The Worlds of Speculative Fiction Series

philosophical themes, narrative universes, author biographies, and world-building in fantasy, science fiction, horror, and more

In 2016, we started a new series of popular talks focused on world-building, narrative universes, and philosophical themes in works of speculative fiction. Until Covid-19 intervened in Spring of 2020, these monthly sessions were hosted at the Brookfield Public Library. In Fall of 2020, we resumed the series, but now in a new, entirely online format.

For me, this series afforded an opportunity to continue the kind of public philosophy work I had been doing in New York before our move back to Milwaukee. I had already done two monthly series, Glimpses into Existence, and Understanding Anger, at the Kingston Public Library. So given the interest on the part of the Brookfield Library, I definitely wanted to take on another series, this time one that could extend past just one year and perhaps go on indefinitely.

Worlds of Speculative Fiction also gave me a good reason to engage in some “guilty pleasure” reading. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird, dystopian, alternate history — these are all areas within speculative fiction that I have enjoyed since my childhood. As a busy philosopher, giving talks on works, authors, and series provided me with an excuse to indulge myself in reading and rereading these genres of literature.

We recorded all of the sessions from the very start, and uploaded the videos into my YouTube channel, allowing us to reach an audience much larger than those who could make it out to the library once a month. In fact, some of these videos have become useful resources for other people all over the world interested in these books and writers.

Each year after the first, I plotted out a new set of authors and series to cover. I also solicited suggestions from both my local participants and the vast online audience about what narrative universes they would like to see me discuss next.

For those who might like to dig around in, and perhaps watch some of, the videorecordings of the sessions, here’s the full list, organized by year.

Year 1 of the Series–2016

• Lecture 1 — Philosophy, Fantasy, and Science Fiction: Introduction to the Series

• Lecture 2 — J.R.R. Tolkien’s Saga of Middle Earth

• Lecture 3 — A.E. Van Vogt’s World of Null-A

• Lecture 4 — C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy

• Lecture 5 — Isaac Asimov’s Foundations Galaxy

• Lecture 6 — Frank Herbert’s Dune Universe

• Lecture 7 — Roger Zelazny’s Amber and Chaos

• Lecture 8 — Ursula K. LeGuin’s Hainish/Ekumen Universe

• Lecture 9 — Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse and the Eternal Champion

• Lecture 10 — Philip K. Dick’s Alternate America

• Lecture 11 — Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Trilogy

• Lecture 12 — George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire

Year 2 of the Series — 2017

• Lecture 13 — Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld

• Lecture 14 — Madeline L’Engle’s Time Quintet

• Lecture 15 — Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker Galaxy

• Lecture 16 — Anne McCaffrey’s World of Pern

• Lecture 17 — Orson Scott Card’s Enderverse

• Lecture 18 — Iain Banks Culture Series Galaxy

• Lecture 19 — H.P. Lovecraft’s Universe of the Elder Gods

• Lecture 20 — William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy

• Lecture 21 — C.L Moore’s Fantastic Worlds

• Lecture 22 — Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy

Year 3 of the Series — 2018

• Lecture 23 — Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths and Libraries

• Lecture 24 — Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Series

• Lecture 25 — Robert Heinlein’s Novels of the Future

• Lecture 26 — L Sprague de Camp’s Compleat Enchanter Multiverse

• Lecture 27 — Andre Norton’s Witch World

• Lecture 28 — Robert Howard ‘s Hyborean Age and Conan Stories

• Lecture 29 — Arthur Clarke’s Mysterious Cosmos

• Lecture 30 — C J Cherryh’s Alliance-Union Universe

• Lecture 31 — Jack Vance’s Dying Earth

Year 4 of the Series — 2019

• Lecture 32 — Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun

• Lecture 33 — Edgar Allan Poe’s Uncanny Universe

• Lecture 34 — G.K. Chesterton’s Novels of Intrigue and Rebellion

• Lecture 35 — Lewis Carroll’s Fantastic Lands

• Lecture 36 — Tanith Lee’s Flat Earth Series

• Lecture 37 — Gordon Dickson’s Childe Cycle

• Lecture 38 — August Derleth’s Universe of the Cthulhu Mythos

• Lecture 39 — Karl Edward Wagner’s Ancient World of Kane

• Lecture 40— Aldous Huxley’s Utopias and Dystopias

• Lecture 41 — Bram Stoker’s World of Gothic Horror

Year 5 of the Series — 2020

• Lecture 42 — Mary Shelley’s Modern Worlds

• Lecture 43 — China Mieville’s Bas-Lag Novels

• Lecture 44 — Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind

• Lecture 45 — Walter Miller’s Post-Flame-Deluge Leibowitz Novels

• Lecture 46 — Ursula K. Leguin’s Earthsea Trilogy

• Lecture 47 — Ursula K. Leguin’s Earthsea Continued

Year 6 of the Series — 2021

• Lecture 48 — Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past

• Lecture 49 — Philip K Dick’s Stories of Colonization and Insanity

• Lecture 50— R. Scott Bakker, The Darkness That Comes Before

• Lecture 51— R. Scott Bakker, The Warrior Prophet

• Lecture 52— R. Scott Bakker, The Thousandfold Thought

• Lecture 53— Philip Jose Farmer’s World of Tiers (volume 1)

• Lecture 54— Philip Jose Farmer’s World of Tiers (volume 2)

• Lecture 55— A. E. Van Vogt’s Isher and Weapons Shops Novels

• Lecture 56— Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris (and some other works)

• Lecture 57 — Neil Stephenson’s Anathem Polycosm

Year 7 of the Series — 2022

• Lecture 58— Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy

• Lecture 59 — Octavia Butler’s Parables of American Dystopia

• Lecture 60— Olaf Stapledon’s Cosmic Novels

• Lecture 61— Veronica Roth’s Carve The Mark Universe

• Lecture 62— Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber (continued)

• Lecture 63— J G Ballard’s Modern Urban Dystopias

• Lecture 64— Philip Dick’s Androids and Humans

• Lecture 65 — Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos (part 1)

Year 8 of the Series — 2023

• Lecture 66 — Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos (part 2)

• Lecture 67 — Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher series

• Lecture 68 — Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy (part 1)

• Lecture 69 — Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy (part 2)

• Lecture 70 — C.J. Cherryh’s Alliance-Union Universe redux

• Lecture 71 — C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry Tales

• Lecture 72 — J.G. Ballard’s Environmental Apocalypses

• Lecture 73 — Thomas Ligotti’s Tales of Philosophical Horror

• Lecture 74 — N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy

• Lecture 75 — Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld Rincewind’s Stories

• Lecture 76 — Steven Erickson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen part 1

Year 9 of the Series — 2024

• Lecture 77 — Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen part 2

• Lecture 78 — James Kennedy’s Dare To Know and Bride of The Tornado

• Lecture 79 — Jim Butcher’s Supernatural Chicago — The Dresden Files

• Lecture 80 — Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Saint Germain Cycle

• Lecture 81— Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall Trilogy

• Lecture 82— Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy

• Lecture 83— Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné Novels

• Lecture 84— Terry Pratchett's Diskworld Redux: The Death Novels

I also have a few one-off sessions as well, which I am hoping to develop into a set of interviews and conversations with authors.

• A Conversation with James Kennedy, author of Dare To Know

• A Conversation With Jimmy Nutts About Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Wrestling

The sessions coming up the rest of this year are:

• Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy (part 1)

• Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy (part 2)

Each new session usually takes place at Noon Central Time, the third Saturday of the month.