Science fiction (sci-fi) literature has evolved significantly from its early origins in the 19th century to the diverse and dynamic genre we see today.

Understanding this evolution involves tracing key eras, examining how technological and socio-political influences shaped themes and narratives, and recognizing contributions from traditionally underrepresented authors and voices.

The beginnings of science fiction literature are often traced to Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein" (1818), widely regarded as the first science fiction novel, which combined Gothic elements with questions about science and ethics.

Following her, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells established foundational aspects of the genre.

Verne’s adventure and exploration stories, such as "Journey to the Center of the Earth," imagined scientific wonders with an optimistic tone, while Wells’ works like "The Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds" introduced speculative social commentary, blending imaginative science with critiques of contemporary issues such as class and imperialism.

These early authors embedded scientific curiosity within narratives that questioned humanity’s place and future, thus setting the mold for science fiction as a form of social critique as well as imaginative speculation.

The genre's development accelerated in the early to mid-20th century during what is referred to as the "Golden Age" of science fiction, approximately from the 1930s to the 1950s.

This era, dominated by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Frank Herbert, emphasized technological progress, space exploration, and the potential of human achievement through science and engineering.

Classic works such as Asimov’s "Foundation" series, Herbert’s "Dune," and Heinlein’s "Starship Troopers" combined expansive world-building with explorations of sociology, politics, and ethics.

The Golden Age codified many of the genre’s conventions, including the focus on "hard" science and the heroic exploration of the cosmos.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of the New Wave movement in science fiction, which shifted the focus from external technological wonders to internal psychology, social structures, and literary experimentation.

Influential authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick brought a heightened interest in human identity, consciousness, and societal critique.

Le Guin’s works, including "The Left Hand of Darkness," infused the genre with anthropological and feminist insights, questioning norms of gender and culture.

Dick’s stories explored unstable realities and political paranoia, expanding science fiction’s thematic range.

The New Wave also incorporated more experimental writing styles and challenged the rigid boundaries of the genre.

In recent decades, science fiction has further diversified and expanded in both themes and voices, reacting to rapid technological advancements like digital computing, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, as well as social and political developments such as environmentalism, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activism.

Movements such as cyberpunk—influenced by the rise of information technology and characterized by dystopian settings blending low-life and high-tech—have redefined futuristic narratives.

Contemporary sci-fi increasingly addresses ecological crises, identity politics, and global perspectives, reflecting a broader cultural consciousness.

Importantly, the genre has grown to encompass a wide array of voices from traditionally underrepresented demographics, reshaping the canon and expanding thematic depth.

Women authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood have introduced feminist perspectives, character-driven storytelling, and nuanced examinations of power and environment within science fiction.

N.K. Jemisin, for example, has achieved critical acclaim for her exploration of social injustice and systemic oppression within speculative settings.

Authors of color, particularly in the Africanfuturist movement, including Nnedi Okorafor, have brought culturally rich narratives drawing on African mythology and speculative futures.

LGBTQ+ writers have contributed deeply to stories interrogating identity, sexuality, and social justice, infusing the genre with new dimensions of personal and political conflict.

Representation continues to expand globally, with recent waves including prominent Chinese authors like Liu Cixin, whose "Three-Body Problem" trilogy has gained international recognition for its sophisticated hard-science narrative and philosophical speculation, and Wang Jinkang, known for integrating Chinese cultural elements into speculative futures.

Likewise, science fiction from the Arab world is growing, drawing on ancient philosophical traditions and contemporary political concerns to produce innovative utopian and dystopian works.

The development of science fiction has been closely tied to broader technological and societal changes.

Initially responding to the industrial revolution, early science fiction explored mechanization and human progress.

The atomic age and space race of the mid-20th century turned the genre towards visions of space exploration and the consequences of nuclear power.

The digital age inspired cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk narratives that engage with the implications of computing, AI, and virtual realities.

Social movements such as feminism, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activism informed the narratives, pushing science fiction to confront questions of social justice, identity, and equity.

The traditional canon of science fiction comprises foundational texts such as Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein," the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and the Golden Age masterpieces of Asimov’s "Foundation," Herbert’s "Dune," and Heinlein’s novels.

However, the contemporary canon increasingly includes more diverse voices and genres.

Authors such as Liu Cixin with "The Three-Body Problem," N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood are examples of who have brought fresh perspectives and have been recognized by major awards like the Hugo and Nebula.

Many recent acclaimed works also blur the boundaries between science fiction and other genres such as fantasy, horror, and literary fiction, reflecting a more experimental and inclusive era.

Anthologies and series featuring women, non-binary authors, and writers from China, Africa, and other regions demonstrate this expanding inclusivity.

The genre’s institutional recognition through awards and conferences reflects this broadening scope.

Moreover, science fiction literature increasingly grafts literary traditions with modern scientific understanding, philosophical inquiry, and cross-cultural aesthetics—seen in Chinese classics and Western works alike.

This interdisciplinary interaction has produced a vibrant literary form rooted in both imaginative speculation and real-world scientific concepts.

Lastly, current genre-bending works incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, queer themes, and magic realism to produce complex, layered narratives that defy conventional categorization.

This reflects a sci-fi landscape that is not only evolving in thematic content but also in stylistic and narrative experimentation, fostering an inclusive environment for diverse voices and stories.

In conclusion, the evolution of science fiction literature is marked by continuous growth from its scientific and social origins through the technological optimism of the Golden Age, the introspective and experimental New Wave, and into a contemporary period characterized by global perspectives, inclusivity, and genre innovation.

For your science fiction book club, it will be valuable to select texts that represent this historical breadth—traditional classics like Wells and Asimov, alongside works by influential women, authors of color, and LGBTQ+ voices who have enriched and expanded the genre’s thematic and cultural horizons.

Science fiction (sci-fi) literature has evolved significantly from its early origins in the 19th century to the diverse and dynamic genre we see today.

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Content: Swords & Spaceships

8 Excellent Genre-Bending Sci-Fi Tales To Take You to the Next Frontier

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Lyndsie Manusos

Senior Contributor

Lyndsie Manusos’s fiction has appeared in PANK, SmokeLong Quarterly, and other publications. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked in web production and content management. When she’s not nesting among her books and rough drafts, she’s chasing the baby while the dog watches in confused amusement. She lives with her family in a suburb of Indianapolis.

Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald, published by Grove Atlantic

The must-read queer sci-fi thriller of the summer! In a world just one perilous step from our own, an unlikely pair sets out on the most dangerous and otherwordly mission of their lives. When a diner suddenly appears in a remote field, Adam and Rao are confronted with the most devastating weapon they have ever seen: Prophet. No one knows who created it, or why, but this spooky substance is bringing happy memories to life, then stifling people with their own joy. Despite their troubled past, the two are drawn closer than ever to defend what they hold most dear.

As I said in my 2022 science fiction subgenre primer, the genre of science fiction is expanding. Like our universe, it is expanding quickly, redefined with every story, be it short or long-form. And beneath the large umbrella of science fiction, subgenres are added and redefined. All in all, there are endless ways to tell a science fiction story (don’t let any old guard tell you different).

And then — subgenres aside — there is genre-bending science fiction. There is science fiction that centers horror and science fiction that is fabulist and weird. There’s science fantasy, as well as science fiction romance. There’s science fiction that is nearly unclassifiable, a mixture of so many things, or even all the things. I’ve mentioned in my Book Riot oeuvre that genre-bending of any shape or size is my kind of work. When writers are bold and brave in their genre weaving, that’s when the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. That’s when I rub my hands together and think, “oh, this is going to be good.”

Genre-bending science fiction doesn’t have to be confined to the novel form, either. Short fiction science fiction is in a golden age right now. Check out the latest finalists and winners for the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus awards, and I promise you will find mindblowing, genre-bending, exceptional work.

Below I will showcase eight tremendous genre-bending science fiction tales, ranging from short stories to novels, and everything in between. I believe I’ve mentioned at least one in a previous post from last year, but you’ll notice the genre coverage is different. Ergo, these stories are genre-bending.

In any case, I hope you’ll enjoy these stories as much as I do.

Genre-Bending Science Fiction: Novels & Novellas

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

Fatima had a past before she became known as Sankofa. Before those around her called her the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. With a mere glance, an entire town could fall. But before that, the world was different.

