Worlds of Speculative Fiction

Dr. Sadler's monthly talk series on narrative worlds and philosophical themes of speculative fiction, available worldwide

Your Instructor


Gregory B. Sadler
Gregory B. Sadler

After a successful career as a college professor, researcher, and administrator, I started our company, ReasonIO (with my wife and partner, Andi Sciacca) in order to help people study and apply philosophy in public, practical, and professional contexts. I continue teaching philosophy, literature, religious studies, and humanities courses at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

I take difficult philosophical texts, thinkers, and topics, and make them accessible for everyday people. That's how philosophy gets traction and remains closely connected with real life! The work I do with ReasonIO includes online course development and teaching, public speaking, organizational and ethics consulting, tutorial sessions, development of philosophy content, and philosophical counseling.

My work and expertise covers a wide range of topics, thinkers, and texts in western philosophy, ranging through ancient, medieval, modern, and late modern periods. Among the schools, movements, and traditions I draw upon are Platonism, Aristotelianism, Stoicism, Patristic and Medieval Christian thought, Dialectical thought, Existentialism, Critical Theory, and Philosophy as a Way of Life.

From 2016 to 2022, I served as the Editor of Stoicism Today. I remain a member of the Modern Stoicism, ltd. team. I am also the producer of the Half Hour Hegel series, which is nearing its completion. I have authored one book (Reason Fulfilled By Revelation), edited two volumes (Stoicism Today Selected Essays, volume 3 and volume 4), and published dozens of articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries. Although I work in significant part outside of the academy, I remain actively engaged in research and scholarship.

In recent years, I have held a Research Residency at the Institute for Saint Anselm Studies, been a Visiting Scholar position at European Graduate School, and was a Charles Chesnutt Library Fellow. I am also an APPA-certified Philosophical Counselor.


Course Curriculum


  Session 8 - Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Universe (August 2016)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 9 - Michael Moorcock's Multiverse and the Eternal Champion (September 2016)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 10 - Philip K. Dick's Alternate America (October 2016)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 11 - Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy (December 2016)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 12 - George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire (December 2016)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 13 - Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld (January 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 14 - Madeline L'Engle's Time Quintet (February 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 15 - Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker Galaxy (March 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 18 - Iain Banks Culture Series Galaxy (June 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 19 - H.P. Lovecraft's Universe of the Elder Gods (August 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 20 - William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy (September 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 21 - C.L Moore's Fantastic Worlds (October 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 22 - Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy (December 2017)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 24 - Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Series (February 2018)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 25 - Robert Heinlein's Novels of the Future (March 2018)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 25 - L Sprague de Camp's Compleat Enchanter Multiverse (April 2018)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 27 - Andre Norton's Witch World Series
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 28 - Robert Howard 's Hyborean Age and Conan Stories
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 29 - Arthur Clarke's Mysterious Cosmos
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 30 - C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union Universe
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 31 - Jack Vance's Dying Earth Series
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 32 - Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 33 - Edgar Allan Poe's Uncanny Universe
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 34 - G.K. Chesterton's Novels of Intrigue and Rebellion
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 35 - Lewis Carroll's Fantastic Lands
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 36 - Tanith Lee's Flat Earth Series
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 37 - Gordon Dickson's Childe Cycle
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 38 - August Derleth's Universe of the Cthulhu Mythos
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 39 - Karl Edward Wagner's Ancient World of Kane
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 40 - Aldous Huxley's Utopias and Dystopias
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 41 - Bram Stoker's World of Gothic Horror
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 43 - China Mieville's Bas-Lag Novels
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 44 - Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 45 - Walter Miller's Post-Flame-Deluge Leibowitz Novels
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 46 - Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea Trilogy
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 47 - Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea Continued
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 48 - Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 49 - Philip K Dick's Stories of Colonization and Insanity
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 50 - R. Scott Bakker, The Darkness That Comes Before
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 51 - R. Scott Bakker, The Warrior Prophet
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 52 - R. Scott Bakker, The Thousandfold Thought
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 53 - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers (volume 1)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 54 - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers (volume 2)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 55 - A. E. Van Vogt's Isher and Weapons Shops Novels
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 56 - Stanislaw Lem's Solaris (and some other works)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 57 - Neil Stephenson's Anathem Polycosm
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 58 - Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 59 - Octavia Butler's Parables of American Dystopia
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 60 - Olaf Stapledon's Cosmic Novels
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 61 - Veronica Roth's Carve The Mark Universe
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 62 - Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber (continued)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 63 - J G Ballard's Modern Urban Dystopias
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 64 - Philip Dick's Androids and Humans
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 65 - Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos (part 1)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 66 - Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos (part 2)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 67 - Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher Series
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 68 - Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (part 1)
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Session 69 - Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (part 2)
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
Do I need to read all of the books discussed before I take this course?
No - you can read whatever works you want by the authors we are covering. You will likely get more out of the course if you do read some of the texts discussed.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! You can always unenroll from the course whenever you decide.

Get started now!