Last Thursday, I went to a science fiction tea party. It was hosted by Malmö City Library and it featured two women who work at the local SF book store. They did a Power Point presentation on the subject of science fiction in literature . More specifically, futuristic science fiction. I went there both as a book blogger (completely incognito, should the question arise) and as a rabid fan of SF literature and hot beverages. The presentation was short- about forty minutes, minus the following Q&A, but the book store ladies still managed to cover most of the themes that are typically found in futuristic SF. The bulk of the presentation was space, and what it represents in the SF. Space is the final frontier of discovery and exploration. But space is also big (unfathomably big), and thus it functions as the perfect backdrop for discussing and exploring themes like diversity and xenophobia, war and peace, and cultural identity. Space is basically a playground for...