So much of what Okorafor writes is genre-bending science fiction (the Binti trilogy!). This novella begins in an almost fantasy-horror like fashion: Sankofa walking, leaving fear and horror in her wake. But as the story unfolds, it becomes this all-encompassing tale of African futurism, how the world shapes us, and then how we might reshape the world.

Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones

One of the things I love about including this book is seeing this title on Goodreads and reading all the genres it’s described as. Hint: it’s like all the genres. Fantasy, science fiction, time travel, magic, dragons, robots, portals, you name it, Hexwood probably has it. And clearly, none of this should surprise you coming from the legendary Diana Wynne Jones.

The tale follows Ann Stavely as she watches people disappear through the farm’s gate. She meets a sorcerer, and time begins to move differently in the woods nearby. Little does she know that far beyond Earth, Controller Borasus receives word that an ancient machine has been awakened.

I mean, clearly, genre-bending at its finest.

Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo

I love how Victor Manibo is always able to craft the perfect mystery within his brilliant science fiction worlds. Manibo is a master at showing Earth just around corner, especially if we keep on our current trajectory. Picture a world of hyper-capitalism, a luxury liner — Space Habitat Altaire —and a ruthless world of amassing “points” in order for the chance to start a new life on Mars.

Now, add a decadent mystery of whodunit with a sprinkle of who’s willing to do anything to get what they want: Ava wants to find out who murdered her brother; Laz wants to win Ava’s heart; Sloane wants to collect secrets as his family’s wealth declines; Henry will do whatever it takes to get to Mars.

And all this is set during a class reunion on a luxury space liner, with twists and turns you won’t see coming. Get your science fiction Knives Out fix with this one.

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

I still think about this book. I still think about Borne and that giant bear, Mord. This book is solidly science fiction, but it’s also just fucking weird. That’s honestly the best way to describe it, too, which is why I love it so much. It’s post-apocalyptic, and it manages to be both epic and extremely intimate.

Rachel is trying to survive in a world that wants to kill her at every turn. Then she finds Borne, an amorphous creature, in the fur of a Godzilla-sized bear named Mord. Rachel cannot bring herself, nor allow her lover Wick, to destroy Borne. Borne reminds her of better times and better places, and an attachment grows between them. This book is personal as well as out of this world. It’s weird fiction at its finest. It’s science fiction at its most profound.

Genre-Bending Science Fiction: Short Form

This list includes short fiction, though that ranges in word count. Below you’ll find tales that are short stories or novelettes.

Foxfire, Foxfire” by Yoon Ha Lee from Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Let me begin by saying that the publication of this story is in a highly respected (and one of my personal favorites) genre magazine called Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Its mission: to publish the very best in “literary adventure fantasy.” And yet, this story also has beautifully crafted science fiction elements.

This novelette follows Baekdo, a magical, shapeshifting fox who is able to speak to gods. Baekdo is set on becoming human, which requires him to kill — and devour the liver of — 100 humans. Baekdo has no qualms about coming to his 100th kill, but things don’t go as planned. Baekdo’s 100th victim is the pilot of a Cataphract, a giant battle mech. Baekdo swears on the tiger-sages that he will keep his oath with the pilot, Jong, and finish her mission. It’s an intimate, magical tale while also being epic in scope. Truly, a genre-bending masterpiece.

The Gondoliers” by Karen Russell from Orange World and Other Stories

Karen Russell is a masterful genre-bending writer. I fell in love with Russell’s work over ten years ago, with her first collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Like Kelly Link, Russell was vital in redefining, for me at least, what fiction, especially literary fiction, can do. “The Gondoliers” is a wonderful example of this.

It follows Janelle Picarro, a.k.a Blister, in a post-apocalyptic world where parts of Florida have fully submerged underwater and is now called New Florida. Blister is a gondolier, ferrying people across the waters. Blister and her sisters use echolocation to communicate and steer. There is a little bit of everything in this story, and you won’t be the same when you reach the end.

Memories of Memories Lost” by Mahmud El Sayed from khōréō

khōréō is one of my favorite speculative fiction magazines. “In Memories of Memories Lost,” El Sayed crafts a devastatingly personal short story of memory, loss, and sacrifice.

After aliens take over Earth, humans must pay a “memory tax” to their cosmic invaders. The story follows Ahmed, who chooses, for his tax, to give a large family memory in the form of a heirloom. In doing so, he can assure the comfort of his father, who suffers from dementia. It’s a story of complex relationships and love. It’s a story that begs hard questions of ourselves, our souls, and our loved ones: What if we could give traumatic memories away? Would we regret the loss?

The Dizzy Room” by Kristina Ten from Nightmare Magazine

Look, I know I’ve mentioned this story before, and it’s because the story is that good. Published in the renowned horror magazine Nightmare, this story is about a video game, but it’s also a horror story about memory and language. There are images and a multitude of sensory details that will haunt me forever.

This is science fiction horror at its best, with a mounting dread that will have you tempted to lean back while also leaning forward, closer to the page, admittedly desperate to hear the sounds of the game itself beckoning you. I am not at all surprised that this story is a finalist for the 2023 Shirley Jackson Awards.

Find Genre-Bending Stories Everywhere

Every genre has trailblazers, writers who take a genre and build upon it, question and criticize it, and remold it into something new. These are the writers I seek out again and again to dissect and study these genres, rediscovering them and also falling in love with them all over again. They are out there now, and their stories are waiting.

If you’re interested in more genre-bending work, check out these other Book Riot gems:

Understanding this evolution involves tracing key eras, examining how technological and socio-political influences shaped themes and narratives, and recognizing contributions from traditionally underrepresented authors and voices.

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Content: Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Attention to technology.
Writers explain the shift in current literature
In a new novel by journalist Yumi Adejuki, an anonymous statement circulating on social media threatens to undermine the burgeoning relationship between a young couple, the novel illustrates all the fears and toxins that social media apps can sow.
Anatomy of the role of contemporary technology
This is not the only work of fiction in recent years that puts aspects of modern technology under the microscope, there are many books that dissect the role of contemporary technology in our lives.
In Gabriel Zevin ’ s Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, he touches on the themes of life, death, reconciliation, and love through the lens of the evolution of video games and online worlds.
A best-selling book like Yellowface looks at race, privilege, power, and the pitfalls of the publishing industry, but it also touches on Twitter.
Technology company scandals
Bookblogger Julian Bonocore told Mashable that she has seen a rise in technology-based fiction in recent times, attributing it to the fact that such books play on the public ’ s concerns, especially regarding real-life tech scandals in Silicon Valley and big tech companies.
Technology-based stories are compelling and interesting, from business diving to personal success and scandals.
Young author Wendy Maas told Mashable: “Twenty-first-century novels are increasingly entangled with the constant evolution of technology and its impact on humans.
For decades, futuristic gadgets like artificial-intelligence-controlled devices and the ability to instantly communicate with anyone around the world have been the exclusive stuff of science fiction writers.
Now, a lot of great technology has become part of our daily lives, so authors of other genres can incorporate it into their stories as well.
The ever-evolving technology
Stories about tech workers have become commonplace.
Many authors have been praised for their accounts of the people behind the big tech companies and the dark side of the industry.
Sometimes, the industry is used as a symbolic story, but more often, as a framework for exploring the undulating consequences of a culture of bustle, freedom, and ambition.
Sophie Vershbow, a writer who previously worked in publishing for 10 years, believes that this kind of fiction exploits our very real and human fears about the ever-evolving technology landscape.
Books containing technology are popular for the same reason dystopian novels were popular during President Trump ’ s presidency, and epidemiological novels were popular during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Imagination is a way to indulge our fears and curiosity across pages.

The beginnings of science fiction literature are often traced to Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein" (1818), widely regarded as the first science fiction novel, which combined Gothic elements with questions about science and ethics.

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Content: 60 Sci-Fi Books That All Science Fiction Fans Must Read

Are you looking for a new science fiction book to read? Looking to fill up your reading list with journeys to strange new worlds and fast-paced science fiction adventures? You're in luck because we've compiled a list of the best sci-fi books.

Whether you're looking to dive into the great sci-fi classics you missed out on or you're looking to delve into brand new tales from up-and-coming indie authors, you're sure to find something that will spark creativity and excitement for you. Science fiction and fantasy novels provide us with allegories, cautionary tales, and deep dives into the human condition told through the lens of the fantastical and the cutting-edge.

