Hello, and welcome to this site.

We are two weeks in and it seemed like a good moment to say a few words about what Passing Impermanence is all about.

I like science fiction. I like fantasy. The posh word for these things is speculative fiction and I like dressing up simple pleasures in highfalutin terms. It’s a hobby. It’s like the way people say graphic novel when they mean… actually, let’s not go there.

We’ve given ourselves permission to enjoy spaceships, wizards, ogres, and the soft blinking light of an AI gone horribly wrong by putting it under the heading ‘grown-up stuff’ because some of it explores deep philosophical questions like what it is to be human, how can we truly know what is real and what happens when an enormous spaceship crashes into the sun.

The creature from the black lagoon may well be an allegory (intentional or otherwise) for empire, racism, the fear of masculinity and despair at an encroaching ‘other’ but it is also a story about a horrible monster with eyes as big as dinner plates, teeth that could slice your arm clean off and the intention of giving you the willies. That’s why we love him.

There is no speculative fiction without the shriek, the shiver, the hope that all this, one day, will end. It transcends schlock genre fiction when it has something to say, but history records a number of ‘serious’ writers who tried their hand at speculative fiction and were so embarrassed by the stories they were writing it all ended up as an unsatisfying mess. Let’s not do that.

Let’s enjoy ourselves. There should be no requirement for entry. And that’s what Passing Impermanence is all about, we aren’t here forever so let’s do what we want to do with any consenting robot of our choice.

What the site hopes to do is provide a variety of content. You’ll see reviews, interviews, comment pieces, and original writing here already – as well as highlighting various bits of news as and when they come up. If you have something to contribute or suggestions for something you’d like to see please do let us know (email info@passingimpermanence.com for more info) although as this site doesn’t carry advertising or make money we can’t pay. Outrageous.