Russell Blackford—BOOKS
Philosophy, Law and Public Policy
Freedom of Religion and the Secular State, Wiley-Blackwell January 2012.
AC Grayling says: "This is a must-read: Blackford has given us a forceful and persuasive book that will have a big impact on the debate it addresses."
In the book, I argue that religious freedom is more than a crude quid pro quo arrangement – "We won’t persecute you if you don’t persecute us." Instead, it goes to the heart of what state power is really for. Do we think it's to give citizens spiritual guidance, or is the state an essentially secular institution? That question lies at the heart of many intransigent hot-button issues that cause so much angst in current societies. What, if anything, should we do about the burqa? Should anti-religious satire be allowed? Should our laws enforce religious notions of morality – as with abortion restrictions, attacks on gay rights, and opposition to stem-cell research? I propose a way ahead that should be acceptable to most religious people, as well as to non-believers.
50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists (co-edited with Udo Schuklenk), Wiley-Blackwell October 2009.
Original essays from contributors including Peter Singer, Joe Haldeman and Maryam Namazie.
See many excellent reviews here, including this one: "By turns witty, serious, engaging and information, it is always human and deeply honest, and immensely rewarding to read." (Times Higher Education Supplement, December 2009)
Kong Reborn, iBooks October 2005.
Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles series:
§ Dark Futures (Book One of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles) iBooks August 2002.
§ An Evil Hour (Book Two of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles) iBooks May 2003.
§ Times of Trouble (Book Three of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles) iBooks September 2003.
Urban Fantasies (anthology of original Australian speculative fiction, co-edited with David King), Ebony Books 1985. Authors include Greg Egan, David Brooks and George Turner.
The Tempting of the Witch King (a fantasy novel), Cory & Collins 1983.
Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction (written with Van Ikin and Sean McMullen), Greenwood Press 1999.
“The bibliographies alone make the book a must purchase for any library with serious holdings in either science fiction or Australian literature....Readers interested in nineteenth-century fantastic literature will find Strange Constellations particularly valuable....Strange Constellations is as good a work of literary history as one could wish for....Concise, judicious in its appraisal of the writers under consideration...clearly written.”–Science Fiction Studies.
Hyperdreams: Damien Broderick's Space/Time Fiction (a short monograph, also available on Damien Broderick's unofficial web site), Nimrod Press 1998.
Contrary Modes (proceedings of the academic track of Aussiecon 2, edited with Jenny Blackford, Lucy Sussex and Norman Talbot), Ebony Books 1985.
(Also see Selected Articles and Stories and Full Bibliography for information about my other publications. Some of my published articles (and extracts from my published fiction) are available free here.)