The Best Sci-Fi Origins Books

Where did it all begin? Read these early tales with impossible futures, fascinating creatures, time travel, and alien invasion!

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein brought us the iconic monster made by Victor Frankenstein. Considered the first true science fiction novel of the modern era, it would foreshadow genetic tinkering stories of the future.

The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish (also called The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World)

Considered to be the first science fiction work, in the 17th century, Duchess of Newcastle Margaret Cavendish wrote of a utopian world.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The third Oz book by L. Frank Baum features Tik-Tok, the wind-up clockwork man Dorothy Gale encounters in the Land of Ev. Tik-Tok is basically one of the first robots in literature. Other wacky features in Ozma of Oz include a sand-sailing boat and lunch pail tree.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

A 19th century classic by Wells, depicting time travel and inspiring science fiction tales for over a century.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

The book would go on to inspire a radio program that terrified people into thinking Martians were actually invading Earth. Wells would kickstart first contact stories and alien invasion at the same time, offering up a cautionary tale that touches sci-fi to this day.

The Best Sci-Fi Space Epics Books

Transport yourself across the universe with these pillars of world-building in science fiction, all of which are either now adapted for TV or film or soon will be.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert’s Dune is considered a masterwork of world-building and family intrigue, inspiring other famous series and their respective houses. In the first book, Paul Atreides encounters the resident free people of the planet Arrakis (Dune), the Fremen, and achieves a destiny of messianic proportions. Dune recently graced the big screen in a new adaptation by Denis Villeneuve.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor's Binti novella series begins with Binti, a Hugo-award-winning Africanfuturistic science fiction horror story published by Tor.com. Binti is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the most exalted institution of higher learning in the galaxy. She faces the choice to accept the offer and give up her place in her family so that she can travel among the stars. Hulu has ordered a pilot for Binti.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

The beginning of the Foundation series reveals the “psychohistory” developed by mathematician Harry Seldon. Seldon would establish a new empire called Foundation to preserve the culture from societal collapse. Foundation debuted as a TV show on Apple TV in 2021.

Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

Gareth L. Powell's award-winning trilogy Embers of War follows the war-weary crew of the sentient spaceship Trouble Dog, who after becoming disgusted by her role in war joins the House of Reclamation. Trouble Dog and her captain Sal Konstanz are sent on a rescue mission, which intersects a mission to find missing poet Ona Sundak. The galaxy teeters on the brink of another war, just as an alien presence makes itself known, altering the course of things to come. Now under development for TV.

Rendezvous with Rama by Sir Arthur C. Clarke

A strange spacecraft enters the solar system, and humanity investigates. The secrets within the enormous craft, called Rama, reveal the heritage of an advanced alien civilization. Rendezvous with Rama is in development for a film adaptation with Denis Villeneuve at the helm.

The Best Hard Sci-Fi Books

If you like your science fiction taut with the edginess of battle and the implication of future wars, you must add these books to your collection!

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

This classic military sci-fi epic details the tragic effects of time dilation on a group of soldiers fighting a seemingly endless war.

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Set in the 29th century, Louis Wu and his companions explore a vast, Earth-orbit-sized, constructed world. Their adventures uncover the alien civilization that built it.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

First set with the backdrop of China’s cultural revolution, this new epic involves secret scientific experiments, alien invasion, challenging moral dilemmas, and impressive world-building.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

A man in his 70s is recruited as a soldier in the Colonial Defense Force, and altered physically in unexpected ways. Strong on character development, this kickstarts the Old Man’s War Series.

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

This classic military sci-fi tale follows Johnny Rico and military recruits who become involved in a battle between humans and aliens nicknamed Arachnids or “Bugs.”

If you love Starship Troopers, check out our review of the wisdom of Grand Admiral Thrawn – Michael

The Best Sci-Fi Robot Stories

The future of robots is here and is complex and necessary reading in these sci-fi tales.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov’s intriguing work introduced the laws of robotics that all robots must adhere to work alongside humans.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The first novel in the Murderbot Diaries, All Systems Red, follows a cyborg that goes by the name Murderbot contends with self-awareness in the corporate-dominated future.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The beginning of the Lunar Chronicles series is a retelling of Cinderella from the point of view of a cyborg.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

Famed for its eventual big-screen adaptation, Blade Runner, this novel recounts a future in which highly realistic artificial fugitives are on the run from bounty hunter Rick Deckard.

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia

Mattie is an automaton in this steampunk and urban fantasy novel involving gargoyles, Mechanics, and Alchemists.

The Best Sci-Fi Mars Stories

Our neighbor, the red planet Mars, beckons to us. What would it be like to walk on the shifting red sands of Mars? Find out in these Martian classics.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s mesmerizing prose introduces us to a Mars full of exotic possibility, soon plundered by humanity’s arrival.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

The first in the Mars Trilogy, Red Mars, involves the colonization and terraforming of Mars and the conflicting moral questions that result.

The Martian by Andy Weir

Astronaut Mark Watney is left behind on a Mars mission and must draw upon his skills and ingenuity in order to survive.

Mars by Ben Bova

Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman joins the first expedition of scientists exploring Mars. The grounded approach Bova takes to all the interaction, politics, and bureaucracy help achieve a plausible future story.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

The first book in the Red Rising Trilogy envisions a future of planetary colonization in which caste systems abound. Darrow must fight against this system of overlords.

The Best Sci-Fi Fantasy Books

Fly high with dragons, roam lands on epic quests, and learn the hearts of true heroes in the fantasy masterpieces.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnum opus spans three books, opening up a fantastically detailed and wholly invented universe in Middle Earth that was hinted at in The Hobbit. Considered the ultimate work of fantasy, The Lord of the Rings brings myth, allegory, poetry, song, war, and melancholy to heights of realism and wonder.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

The first novel in The Earthsea Cycle tells the tale of the wizard Ged, and his journey to redeem his reckless past.

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

Beginning with A Game of Thrones, Martin’s elaborate, dark fantasy series covers land in which seasons last decades, and a terrible force from the north threatens to bring an icy apocalypse to an area filled with rulers jockeying to take the Iron Throne.

The Dragonriders of Pern Series by Anne McCaffrey

This remarkable series takes place in the world of Pern, where people telepathically bond with dragons. Dragonflight is the first in the series.

The Fifth Season: The Broken Earth, Book 1 by N.K Jemisin

The Fifth Season marks the first book of the award-winning The Broken Earth trilogy. Set against civilization’s collapse and natural disaster, Essun endures great personal tragedy in her quest to rescue her daughter.

The Best Sci-Fi Dystopian & Apocalyptic Books

Set in a nightmare future, these dystopian and apocalyptic legends will keep you up at night.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

In a totalitarian future America, handmade Offred is forced to bear children to men of a ruling class. The tale follows her harrowing life in a bleak future, and the attempt to escape and bring down the subjugating class to restore rights.

The Stand by Stephen King

A deadly pathogen escapes a military installation, rapidly spreading and bringing civilization essentially to an end. A group of survivors makes its way to a form of a promised land while battling a malevolent group seeking domination.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

In the near future breakdown of the society of Los Angeles, empathic teenager Lauren believes in a better future entailing traveling to other planets. Lauren gathers followers to her belief as she makes her way north.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Set in the Great Lakes region of America, a group of nomadic creatives picks up the pieces after the fall of civilization due to pandemic flu. Station Eleven has been adapted for HBO Max.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The first book in the Hunger Games Trilogy follows the immense challenges that Katniss Everdeen faces in the post-apocalyptic version of America called Panem. She takes her sister’s place in the government-sponsored Hunger Games to compete for survival in a no-holds-barred and deadly competition.

The Best Sci-Fi Near Futures Books

The future is here, or nearly so, in these ground-breaking novels set close to our present day.

Contact by Carl Sagan

Scientist Ellie Arroway detects a potential extraterrestrial signal from space, which appears to instruct humanity in how to build a machine. She faces self-doubt amid scrutiny to uncover the mysteries of the discovery.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

This cautionary tale about genetic engineering in which scientists make living, cloned dinosaurs for an amusement park. Mayhem ensues.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Mysterious monoliths appear across many worlds, seeding life with intelligence. Following the discovery of one such monolith on the moon, Dr. Bowman and a team of scientists investigate the signal it sends to Saturn’s moon Iapetus. The onboard AI begins exhibiting dangerous behavior during the journey.

Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer

A physics experiment creates an unintended consequence of everyone on earth losing consciousness for two minutes. Each person sees a “flash forward” decades in the future while they are unconscious. The resulting accidents and visions challenge everyone’s ideas of free will.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In dystopian 2044, impoverished Wade Watts navigates through the virtual reality world of the OASIS, seeking to reverse his fortune.

The Best Sci-Fi Books for Younger Readers

Take adventures through time and space, no matter your age!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Murry children and Calvin O’Keefe crosses universes and space-time to try to find their missing father. Their tale is a mind-bending adventure of good vs. evil.

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass/The Subtle Knife/The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass/Northern Lights begins this sweeping saga of two children, one born in a parallel universe, one born in our own. In Lyra’s world, people’s souls exist in animal form, called daemons. Her father and mother represent warring factions determined to control all universes. Filled with talking animals, witches, airships, and strange creatures, His Dark Materials packs an emotional punch.

The Apothecary Series by Maile Meloy

Set in the 1950s, The Apothecary starts this highly entertaining, thrilling adventure series in which American Janie Scott meets Benjamin Burrows, the son of an apothecary. After Benjamin’s father is kidnapped, the teenagers uncover a terrifying plot that could result in humanity’s end. They use potions with magical effects to try and stop the impending doom.

The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1) by Sayantani DasGupta

The first of the Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond series, book one begins with Kiranmala discovering her parents are missing, and there is a demon in her kitchen! Two princes recruited her and sent to another dimension, where she must battle the Serpent King and the Rakkhoshi Queen to rescue her parents and save the Earth.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

This delightful middle-grade novel recounts a discarded robot named Roz and her search for love and acceptance.

The Best Sci-Fi Ponderous Books

These mind-bending sci-fi novels will have you thinking for a long time afterward.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Raised on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith returns to Earth and tries to fit in. His unusual upbringing makes him seem superhuman, but he attempts to help his Earth kin understand things from a different perspective.

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

Set in the 24th century when telepaths (“Espers”) are common, and police are telepathic as well. Ben Reich tries to evade the telepathic police for a murder he wants to commit. The story opens up the moral issues of using telepathy, regulated mostly by a guild, but raises concerns about the exclusion of telepaths who run astray as well as psychological intrigue.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Solaris follows humans’ failed attempts to communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence. The sentient planet tests the researchers with their memories and emotions.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

A story spanning time and space and connections between various characters, Cloud Atlas explores the theme of fate with a mind-bending narrative.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

This classic tale follows the journey of Genly Ai on his mission to the planet Gethen. The ambisexual Gethenians present challenges and growth for Ai.

The Best Sci-Fi Cyberpunk Books

If you dream of the future lit by neon, shadowed by noir, and fueled with intrigue, these seminal cyberpunk novels are for you!

Neuromancer by William Gibson

In the first novel of the Sprawl Trilogy, hacker Henry Case is hired to help an AI take over the global network called The Matrix.

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

A modern cyberpunk tale is weaving together magic and science, with wit and feeling.

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

Set in the 25th century, humans have spread through the galaxy and can be preserved after death via cortical stacks, then essentially regenerated or “re-sleeved” into another body. Takeshi Kovacs stumbles upon a vast conspiracy after his latest “sleeve.”

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

This early entry into cyberpunk sci-fi follows teleporter Gully Foyle, an outcast considered dangerous.

Synners by Pat Cadigan

The synthesizers, or Synners, are people who can turn mental images into products for consumption. The story is told via various characters’ viewpoints.

The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books by Indie Authors

Discover the latest sci-fi and fantasy stories, while supporting independent authors!

Mindful Things by Mya Duong

Nineteen-year-old Lauren begins to experience visions and uncovers the fact her deceased parents were witches. A madman hungry for power pursues her, and she must embrace her magical heritage to try to stop him.

The Infinite by John W. Akers

The inventor Pax works on a secret project that can revolutionize human cognition. His plans are derailed by a computer virus that could end civilization, so Pax is forced to choose how he can help humanity survive.

Threadwalkers by Joanna Volavka

Miranda Woodward undergoes a discordant series of events following her father’s death. This is a young adult time travel tale.

Resonance by Jennifer Greenhall

In Book One of the Resonance Series, Sophia Walsh uses her psionic abilities for good but finds herself the next target of a killer.

Heliopause: The Questrison Saga®: Book One by J. Dianne Dotson

Heliopause by J. Dianne Dotson kickstarts The Questrison Saga®, a four-book series science fiction and fantasy series. In Heliopause, a mystery at the edge of the solar system reveals a galactic menace. A galactic natural disaster unfolds, aiding the monster in the void. Human Forster and human-looking, ageless Galla-Deia team up with telepaths, galactic mages, aliens, and androids to face the greatest threat to all life in the galaxy. Full of diverse characters and exotic worlds, found and made families, heartbreak, and whimsy, this space opera recalls Star WarsDoctor Who, and Game of Thrones.

At Your Money Geek, we are huge fans of the science fiction genre, everything from military science fiction to novels about space travel, parallel worlds, and fantasy novels. We are always looking for new books to read and exciting sci-fi writers to profile, let us know in the comments what authors you are currently enjoying.

This post was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.

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J. Dianne Dotson dreamed up other worlds and their characters as a child in the 1980s in East Tennessee. She formed her own neighborhood astronomy club before age 10, to educate her friends about the universe. In addition to writing stories, she drew and painted her characters, designed their outrageous space fashions, and created travel guides and glossaries for the worlds she invented.

As an adult, Dianne earned a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, and spent several years working in research. She published Heliopause: The Questrison Saga®: Book One (2018) and its sequels Ephemeris: The Questrison Saga®: Book Two (2019), Accretion: The Questrison Saga®: Book Three (2020) and her last novel in the saga, Luminiferous: The Questrison Saga®: Book Four (2021).

Dianne is also a science writer, content writer and manager, short story writer, watercolorist, and illustrator. She lives with her family.

What is considered the first true science fiction novel of the modern era, which foreshadowed genetic tinkering?

Following her, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells established foundational aspects of the genre.

