Iranian Science Fiction

 Iranian science fiction (and broader speculative fiction) remains a vibrant but still-niche genre, often blending dystopian themes, cyberpunk elements, post-apocalyptic worlds, and deep cultural/poetic influences from Persian heritage. The field has grown significantly since the 2000s, thanks to groups like the Fantasy Academy and awards like Noofe (Nufe), which celebrate domestic SFF.

Zoha Kazemi stands out as one of the most prominent and prolific Iranian sci-fi authors today—often called the country's leading speculative fiction writer. She's won the Noofe award multiple times and writes in subgenres like bio-punk, dystopia, post-apocalypse, and more. Many of her works are in Persian, but a few are available in English translations.Here are some strong recommendations to explore more Iranian/Persian sci-fi:

• Zoha Kazemi's works (start here for accessible entry points):
  • Rain Born — A post-apocalyptic novel that's won awards in Iran; available in English.
  • Year of the Tree: A Novel — Another translated work exploring speculative themes.
  • Pine Dead — Her acknowledged early sci-fi novel about a virus pandemic (eerily prescient).
  • The Juliet Syndrome — A bestselling dystopian take on love and commodification in future Tehran.
  • Humanoid — Dystopian exploration of identity and technology.
  • Death Industry (or Death Renaissance) — Award-winning dystopia.
  • Time Rider (short story collection) — Includes speculative tales like time travel; recently translated/available in English.
• Classic/early Persian sci-fi:
  • Rustam in the 22nd Century by ʿAbdulḥusayn Ṣanʿatīzāda Kirmānī (1934) — Often cited as the first modern Persian science fiction story, reimagining the epic hero Rustam with futuristic tech and afterlife themes.
• Other notable Iranian speculative authors and works:
  • Muhammad R. Idrum (or Mohammad-Reza Idrom) — Space opera like Mavara, award-winner at Noofe; praised for matching international quality.
  • Mahdi Bonvari, Fariba Kalhor, and others emerging from the Noofe scene — Check anthologies or collections for their short fiction.
  • Iran +100: Stories from a Future State — An anthology of speculative fiction imagining Iran 100 years after a key historical moment; features multiple Iranian/diasporic voices (great for variety in English).
• Bonus for broader Persian-inspired speculative fiction (by authors of Iranian heritage, often in English):
  • Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust — Fantasy rooted in Persian myths.
  • The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia — Speculative with medical and cultural depth.

The genre is growing fast in Iran, with more translations and international interest emerging. If you're reading in Persian, dive into Noofe winners or Fantasy Academy publications. For English readers, Zoha Kazemi's translated books and anthologies like Iran +100 are excellent starting points. #IranianSciFi #PersianSpeculativeFiction

The Deep Red Trilogy

 The Deep Red Trilogy is a sci-fi project from the creators of Iron Sky, focusing on an alternate-history space satire where communists have secretly occupied Mars since the 1950s. The trilogy aims to replicate the cult success of Iron Sky, targeting international partners and financing. The films are planned to be shot back-to-back, with releases scheduled for 2029, 2030, and 2031. The project is not set within the Iron Sky universe but is designed with a similar outlandish tone. The first concept art for 'Deep Red' has been released, showcasing the ambitious scale of the project. 

A Giant On The Moon

 Captain Leo Vance floated in the gentle embrace of his sleeping bag, tethered to the wall of the ISS cupola. Below, the Earth was a swirling marble of blues and whites. Above, an infinite black velvet studded with stars. And there, hanging heavy in the viewport, was the Moon—a silent, grey sentinel.

Sleep in microgravity is a strange thing, and Leo’s drifted into a deeper, more anchored slumber than usual. He wasn’t in the station anymore. He was standing, boots planted firmly on a dusty grey plain. The silence was absolute, a physical pressure in his ears. He knew this was the Mare Tranquillitatis. He’d studied it for years. But something was wrong. Or, perhaps, wonderfully right.

A shadow fell over him, long and deep. He turned.

A giant sat on a ridge of crater rim, its back to the sun. It wasn’t a monster; its form was like a mountain given gentle life—a torso of layered basalt, arms of craggy stone, a head that was a single, smoothed boulder. Its eyes were two deep pools of starlight, and when it moved, it was with the slow, tectonic grace of continents adrift.

“Hello, small breather,” a voice said. It didn’t sound in the air, for there was none. It resonated directly in Leo’s bones, a low, grinding hum that felt like the memory of sound. The giant’s starlight eyes were fixed on him.

Leo’s training overrode his dream-logic. “I am Captain Leo Vance of the International Space Station. Identify yourself.” The formality sounded absurd in the vast, quiet dream.

A low, rocky chuckle vibrated through the regolith. “Names are for things that come and go. I am where I have always been. I am the sleeper in the ground, the watcher of the long night.” One massive, stone finger, large as a lunar rover, pointed slowly at the brilliant blue orb hanging in the black sky. “You are from the noisy one. The lively one.”

“Earth,” Leo confirmed, his scientific mind wrestling with the wonder. “You… you live here? How?”

“Live?” The giant considered, the starlight in its eyes dimming and brightening like a pulse. “I am. As the dust is. As the deep cold is. Your kind ‘lives.’ You burn so brightly, so quickly.” It shifted, and a small avalanche of grey dust whispered down its side. “I have watched your little lights appear on my skin. The silent footsteps. The metal bugs.”

“The Apollo landings,” Leo whispered, awestruck. “You saw them?”

