So, Worldcon 2025 is making headlines, but not the kind you’d put on the back of a Hugo-winning novel. The organizing committee decided to use ChatGPT to help vet over 1,300 panelist submissions. They intended to streamline the flood of applications, maybe catch a few red flags, keep things moving.
Except it’s not going well.
There are some books in science fiction that never seem to fade. Dune. Foundation. The Left Hand of Darkness. Decades later, we’re still reading them, studying them, arguing about them. They’ve carved out a permanent space on the shelf—and not just for their fans, but for the genre itself.
So what is it that makes a book a “classic”?
The line between dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction has always felt a little blurry, hasn’t it? As someone who loves speculative fiction in all its forms, I often find myself asking: Is this book really dystopian, or is it post-apocalyptic wearing a shiny, Capitol-colored coat?
I’m pretty open these days about the fact that Cameron Cooper is a pen name. But that wasn’t always the case.