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Content: Supplement
Sunday literature.
Culture
Sunday Literature: Tu Chien's Years, Huang Hua and Long Memories: A Review of Books by Tu Chien
He died, and there was a great book about him, and a great book about him.
Born in Hong Kong on February 19, 1935 (also known as February 19, 1934), Du Chin studied at Lingnan Primary School and St. Stephen's College in Hong Kong. He graduated from the Chinese Department of Sun Yat-sen University.
Du has been engaged in the editorial and translation work of newspapers and periodicals for 30 years. He has edited the monthly book “Open Volume ” and“ Readers ’ Friends ”. He is the author of “New Trends in Asian, African and Latin Literature ” (1976),“ Contemporary Foreign Writers and Works ” (1980), “The Night Voyage of the Book Sea ” (2 volumes, 1980, 1984),“ World Science Fiction ” (1992). He also translated several science fiction novels, including The Story of a Detective (1994), The Story of a Detective (2019), The Story of Three Generations (2014), Long Memories: The Eyes of a Teacher and Friends (2015), and translated several science fiction novels.
Du moved to Canada in his later years and died on July 23, 2022.
From Afro-Asian to Contemporary Foreign Literature
I have "Asian, African and Latin Literature New Trend", published by Hong Kong Wanyuan Book Company, this book from the left side, introduced the Asian, African and Latin literature, and it is rare to write a relatively mild, not too much ideological discourse.
From the illustrations in the book, Du Chen should have seen a number of foreign books before writing this book, including book reviews such as "Achebe's Novel Creation" and "Du Bois's Will", which discuss the more famous black writers, and scroll down a "text prison of a novel - this novel exposes the corruption of the police", from 1974 Nelson Marra The award-winning novel “The Bodyguard, ” and its associated spate of arrests, describes the repression of freedom of speech and the press by the Uruguayan police, as well as the repression of the literary and artistic world.
The incident has faded from the memory of ordinary literary readers, but Du Jian recorded it with a book review and became a page of literary history.
Towards the end of the 1970s, the tendency of the dogmatic left gradually faded, and Du Jian ’ s reading range became wider. Contemporary Foreign Writers and Works was published by the Hong Kong Ocean Arts and Culture Society, and its chapters were published in the magazine Ocean Arts and Culture.
Du introduced Graham Greene, John Cheever, Colette, Bertolt Brecht, Isak Dinesen, Nadine Gordimer, Ryuichiro Tanizaki and Ryuosuke Okawa, eight 20th-century writers who not only came out of the confines of Afro-Asian literature. As soon as the book is in hand, readers can enjoy the work from the two texts of the commentary and the translation. In “Contemporary Foreign Writers and Works, ” Du Jian chose to translate Ryuichiro Tanizaki ’ s“ tattoo ” and Ryuosuke Okawa ’ s “bamboo forest ”, both of which are popular and popular.
The South African female writer Gaudimet, introduced by Du Jian in the late 1970s, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.
Book Sea Night Flight
"Book Sea Night Voyage" two episodes published by Beijing Sanlian, when there were many prints in mainland China, naturally has a certain influence, these two books seem to have opened a window for long-closed mainland readers.
Some of the book ’ s reviews have been found in The New Trend of Asian, African and Latin Literature and Contemporary Foreign Writers and Works. The book is mainly a collection of book reviews written by Du Jian in his spare time between 1974 and 1978.
As for "Book Sea Night Voyage II", the content is equally extensive, there is no less than, the second set of the epilogue, Du gradually explained his own ten years as a day of three paragraphs on the reading method:
"I read there is no shortcut, and will not" speed reading ", using a stupid way, the old man actually read the book, there is no other way.
I divide the time into three sections every day, to work a section, do work concentrate on other, the other section is translation and writing, people engaged in writing in Hong Kong, every day have to be a "reptile", write thousands of words, earn some manuscript money to earn a living, is the so-called book is only for the straw.
Only in the evening, I have my own time, from eight o'clock to two o'clock at night, I use to read the books I like to read, write what I like to write, these five or six hours are my most precious, but also I can control a period of reading and writing time. 」
In the second part of the book, Du Jian pointed out that the title of the book was Yan Qingshu (pen name Tang, author of "Jinling Spring Dream") in the illness, Du Jian wrote this book to commemorate the death of his friend Yan Qingshu.
Tang Tao wrote the preface to The Book of the Sea and Night Voyage II. At a glance, when he saw that the book was written by Zhang Dai (Zi Zongzi) and Ah Ying's The Book of the Night Voyage, Tang Tao, a veteran scholar of books, wrote:
"The Book of the Sea of Night Voyage, the Night Voyage Collection, and the Night Voyage Ship have a common meaning, suggesting that the author began his life of reading and writing at a time of silence and complete silence."
The first three books deal with this.
However, Zhang Zongzi has his own experience and opinions, which deserve our attention.
He said that the world is the most difficult to deal with, except for the night boat.
Yu Yao custom, the children of later generations, all do not read, after 20 years of learning as a handicraft, so the hundred works of acrobatics, occasionally have questions, such as "Yingzhou 18 bachelor, Yuntai 28 generals", one by one registration, the answer is like a "two-legged bookcase".
This kind of question and answer is often carried out in the night sailing ship. "Tang Tao also mentioned the funny story of a monk and a man in Chang Dai's" The Night Voyage Ship ", so let's not record it, and if you are interested, it is not difficult to find it.
Science fiction and detective fiction
In the 1990s, two volumes of The World Science Fiction Literary Landscape, published by the Modern Education Research Society and published by the Hong Kong Triumvirate of Detective Reasoning Novels, were the first books Du Jian wrote for young students to read.
According to Li Weicai in the book preface, the article in the "World Science Fiction Literary World" came from 1987 to 1988, and Du Jian was the "Strange Book Talk" column of the "Commercial Daily".
Watching H.G. Wells ’ s “The War of the Worlds ” and“ The Invisible Man, ” as well as Jules Verne ’ s works, Du recalls, was captivated by science fiction.
"World Science Fiction Literary Grand View" divides science fiction into four eras of creation, development, gold and innovation. The originator is "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley (Mary Shelley), followed by Verne and Wales, and the development era has Huxley (Aldous Huxley) and George Orwell. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert, author of Dune, the era of innovation is even more grand, including Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and Ballard. J. G. Ballard is one of ten.
Ni Kuang's novels are highly readable because of their dramatic plot arrangements and vivid writing.
"World Science Fiction Literary Grand View" does not have esoteric nomenclature and academic discourse, but takes characters as a special chapter, and introduces the contents of representative works, which are all-encompassing, and is both a brief history of science fiction and a good primer for teenagers.
"Detective Reasoning Novel Talk" has an additional edition of "Detective Story", according to the reprint preface, Du Jian pursues "reading no forbidden area", since childhood likes adventure novels and detective novels, he also pointed out that Qian Zhongshu, Yang, Qian Yuan's family of three are fans of reasoning fiction.
"Detective Reasoning Novel Talk" from the beginning of the conversation between Allan Poe and Holmes, also mentioned Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu, James Bond three novel characters; Japanese reasoning fiction also accounted for a considerable amount of space, the additional edition of "Detective Story" added "Little Roosevelt's" First Lady Detective Case "," The Cat Detective Case "female writer Lilian Brown", style change New materials were added to the four articles of Keigo Higashino and the New Trend of Reasoning Novels and the Past and Present of Chinese Detective Reasoning Novels.
Aged yellow flowers
In his later years, Du left behind two books, one is a memoir, "Years of Yellow Flowers: The Search of Three Generations", and the other is a collection of essays, "Long Face Memories: The Eyes of Teachers and Friends."
From the childhood of the beacon fire (1935 – 1946), experienced the ideal pursuit of studying in mainland China, the anti-rightist struggle, and the storm of the Cultural Revolution. After 20 years in mainland China, he returned to Hong Kong and lived in Hong Kong for another 20 years.
Due to the serious illness of his mother, Tu Chin returned to Hong Kong with the President of the Xinhua News Agency, Mr Leung Wai-lin, and then came to Hong Kong with a one-way permit to accompany his father, Dr Li Song, to work in a pharmacy.
In the past 20 years in mainland China, many books can not be seen, so once in Hong Kong, they constantly buy books to read.
Du Jian bought a collection of poems by Kahlil Gibran and translated some of the novels, but he wanted to kill time and practice writing. Moreover, "In the past few years, the pollution caused by the language of the Cultural Revolution in China, when I opened the newspaper, I saw all the big stories and false stories and official words, and it was best to clean the scum of my own language and words. I was able to learn his writing skills and practice my own Chinese writing, so I started translating Gibberlain ’ s novels. ”
He does not want to hide in the willow.
Du Jian went to the "New Evening News" to see the work, Rover asked Du Jian to translate a draft to see, Du Jian reluctantly to his own translation of the novel and the introduction of Ji Boren's short article to Rover.
The next day, Du Jian opened the "New Evening News" and found that his article introducing Gilbert was published in the newspaper.
As a result, Du turned to work at the newspaper office, because the newspaper was short of people, so he worked in the supplement of the newspaper.
He changed his name to Dujuan, meaning Dujuan Dujuan, to "Dujuan Dujuan".
My handwritten collection of Kiberon's novels, a small book by Daguang Publishing House in 1975, is a collection of translations from Du Jian's that year.
Du Jian said in "The Golden Flower of Time" that Zhang Huai, editor of Daguang Publishing House, is his acquaintance and has published several books for him, including "Life and Death", "People at the bottom", "New District Governor", "Golden City of Blood", etc. These books are not easy to find nowadays.
Teacher 's Eyes
In the preface to the book "I Know Du Zhen", the subtitle of "The Yellow Flower of Time", Lan Zhen points out that "The Yellow Flower of Time" "tells the story of the three generations of his family (grandfather Pan Ta Wei, father Li Song and Li Wenjian) who followed the truth and participated in the democratic revolution." His father was a little older, and his father was a little older, and his father was a little older, and he was a little older, and he was a little older.
It is divided into two parts: the first part is "Teacher's Letters", which, as the name suggests, are reminiscent of teachers and friends, including Lun, Chen Ti, Wu Chi-min, Lu Fu, Yen Ching-shu, Fan Yong, An Tzu Chieh, Kang Chun-fang, Li Liang-min, Xiao Qian Qian, Xu Xu, Lin Nien-tong, Huang Kuo-chih, Ma Kuo-chuan, and Qian. In the second half of the book, "Looking Back on History," Du Chien writes about the old stories of Liao An-hsiang, Pan Chu, Huang Leng-kuan, Pan Ta-wei, and Chen Lu-kui.
There are a number of overlaps between the "Love of the Teacher" and the "Yellow Flower of the Year". "From scratch" is a macroscopic view, and "Love of the Teacher" is even a micro-close-up. Du Jian writes old prose with the pen of a novelist. It is better to be lively and friendly, and everyone is alive. — Remembering my grandfather, Pan Ta-wei ” is a particularly detailed and wonderful article. Pan Ta-wei was influenced by Sun Yat-sen ’ s ideas and joined the Xingzhong Society. Later, Pan Ta-wei became the organizer of the Southern Section of the League.
The most famous story of Pan Ta-wei is the collection of the remains of the 72 martyrs of Huang Hua-gang. This passage is told by Du Chien through the words of his mother-in-law, Chen Wei-chang. When Chen Wei-chang died, Du Chien was very young. It was impossible to record his mother-in-law ’ s words. In other words, Du Chien used a small pen. The story of his father is told in the book of Revelation, and the story of his father is told in the book of Revelation.
Author: Wu Chi-min, editor of Readers ’ Liangyou Monthly (1984-1988, 45 issues), Science and Science Fiction Series (1990, 4 volumes) and Readers ’ Liangyou Library (10 volumes), Zhao Jiabi, Liang Yusheng, Hsu Ting-ming, Dong Ding-shan, Hsiao Chien, Ku Tsang-wu, Huang Ji-shih, Chen Hui-yang and Du Chien-chun.
Combining "The Yellow Flower of the Year" and "The Memory of the Long Face", now imagining Du Jian's career of writing books, translating books, and compiling books is bound to feel wonderful.
by Vincent Cheng
Art • Liu Ruoji
Editors • Chu Chien-hsun
Email • literature @ mingpao.com
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Verne’s adventure and exploration stories, such as "Journey to the Center of the Earth," imagined scientific wonders with an optimistic tone, while Wells’ works like "The Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds" introduced speculative social commentary, blending imaginative science with critiques of contemporary issues such as class and imperialism.

