When I use a word . . . . Fictional drugs in dystopian fiction

Speculative fiction and Walter BesantI have elsewhere defined fictional drugs as non-existent medicines, intended for human use, invented for the purposes of some forms of fiction, usually novels, but also plays or films, including TV dramas. I have discussed some fictional drugs in books written by a wide range of authors: Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Aldous Huxley, and J R R Tolkien,1 Anthony Burgess, Philip K Dick, and Larry Niven.2Many examples of fictional drugs come from the realms of either science fiction or fantasy. Indeed, of the authors I have covered before, only Huxley and Burgess are generally known for having worked mostly outside those forms. However, there are other forms of fiction that have featured fictional drugs, within the wider field of speculative fiction.The term “speculative fiction” has been used to encompass a range of different fictional subgenres, including not only science fiction and fantasy, but also horror, magical…
Read Original Article: When I use a word . . . . Fictional drugs in dystopian fiction »