 - How The Book of the New Sun creates engrossing layers of mystery

00:11:37 - Caves of Qud

00:13:16 - Mother of Learning by nobody103

00:16:39 - The time Gordon unintentionally roasted Kevin freshman year of college by comparing him to Zorian

00:18:09 - "Density" in fantasy novels

00:21:16 - Christian allegory in The Book of the New Sun

00:21:58 - How Catholicism identifies the True, the Good, and the Beautiful

00:23:12 - Is Catholicism interested in finding the truth?

00:24:44 - Introduction to the quasi-religions of rationalism and effective altruism

00:27:44 - The quasi-religious experience of reading the Sequences

00:29:33 - Hating on Buddhism

00:32:07 - There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by qntm

00:35:23 - Conclusion and final recommendations

This week we talked with graphic designer and music producer Trevor Waldorf about the Star Wars expanded universe, how to get people reading into adulthood, and fond childhood memories of Internet espionage.

00:40 - What makes Star Wars compelling?

02:56 - Video games and the depth of the Star Wars universe

07:13 - Star Wars movies have to live up to an incredible amount of hype

11:00 - The Clone Wars and straddling the line between children’s and adult media

14:58 - Does reading Star Wars books lead you into a love of Sci-fi in general?

18:23 - New Adult and the struggles with getting young readers to enjoy literature into adulthood

21:34 - Going from Muse magazine to Scientific American

23:48 - Popular Mechanics, model rockets, and a movement away from a culture of building things

25:10 - Advantages of building things in cyberspace compared to meatspace

30:04 - Internet communities including infiltration and espionage on the flashcard website Quizlet

35:00 - Generationally mixed and professional communities online

38:39 - It’s hard to predict how things will affect kids

42:18 - Kids books are branded so heavily for children it can feel difficult to transition into more adult reading

46:29 - Is it possible to write a book series that stars as children’s or young adult novels and evolves into more adult literature?

52:05 - There should be more books targeted towards adult with adult themes, but at an easier reading level

54:36 - The Young Adult genre can be defined by the ability to be made into both personality tests and fanfiction

1:00:00 - Conclusion and short book recommendation On the Edge of Reason

Note: This episode contains spoilers for the film Gattaca and the short story “Real Artists” by Ken Liu.

This week we sat down with Ari Schwartz— a composer, harpist, and all-around experimental artist. We talk about Ari’s talent for shitposting as well as whether or not postmodernism has killed sincerity. And, of course, whether or not you would genetically engineer your kids. Find out who!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

00:00:28 - How has the romantic movement affected postmodernism?

00:01:38 - The challenges of conveying sincerity during postmodernity

00:06:48 - Ari's attempts to make high art more accessible and interactive

00:11:44 - Geidi Primes and speculative lies

00:12:48 - But what IS speculative fiction?

00:15:38 - Substitute teachers are extremely wack

00:21:08 - Gattaca and genetic engineering

00:22:54 - Some takes on polygenic embryo selection

00:28:22 - Enough talk— would you actually genetically engineer your kid?

00:33:28 - The romantic case for uncertainty / indeterminism

00:38:18 - Kevin and Gordon are big randomness enjoyers

00:40:04 - The art of shitposting

00:42:15 - Ari's valiant attempt to describe why a shitpost is funny

00:43:02 - The magic of Baman Piderman

00:48:47 - The strange coherence of Welcome to Night Vale

00:50:04 - Thoughts on art awards and awards awards

00:59:59 - Kevin asks Ari a bunch of questions about "objectively good art"

01:01:55 - "Real Artists" by Ken Liu

01:04:57 - Conclusion and final recommendations

The screening service we talk about in the episode is LifeView by Genomic Prediction.

This week we talked with Marnee Chua who is the executive director of the speculative fiction writers’ workshop Clarion West. We talk about the history and goals of Clarion West, but move onto topics including the challenges in adapting books into movies, how it is easy to get a simplified view of other cultures in America, and why books should have different versions. We hope you enjoy!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

00:30 - History of Clarion West

03:51 - Clarion West’s Mission

04:30 - Structure of the Standard Six Week Writers’ Workshop

05:44 - Pros and Cons of the Milford Model

07:51 - Why Clarion West has moved away from the Milford Model

15:25 - To what extent can you separate the Art from the Artist?