Title:

Content: Monday 27 December 2021
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Editor-in-Chief
Wael Lotfy
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Editor-in-Chief
Wael Lotfy
“Studies in Scientific Literature. ”
A book that explores the features of science fiction in Arabic works
Science fiction literature has witnessed a wide presence in Arab creative writings despite its emergence and prosperity in the Western world, and despite its creative popularity, it has not received sufficient critical attention. Based on this idea, the Syrian writer and critic Ahmed Ali Mohammed observes the features and features of science fiction in Arabic literature, both ancient and modern, in his book "Studies in Science Literature", recently published in the series of studies by the Arab Writers Union.
The Syrian researcher believes that the Arab criticism has overlooked the literature of science fiction, citing a number of arguments such as the immaturity of this type of writing in the Arab world, and the disregard of his writers for the features of literary writing, as well as the lack of scientific knowledge, which the writer considers weak, especially with the presence of remarkable writings in this field succeeded in setting a firm foot and overcome many shortcomings.
Leadership in scientific literature
Ali points out that the philosophical messages of Avicenna and Ibn Tufayl can be considered as the beginning of the link in ancient Arabic literature between literature and science, as the Arab heritage includes philosophical messages written in successive times that represented the basis of literary thinking based on science fiction, the most prominent of these messages: "The message of Hayy bin Yaqzan" by Avicenna.
Shahabuddeen al-Sahrawardi ’ s “Strange Alienation ” message is inspired by the story of the neighborhood of Ben Yaqzan, and Ibn al-Nafees ’ s“ Perfect Letter ” in which he followed the example of his predecessors.
The author says of the relevance of these letters to science fiction: "These letters draw a narrative basis based on the facts of science, elaborate on the imagination based on thought and knowledge, and depict part of the knowledge of their owners.
The most prominent aspect of these letters is the narrative imager related to the facts of science and the perceptions of philosophy, which confirms the existence of seeds of scientific literature in the Arabs. ”
Science Fiction Poetry
The writer points out that science fiction literature has been associated with narrative forms, was raised with the French writer Jules Verne, who published the first story in science fiction literature in 1863 entitled "Five Weeks in a Balloon" and then wrote another story entitled "Journey to the Hollow of the Earth" and then continued productions, including the novel "Time Machine" by George Wells and others.
Science fiction poetry is rare, including the poem "The Asteroid" by Russian poet Nikolai Glazkov, translated by Al-Azhar University professor Ahmed Shafiq al-Khatib, a poem based on the achievements of science fiction literature in terms of prediction, foresight and time travel.
Criticism of scientific literature
Some of the works of Tawfiq al-Hakim include The Year of One Million (1953), which is dominated by philosophical consideration of life, nature and the universe, and his play Journey to Tomorrow (1958), which involves a forward-looking view of the future related to man ’ s struggle with time, as well as his play “Food for Every Mouth ”." In which he talks about the problem of food that people will suffer from in the future, and his play "The Prayer of Angels", which deals with the impact of science on the happiness of humanity and the provision of its needs.
Political fiction literature
The writer monitors the branches of science fiction literature that not only addressed the problems of the environment, pollution, space and planets, but touched the problems of politics, society and economy through the literature of political fiction, which includes under its banner the literature of utopia and dystopia.
There are a number of writings concerned with depicting Utopia, which means a utopia without trace of corruption, evil or injustice, the most prominent of these writings is Thomas Moore ’ s “Utopia ”, which depicts an ideal world critical of the political, religious and social conditions of his time.
The literature of dystopia comes in contrast to utopia, but they belong under the name of political fiction, which is a branch of science fiction literature, as each deals with political life by storytelling accompanied by fiction, and dystopia means the literature of the corrupt city or the world of bitter reality that depicts a society full of corruption and highlights the phenomena of destruction, murder and destruction and transformation of human beings. A feuding.
The author mentions a number of Western and Arabic writings that have emerged in the field of dystopia, including George Orwell ’ s 1984, Aldous Huxley ’ s Brave New World, and Ray Bradbury ’ s Fahrenheit 451.
At the level of Arabic writings, a number of works can be observed such as the novel "The Front" by Izz al-Din Issa, the novel "The Tale of the Last Arab" by Wassini al-Araj, "Frankenstein in Baghdad" by Ahmed Saadawi, "The Second War of the Dog" by Ibrahim Nasrallah, "Mercury" by Mohammed Rabie, "The Line" by Basma Abdul Aziz, and "Novelist of the First City" by Omar Hazek. And "Orwell in the Southern Suburbs" by Fawzi Thebian.
Literary Studies
In his book, the Syrian critic offers critical readings in a number of works under the banner of science fiction literature, including the novel "Hala al-Nour" by Mohammed al-Ashri, seeking to stand on the aesthetic trend, especially with the departure of literary criticism from the study of the aesthetic aspects of science fiction literature, observing the methods of the novelist mixing the facts of science with the world mythical heritage.
The book provides another analysis of the collection “Behind the Dark Walls ” by the Syrian writer Taleb Omran, which falls within the literature of dystopia, because the stories depict worlds in which savagery, destruction, murder and destruction prevail, and on the other hand it monitors the Syrian storyteller ’ s interest in the method of scientific storytelling and its reliance on astronomical knowledge and geographical information.
The writer also analyzes the elements and features of fantasy in some of the works of Ahmed Khaled Tawfik as one of the most prominent writers in this field, explaining that science fiction is different from fantasy or wonder in the contemporary novel in that it starts from the modern scientific output, and depends on scientific knowledge specialized, while fantasy completely degenerates from logic and depends on the imagination and does not find a trace of laws we know in reality and depends on mythological and form It is in harmony not with the outside world but with its own world according to which it takes place.

These early authors embedded scientific curiosity within narratives that questioned humanity’s place and future, thus setting the mold for science fiction as a form of social critique as well as imaginative speculation.

What concepts does Ishiguro's literary science fiction novel bring up?

