Maintenance Monday
Science Fictional Education
A while back, a friend of mine commented to me that she wanted to find a way to get back into reading science fiction, but she wasn't sure where to start. My first reaction was to make a list of all of my favorite SF books EVER, thrust it at her, and tell her to read them all! But once I started looking at some of my favorites, I realized how diverse my tastes are in SF alone, and it also made me think about my own love/hate relationship with SF and its fandom, and how easily both the genre and the fandom can scare potential readers away. I really hate that.
Author Jo Walton commented on the difficulty of introducing science fiction to non-science fiction readers, and if you haven't read her article at Tor.com, I highly recommend you do so here: Gateway drugs: what books are good for introducing non-SF readers to SF?
Book Love Affair also touched on the differences between science fiction and fantasy, noticing that it's harder to pull readers into giveaways for SF and secondary world fantasy versus more modern, accessible genres like YA and urban fantasy. You can read that post and its commentary here.
These posts reminded me of my friend, who I never got back to in terms of a list of science fiction. And the reason I didn't, other than her stressing to take my time, was that really, everyone's path to science fiction is different. There are people who grew up with the greats--Asimov, Heinlein, Ellison--and their reading and tastes are very much colored by what they were given at a certain time. That's true of all of us, but gather together five different SF readers (mixing of course for gender and race and sexuality) and ask those people where a newbie should start, and I guarantee you'll get five different lists. Because some people read SF for adventure. Others for the science. Others for social commentary you just can't get anywhere else. And others simply for a story that moves them.
And I thought: if everyone comes to the genre a little differently, with different expectations, why don't I show you my path and let you use mine to find your own?
Here's how it'd work: every one to two weeks, I'll post my guide to SF with examples and explanations of why you should give those examples a shot and/or what types of readers these examples would appeal to the most. Obviously, these examples would come of my own experience, and obviously, I'm going to name stuff that I've read but not necessarily fallen in love with (but I will note when I fell in love with something, don't worry). All that's required of you, of course, is nothing. You decide if anything stands out to you, and you pick the path you want to take through the genre. This way, you can come to the genre on your OWN terms, rather than those dictated by the fandom or whoever deems themselves an expert in the field.
I'm no expert. I just know the path I took, why I took it, and why I'm still reading science fiction today. The lists and suggestions may surprise you (and may offend those older, hardcore SF readers, but oh well), so I hope you'll get something good out of them. After all, not all of us were raised in that Golden Age where books were kings and its authors lords of the genre. If you're like me, you were or ARE being raised in a time where several genres and mediums compete for our attention, and if you don't find the right type of written word that holds your attention, the wrong book may put you off the genre for an unfortunately long time.
Also, I'm not saying that of my examples, you'll love all or any of them. But it's a chance for you to look at the genre broken down, it's a chance for you to go, "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad!"
Interested? Let me know, because I don't want to start this "series" without knowing that some people will find it useful. :)
Poll Science Fiction Series: Yay or Nay?
Book Club Selections
February: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
March: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
April: The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
Book Sale: Y'all, I seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY need to move some books. Won't you take a look? Details are here.
Upcoming Reviews: Children of God by Mary Doria Russell and The God Engines by John Scalzi
Currently Reading: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
2010 Reading Total: 13 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 48 out of 365. #49 will be tonight!BOOK CLUB POLL TIME!!!
So one of the ideas I had for future themes was a short story theme. Not that we would read a SINGLE short story, but rather a collection of shorts by a specific author OR a themed anthology by many authors. A few of you have expressed interest in such a theme, so I wanted to open the idea up to everyone participating (or hoping to) participate in the book club.
Please, do NOT answer if you have no intention of EVER participating in the book club.
Poll Short Story Theme?
Thanks, everyone!
A while back, a friend of mine commented to me that she wanted to find a way to get back into reading science fiction, but she wasn't sure where to start. My first reaction was to make a list of all of my favorite SF books EVER, thrust it at her, and tell her to read them all! But once I started looking at some of my favorites, I realized how diverse my tastes are in SF alone, and it also made me think about my own love/hate relationship with SF and its fandom, and how easily both the genre and the fandom can scare potential readers away. I really hate that.
Author Jo Walton commented on the difficulty of introducing science fiction to non-science fiction readers, and if you haven't read her article at Tor.com, I highly recommend you do so here: Gateway drugs: what books are good for introducing non-SF readers to SF?
Book Love Affair also touched on the differences between science fiction and fantasy, noticing that it's harder to pull readers into giveaways for SF and secondary world fantasy versus more modern, accessible genres like YA and urban fantasy. You can read that post and its commentary here.
These posts reminded me of my friend, who I never got back to in terms of a list of science fiction. And the reason I didn't, other than her stressing to take my time, was that really, everyone's path to science fiction is different. There are people who grew up with the greats--Asimov, Heinlein, Ellison--and their reading and tastes are very much colored by what they were given at a certain time. That's true of all of us, but gather together five different SF readers (mixing of course for gender and race and sexuality) and ask those people where a newbie should start, and I guarantee you'll get five different lists. Because some people read SF for adventure. Others for the science. Others for social commentary you just can't get anywhere else. And others simply for a story that moves them.
And I thought: if everyone comes to the genre a little differently, with different expectations, why don't I show you my path and let you use mine to find your own?
Here's how it'd work: every one to two weeks, I'll post my guide to SF with examples and explanations of why you should give those examples a shot and/or what types of readers these examples would appeal to the most. Obviously, these examples would come of my own experience, and obviously, I'm going to name stuff that I've read but not necessarily fallen in love with (but I will note when I fell in love with something, don't worry). All that's required of you, of course, is nothing. You decide if anything stands out to you, and you pick the path you want to take through the genre. This way, you can come to the genre on your OWN terms, rather than those dictated by the fandom or whoever deems themselves an expert in the field.
I'm no expert. I just know the path I took, why I took it, and why I'm still reading science fiction today. The lists and suggestions may surprise you (and may offend those older, hardcore SF readers, but oh well), so I hope you'll get something good out of them. After all, not all of us were raised in that Golden Age where books were kings and its authors lords of the genre. If you're like me, you were or ARE being raised in a time where several genres and mediums compete for our attention, and if you don't find the right type of written word that holds your attention, the wrong book may put you off the genre for an unfortunately long time.
Also, I'm not saying that of my examples, you'll love all or any of them. But it's a chance for you to look at the genre broken down, it's a chance for you to go, "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad!"
Interested? Let me know, because I don't want to start this "series" without knowing that some people will find it useful. :)
Poll Science Fiction Series: Yay or Nay?
Book Club Selections
February: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
March: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
April: The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
Book Sale: Y'all, I seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY need to move some books. Won't you take a look? Details are here.
Upcoming Reviews: Children of God by Mary Doria Russell and The God Engines by John Scalzi
Currently Reading: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
2010 Reading Total: 13 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 48 out of 365. #49 will be tonight!BOOK CLUB POLL TIME!!!
So one of the ideas I had for future themes was a short story theme. Not that we would read a SINGLE short story, but rather a collection of shorts by a specific author OR a themed anthology by many authors. A few of you have expressed interest in such a theme, so I wanted to open the idea up to everyone participating (or hoping to) participate in the book club.
Please, do NOT answer if you have no intention of EVER participating in the book club.
Poll Short Story Theme?
Thanks, everyone!