Steven Rose, Jr., for the Examiner.com, wrote a good piece recapping and further exploring the topic of the history of science fiction from my presentation at the Intergalactic Expo in West Sacramento. For the full article, click here: http://www.examiner.com/article/daniel-batt-talks-about-the-horror-of-sci-fi-at-intergalactic-expo.

He begins his piece:

Many argue that “Star Wars” isn’t science fiction for the reason that the science isn’t believable unlike in a movie such as “The Martian”. Animals such as Banthas and Tauntauns on planets “in a galaxy far, far away” just aren’t as plausible as absence of life on Mars in our own solar system. In the same way people have argued what science fiction is, they have argued when it began. But author J. Daniel Batt’s (pronounced ‘bot’s’ as in robot!) showed a very open mind to both the genre’s definition and history in his panel, “The History of Science Fiction”, held in the City Hall Council Chambers at the annual Intergalactic Expo in West Sacramento last Sunday. He even said some argue that the genre goes as far back as primitive man. The reason for this is, he explained, that, like today’s science fiction, the stories primitive societies told speculated what existed beyond their own surroundings. While the beyond for them may not have been other planets or future tech but a more nearby unexplored region such as a dark forest or valley, a primal emotion that these stories provoked was fear. Because of this, Batt said that science fiction and horror are very close to each other. Sci fi has often been a mixed genre with that of horror at least since the 18th century

To read the rest of the article, read here: http://www.examiner.com/article/daniel-batt-talks-about-the-horror-of-sci-fi-at-intergalactic-expo.