“I felt them,” the giant corrected gently. “Taps. Polite, distant taps. Like a pebble dropped on a sleeping giant’s shoulder.” It leaned forward, and Leo felt no fear, only a profound, ancient calm. “You are a different tap. You carry more of the lively one inside you. I can hear its water in you.”

Leo looked down at his own gloved hands, then back at the Earth. “We’re trying to come back. To stay. Is that… would that be an annoyance?” He couldn’t believe he was asking a moon giant for real estate permission.

The giant’s laughter was a friendly, deep tremor that sent puffs of dust jumping around Leo’s boots. “The mountain does not mind the moss. You are welcome to your nests, small breather. But you are so fragile. All that water, all that fire inside you… it is a beautiful, precarious magic.” Its starlight gaze seemed to soften. “Tell the others to step softly. Even a giant enjoys a quiet rest.”

Leo nodded, a profound sense of responsibility settling on him, heavier than any spacesuit. “I will. We will.”

“Good.” The giant began to recede, not by moving, but by becoming more still, more indistinguishable from the landscape. The starlight in its eyes faded to mere reflection. “Do not fear the quiet dark, Captain Leo Vance. It is not empty. It is simply… patient.”

***

A soft chime from a life-support system monitor pulled Leo back. He blinked, the stark white interior of the cupola replacing the monochrome dreamscape. The Moon still hung in his viewport, a magnificent, barren globe.

His crewmate, Maya, floated in, yawning. “You okay, Leo? You’ve been staring at the Moon for ten minutes straight.”

Leo didn’t look away. “Just… thinking.”

“About the Artemis base site selection?”

“About being a guest,” Leo said softly. He finally turned to her, a faint, wondering smile on his face. “We should remember, when we go down there, that we’re visitors. We should step softly.”

Maya raised an eyebrow, amused. “Well, yeah. Sharp regolith and all that. Don’t want to puncture a boot.”

“No,” Leo agreed, his gaze drifting back to the serene, grey face outside the window. “You don’t.” And for a moment, in the play of shadows along the terminator line, he could almost imagine the gentle slope of a shoulder, the patient curve of a back, resting for eons under the silent stars.

Elon Musk’s New Priority: A Self-Growing City on the Moon in Under 10 Years

 Elon Musk has long been synonymous with ambitious visions for humanity's future in space, particularly through his company SpaceX. While his ultimate goal has centered on making humanity multi-planetary—starting with Mars—recent developments show a significant strategic pivot toward the Moon. In early 2026, Musk announced that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing, self-sustaining city on the Moon, potentially achievable in less than 10 years.

This shift doesn't abandon Mars but reframes it as a longer-term objective, with lunar efforts taking precedence to secure civilization's future more rapidly.Why the Moon First? Musk's RationaleMusk explained the change in priorities on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting practical advantages over Mars:

• Launch frequency and iteration speed — Missions to the Moon can launch roughly every 10 days, with travel times of about 2 days. In contrast, Mars opportunities align only every 26 months due to planetary positions, with journeys taking around 6 months. This allows far faster testing, learning, and scaling on the Moon.
• Timeline for self-sufficiency — A self-growing lunar city could emerge in under a decade, while a comparable Mars settlement might require 20+ years.
• Civilizational backup — Musk emphasizes the Moon as a faster path to establishing a resilient off-world presence. A catastrophe on Earth could sever supply lines to a distant Mars colony, but a lunar base would be more accessible and iterable.

He reaffirmed that SpaceX's core mission—to extend consciousness and life to the stars—remains unchanged. Mars city construction is still planned to begin in about 5–7 years, and lunar progress could even accelerate Mars efforts through shared technology and revenue.The Role of Starship and NASA's Artemis ProgramAt the heart of these plans is Starship, SpaceX's fully reusable super-heavy launch vehicle. Starship serves dual purposes:

1. As the Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon sustainably.
2. As the foundation for large-scale lunar cargo and crew transport.

Key upcoming milestones include:

• Orbital propellant transfer demonstrations (targeted around mid-2026).
• An uncrewed lunar landing demonstration (potentially by March–June 2027).
• Crewed lunar landings (aiming for 2028 or later under Artemis III/IV).

These steps build toward frequent, high-volume deliveries to the lunar surface—essential for constructing a growing settlement. Musk has described a future where Starship enables "anyone" to travel to the Moon, making it accessible at scale.Beyond Landing: A Self-Growing Lunar CityMusk envisions more than outposts or temporary bases. The "self-growing city" concept involves using local lunar resources (regolith for construction, polar ice for water/oxygen/fuel) to expand autonomously. This could include:

• Industrial facilities, potentially for producing AI satellites or data centers in low-gravity, vacuum conditions.
• Mass drivers (electromagnetic catapults) to launch payloads cheaply into orbit.
• Integration with xAI initiatives for orbital AI compute, leveraging abundant solar energy.

Challenges remain—such as sourcing carbon and hydrogen for fuel and life support—but Musk asserts the Moon has sufficient resources to bootstrap a civilization.Implications for the FutureThis pivot aligns with geopolitical realities, including U.S. efforts to lead lunar exploration amid competition from other nations. It also ties into broader goals like protecting consciousness from Earth-bound risks while accelerating innovation through rapid lunar cycles.Musk's vision is bold: return to the Moon not just to visit, but to stay, build, and grow—paving the way for Mars and beyond. As he put it, the Moon offers the fastest path to a multi-world future.What do you think—will we see a thriving lunar city by the mid-2030s, or is this another ambitious timeline? The stars (and the Moon) are closer than ever.