The genre's development accelerated in the early to mid-20th century during what is referred to as the "Golden Age" of science fiction, approximately from the 1930s to the 1950s.

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Content: People 's Daily Online > > Economy and Technology
Science fiction writer Liu Cixin: Someone must dare to dream like this
June 16, 2024 08: 58 | Source: Xinhua News Agency
Small number
"No one knows what the future holds, but someone must dare to dream like this."
At the recently concluded 8th China Science Fiction Conference in 2024, a science fiction short film adapted from the novel of the same name by science fiction writer Liu Cixin, "Earth Cannon", was unveiled for the first time.
The classic quotes and shocking pictures complement each other, bringing the audience into a futuristic world full of science fiction.
On the wings of imagination, what kind of future will science fiction arrive? Recently, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters, Liu Cixin, who is the president of the Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction Future Technology Research Institute, further explained the underlying logic of science fiction imagination.
“Everything needs imagination. ”
During this science fiction conference, Liu Cixin, who is over 60 years old, is very busy, and the topics and questions related to science fiction converge to this representative of the Chinese science fiction community.
Liu Cixin, born in 1963, worked as a computer engineer at a power plant in Shanxi Province and began publishing science fiction works in the 1990s.
Its published novella "Wandering Earth", imagines the human race struggling to find a suitable home when the sun is destroyed; the subsequent novel "Three Bodies" leads the reader to explore unknown civilizations outside the world with a more strange and bold imagination.
The latter won the Hugo Award, the highest honor in science fiction, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has recommended the book to his tens of millions of fans.
Many readers are curious about the "underground city" in "Wandering Earth", the refuge of mankind in the face of the sun crisis. Liu Cixin said that the "underground city" that will be built in the future is completely different from what we imagine now.
It doesn't have to be closed, it can be very expansion.Where humans need to build underground cities the most, it may be on the moon or Mars.
There, the underground city can effectively block the strong radiation in space, while creating a breathable and temperature-appropriate environment, "Liu said.
Liu Cixin believes that science fiction is based on the imagination of science and technology, and with the rapid development of science and technology, many scenes in science fiction are gradually becoming reality.
For example, in the sci-fi imagination, humans can achieve "brain networking", connecting the brain to the outside world and even other brains.
In the current reality, brain-computer interface technology has enabled paraplegic patients to use their thoughts to control the cursor to move.
In Liu Cixin's view, when humans use brain-computer interface technology to 100% identify, store information in the brain, and then send it to the computer - this is digital survival.
Science fiction originates from the rational expansion of cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements and scientific discoveries, and constantly "ignites" people's imagination and curiosity, and technological innovation is also changing the connotation and extension of science fiction.
The 2024 China Science Fiction Industry Report predicts that the impact of innovative technologies on the science fiction industry will be further manifested, and the deep integration of science fiction and future industries is expected to provide assistance for the development of new quality productivity.
"New quality productivity itself must have a strong innovation factor, and innovation requires us to have an open vision, active thinking."
"We hope that the development of science and technology in the future will enable mankind to build a better earth, and at the same time allow mankind to develop a greater living space," Liu said.
“China is a country full of a sense of future. ”
"Three Body" has been translated into dozens of languages to spread around the world, "Wandering Earth" series of movies overseas to win praise, "Earth Age" "first series" as the representative of a number of Chinese science fiction online literature works have been included in the British Library Chinese collection books … In recent years, more and more Chinese science fiction works "out", Chinese science fiction "go out" step up.
"The rapid progress of modernization has made China a country full of 'futuristic' and promoted the rapid growth of Chinese science fiction literature." Liu Cixin said that the rapid development of China has also attracted the world's attention in culture, and Chinese science fiction will be exported to more parts of the world in the future.
The 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Conference held Liu Cixin signing activities attracted many science fiction fans. Photo by Xinhua reporter Shen Bohan
The "China Science Fiction Overseas Communication Report (2018-2023)" jointly developed by the China Science Fiction Research Center and the International Communication Big Data Intelligent Service Platform of the World Research Institute shows that the overseas search popularity of Chinese science fiction works and the number of relevant mainstream media reports are increasing year by year, and Chinese science fiction is becoming an important force in Chinese culture "going global".
From the animated version of "Three Body" to Tencent's domestic drama series "Three Body", to the Netflix version of "Three Body" launched in March this year, the film and television dramas and animation works adapted from the science fiction novel "Three Body" have frequently attracted attention at home and abroad.
The "Three Body" IP Sea Observation Report jointly developed by the China Science Fiction Research Center and Tencent Penguin shows that nearly 80% of overseas respondents want to understand China after watching the original domestic TV series "Three Body", and most want to further understand "China's cultural tourism" and "Chinese history".
This is a Japanese translation of the Three Body.
Photo by Wang Hao, Xinhua News Agency
For the "Three Body" has garnered so much attention overseas, Liu Cixin believes that one of the important reasons is that the "Three Body" describes human beings and human civilization "as a whole."
In the vast universe, humanity is a very small existence.
The idea of "jointly facing future crises and challenges" transcends cultures and countries, and arouses the resonance of people in different cultural backgrounds.
"We have seen the proposition of human existence beyond the individual, even beyond the country, civilization and culture, and the relationship between people and the universe and the possible existence of intelligent civilization in the universe, which should attract everyone." Liu Cixin said.
“Put your eyes on the whole scale of human civilization. ”
Since the rise of the concept of "science fiction" in the 1920s, the connotation and extension of science fiction literature have been continuously expanded in the past century.
In Liu Cixin's eyes, science fiction is a literary subject facing the future and facing a wider space of time, which should "give people the pleasure of imagination and let people appreciate the possibilities of the future and the universe."
On December 1, 2023, “Jianfa · Three Body Immersive Art Exhibition ” opened in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
The picture shows the model of the three-body warship "Natural Selection".
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Bohan
For people who want to engage in science fiction writing, Liu Cixin gave his own advice: “As much as possible, broaden your mind. Don ’ t limit yourself to the joys and sorrows of things and individuals around you. You should put your eyes on the scale of human civilization and think about its future and future as an existence in the universe. ”
At the 2023 Chengdu Science Fiction World Congress, “post-90s ” Chinese writer Hai Hai won the“ Hugo Award ” for Best Novel in Time and Space. This honor was awarded to Liu Cixin, who is very young and looks forward to his future development.
Science fiction talent team continues to grow, science fiction creative forces, especially the number of young creative talents is rapidly increasing; young people are more and more interested in science fiction, science fiction film and television literary works, science fiction travel and so on are deeply loved by young people; science fiction industry structure continues to expand from reading, film and television, video to games, cultural tourism and so on.
On April 27, the 8th China Science Fiction Conference opened in Beijing.
The picture shows that children experience VR games in the field of science fiction carnival.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin
The latest report released by the 8th China Science Fiction Conference shows that in 2023, the total revenue of China's science fiction industry reached 113.29 billion yuan, and typical formats such as science fiction reading, science fiction film and television, science fiction games, science fiction travel accelerated, and the science fiction industry ushered in a golden opportunity period.
Supervisor: Wei Tiemin, Liu Chang
Planning: Ding Jing, Qi Rong
Reporter: Yang Shujun, Wang Yihui, Ding Jing, Yang Na
Editor: Liu Chang
Video source: Xinhua News Agency, official microblog of film "Wandering Earth 2", official microblog of TV series "Three Body", Qianku network
Thanks: Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction Future Technology Research Institute
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What time period produced science fiction works that included idealogies such as capitalism, and communism, and also threats of nuclear power, racism, pollution, and more?

This era, dominated by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Frank Herbert, emphasized technological progress, space exploration, and the potential of human achievement through science and engineering.

Who are considered great masters of the golden age of science fiction?

Isaac Asimov
Arthur C. Clarke
Robert A. Heinlein

Classic works such as Asimov’s "Foundation" series, Herbert’s "Dune," and Heinlein’s "Starship Troopers" combined expansive world-building with explorations of sociology, politics, and ethics.

What did Frank Herbert's "Dune" manage to achieve?

Intriguing ideas about human nature
A vividly detailed fictional world

The Golden Age codified many of the genre’s conventions, including the focus on "hard" science and the heroic exploration of the cosmos.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of the New Wave movement in science fiction, which shifted the focus from external technological wonders to internal psychology, social structures, and literary experimentation.

