Fictionosophy

Blazing Reader,

The other day I came across a substack page titled "Fictionosophy." As you might surmise, it merges the words "fiction" and "philosophy."

I've long referred to my fiction as "speculative fiction" as it often (almost always) incorporates elements of science fiction or fantasy. But I actually don't think sci-fi and fantasy are genres — more so settings.

I also despise many sci-fi and fantasy stories — while I love others.

In trying to identify the types of stories I like to read and write, I had only recently concluded that what appeals to me is a genre I've never seen articulated (until now): philosophical fiction. The stories I love are the ones that actively explore who we are, why we are here and how we can find more meaning in life.

I don't know if I'll adopt the term "fictionosophy" but I'm going to be switching my tagline from "The Speculative Fiction of..." to "The Philosophical Fiction of John C.A. Manley"

In the meantime, I encourage you to check out Angelica Walker-Werth's Fictionosphy Substack where she shares "the ways fiction authors express their philosophical ideas in their works." Like me, she says she enjoys "a variety of fiction" but she especially likes "fantasy, sci-fi, and the classics, so there will be more of these than of other genres."

Her first five reviews include some dystopian classics: The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games and Farheheit 451.

You can read and subscribe to Angelica Walker-Werth's Fictionosphy Substack at: https://fictionosophy.substack.com/

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/