17:37 - The many possible interpretations of art, and the challenge of creating a single film from a book.

18:50 - Examples of successful adaptations in The Expanse and The Lord of the Rings

20:17 - Non-superficial differences between cultures

27:53 - Experiencing other cultures within the White-American cultural framework

30:37 - Cultural Tags on Books

32:45 - Versioning Books

34:32 - Can cowriting be successful?

35:46 - Jobs specifically tailored for couples

38:36 - The relationship between art and capitalism

44:36 - The lack of cultural communication between business and the arts

46:47 - What causes the success of an artistic venture?

50:29 - Conclusion and final short story recommendation

Note: This episode contains massive spoilers for the Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky and the short story “Sandkings” by George R.R. Martin.

This week we sat down with Henry Wolff, who has been channeling his passion for Tolkien-style worldbuilding into TTRPGs for much of the past decade. We talk about known world-builders George R. R. Martin, Hayao Miyazaki, and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the rise and fall of civilizations. How often do you think about the fall of the Roman Empire? Henry thinks they had it coming. Tune it to find out why!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

00:00:41 - What does it mean for a civilization to disintegrate?

00:02:03 - What elements make a society resistant to disintegration?

00:04:16 - "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin

00:07:57 - Different GitHub versions of books

00:10:09 - George R. R. Martin and unlikable characters

00:14:26 - Epitaph and the Fermi Paradox

00:17:14 - Kevin's concept of "grand nostalgia"

00:23:24 - Why Kevin doesn't like Castle in the Sky

00:25:02 - Nausicaa, Mononoke, and Civilizational v. Natural Disintegration

00:25:52 - Disintegration of nature v. civilization

00:28:03 - Giving artificial intelligence to nature

00:29:07 - Miyazaki inspires us by giving nature a voice

00:30:13 - Miyazaki is a sad dude

00:31:06 - Santa, sewer mutants, and other delusions

00:33:03 - Childhood myths as conspiracy theories

00:34:34 - Are conspiracy theories an American phenomenon?

00:35:03 - Was Ancient Rome conspiratorial?

00:36:57 - Kevin's crazy conspiracy theory-filled haircut

00:42:14 - Tolkien and the value of an outside perspective

00:43:30 - Patronizing scholars to do their life's work

00:47:03 - The wealthy used to be more interested in science

00:48:24 - Henry's world of ArÞ / First Light

00:51:18 - Timeline of ArÞ / Future of ArÞ / End of ArÞ

00:53:10 - Conclusion and final recommendations

This week we talked with molecular biology student and plant enthusiast Euan McCubbin about what a society would look like without aging, whether old Sci-fi that gets the science wrong is bad, and the challenges that come with writing a superintelligence. All stories (and movie) we cover are listed in the timestamps below and if you wish to avoid spoilers for anything feel free to skip that section. Euan also wrote a story “The Backgammon Player”, which is published on Synthesized Sunsets which you hope you give a read. Hope you enjoy!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:12 - Disintegration in the context of molecular aging

00:06:16 - Would a cure for cancer be a cure for aging?

00:09:20 - A Society without aging in “The Algebraist” by Iain M. Banks

00:17:10 - The value of children’s lives across cultures and history

00:23:46 - “Genetics and Eugenics in Frank Herbert’s Dune-verse” by Gwern

00:27:20 - Does older Sci-fi that becomes outdated make it worse?

00:32:53 - Does it change how you view the art if a sci-fi writer gets the science wrong because of when they wrote it compared to getting the science wrong because they did bad research?

00:36:00 - Is it possible to write Sci-fi for the Future or is Sci-fi destined to become dated?

00:40:48 - “Understand” by Ted Chiang and the challenges of writing superintelligence

00:50:17 - Dystopian sci-fi juxtaposed with literal babblings of child in “World of Tomorrow” by Don Hertzfeldt

00:57:58 - Collapse in “Mistborn” and “The Kingkiller Chronicle”

01:05:05 - Conclusion and Euan hopes you read his story “The Backgammon Player”