What time period produced science fiction works that included idealogies such as capitalism, and communism, and also threats of nuclear power, racism, pollution, and more?

Influential authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick brought a heightened interest in human identity, consciousness, and societal critique.

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Content: Liu Zaifu ’ s “Forty Lectures on Literature ”: History, Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber, the“ grafting ” spectacle of Chinese literary classics
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Liu Zai-fu, quoting literary classics from ancient and modern times, expounds in depth the meaning of literature in life, society, and human culture, not only the best primer to understand the meaning and value of literature, but also fully presents Liu Zai-fu's grand literary view.
Re: The Return of Liu
[15] Intersection of Literature.
One, two new types of inspiration
The topic I ’ m talking about today is a topic I thought about 30 years ago.
At that time, reading Lu Xun's essays, I felt that there was no such thing as "essays" in the history of literature.
This new literary category is the creation of Lu Xun, which is the result of his "grafting" of literature (prose) with political theory, contemporary theory, and contemporary criticism, and can also be said to be the intersection of prose and political theory, contemporary theory, and contemporary criticism.
Convergence, grafting and the production of another "quality", this is a large phenomenon of literature, you can do special research, you can write a paper, you can also write an academic monograph.
After the emergence of essays, some people do not admit that this is "literature", but Lu Xun said that it does not matter, one day, the literary hall will accept this new genre.
At a time when essays were gradually flourishing, another new genre of essays was emerging, called "reportage." Tsou Tiufeng, Fan Changjiang, Liu Binyan, etc., were all masters of reportage, and they became famous all over the world.
In the face of reportage, I also think of the phenomenon of "intersection" and "grafting", and feel that reportage is the result of the intersection of literature and journalism.
But it is not news, but literature, because the news can not have feelings, and the report literature is full of life and passion, the text is full of the author's thoughts and feelings.
Because of the report of literature, I entered the "literary intersection point" of reflection, and later because of the change in the environment, I did not write the paper to go abroad.
Today to pick up this topic, is completely forced by the classroom, but I do not intend to make a large article, but to put their own thoughts on literary intersection, grafting phenomenon to the students to express, I hope that the people here will be able to write the monograph of birth movement in the future.
Second, the phenomenon of "convergence" has existed in the past.
The phenomenon of literary convergence, that is, the "intersection of literature", refers to the intersection of literature with other disciplines or other forms of spiritual value creation, such as literature with history, philosophy, science, psychology, and even Buddhism.
This phenomenon has existed in China for a long time.
The great book that we all know, the History of Sima Qian, is the graft of literature and history.
"Historians", the focus is on history, that is, first of all, a great historical work, but no one can deny its huge literary nature, especially the characters in it and the characters listed.
Take "Xiang Yu Benji" as an example, the cornerstone of this era, that is, the basic material is history, but the protagonist (Xiang Yu) described is lifelike, flesh-and-blood, and can be read as a composition.
Xiang Yu ’ s story, which was later compiled into famous plays such as “Farewell to the Overlord ” and“ Hongmen Banquet ”, is the basis of this story.
Especially surprising to future generations is that many of Xiang Yu's life details must be Sima Qian's complement and imagination, such as Xiang Yu's last defeat and ran to the bank of the Wujiang River in a section description, can be said to be "not literature, more like literature."
We might as well read the text of this section:
So the king wanted to cross the river eastward, and the long boat of Ujiangting waited, saying, "Though Jiangdong is small, the land is thousands of miles, and the number of thousands is sufficient for the king."
I want the king to hurry.
The king laughed and said, "If I die in heaven, how will I do it?"
And by crossing the river with the children of Jiangdong, there is no one to return, even though Jiangdong father and brother have mercy and king me, what face do I see? Even if they do not speak, their independence is worthy of my heart? ”
When I was five years old on this horse, I was invincible, and tried to travel thousands of miles a day, and could not bear to kill it, so as to bless the Lord. "
Hundreds of soldiers were killed alone.
The king said, "If it were not for me," and the king said, "This is the king," and the king said, "I have heard that the king has bought my head a thousand gold, and I have a thousand households, and I have died for Jude."
And the king of Israel, and the king of Israel, and the king of Israel, and the king of Israel, and the king of Israel, and the king of Israel, and
Then came the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the horse, and the
Five of them together, all of them.
5: 5); and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts.
If Sima Chien had made the Book of History a pure historical book, it would have taken only a few words to write about Xiang Yu ’ s “end of the road ”:“ Xiang Yu stayed on the bank of the Wujiang River for a moment and felt that he had no face to see his father again, so he drew his sword and killed himself. ” In the book of Revelation, the Lord of the Rings tells us that He is the Lord of the Rings; that He is the Lord of the Rings; that He is the Lord of the Rings; that He is the Lord of the Rings; that He is the Lord of the Rings; that He is the Lord of the Rings, and that He is the Lord of the Rings.
In just four or five hundred words, he wrote a heroic ending and a heroic sad song, which is both sad and sad, and has both heroic spirit and heroic friendship, not only historical facts.
This section of text, both historical material value, can also be composition learning text read.
The History provides us with a successful example of the grafting of literature and history.
Literature can be grafted with both history and philosophy.
It can be said that Kafka and his later mainstream of modern literature, the so-called "absurd literature", are the result of the grafting of literature and philosophy.
Beckett, Yunescu, Pinter, Gao Xingjian, etc., all benefited from the intersection of literature and philosophy.
Professor Hu Yao-heng, an expert in drama studies at National Taiwan University, says that “Gao Xingjian ’ s plays are philosophical plays ” and is entirely correct.
Gao Xingjian ’ s plays, from “The Station ” and“ Beyond the Shore ” to “Dialogue and Conversation ” to“ The Night God ” and “Questioning Death ”, are the intersection of philosophy and literature.
Before Gao Xingjian, Beckett ’ s “Waiting for Godot ” and Yunesku ’ s“ Rhino ” were also philosophical and literary juxtapositions.
Its tone is no longer "lyrical", nor is it "verbal".
In the whole drama, only the author's profound understanding of the absurd world, which is both imaginary and philosophical.
The focus is on thoughts, not emotions.
From Kafka and Beckett to Pinter and Gao Xingjian, we can see the power of the intersection of literature and philosophy – it can change the tone of the literary world and create a new world of literature.
Third, the miracle of "grafting" in Chinese literary classics
If it is said that "History" is the intersection of history and literature, then "Journey to the West" is the marriage of literature and Buddhism, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the marriage of literature and psychology.
Without the Eastern Biography of Buddhism, there would be no Journey to the West.
The Book of Revelation is the book of Revelation and the book of Revelation, which is written in the Book of Revelation, and the Book of Revelation, which is written in the Book of Revelation and the Book of Revelation, which is written in the Book of Revelation, and is written in the Book of Revelation.
Sun Wukong accompanied Master Tang Monk to the West Heaven to take the Sutra, from the beginning to the end of the Sutra, it is all the logic of "Buddhism".
The Buddha of Rulai in Journey to the West is the most powerful, but not the absolute "savior".
The representative of the Buddhist world, Guanyin Bodhisattva, specifically helped guide the Tang monk and the Monkey King Master to overcome all kinds of difficulties and win the victory of the scriptures. She is God (Buddhism), but full of human feelings (literature).
The Lord is strong and powerful, and has the power of the devil, but the truth is perfect, and has the heart of the Buddha and the heart of the child; he is also a man, with the naughty and ideal of man.
There is no magic, no magic, no magic, no magic, no magic.
The Lord of hosts is the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts is the Lord of hosts and the Lord of hosts.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is like "Journey to the West", the whole book is full of Buddha light, children's heart pound.
"Journey to the West" is based on the Eastern tradition of Buddhism, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" is also based on the Eastern tradition of Buddhism.
But in contrast, the whole book of Journey to the West is saturated with Buddhism, and the Dream of the Red Chamber is saturated with psychology.
Therefore, I say, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the greatest work of psychology after the "Ecclesiastes" (Wang Yangming), and the difference is only that the former is intellectual psychology, and the latter is imaginary psychology.
Jia Baoyu, the protagonist of "Dream of the Red Chamber", is not so much a "person" as a "heart" - the purest heart that has never been seen in the history of world literature, like the dustless heart that was born on the first morning of Genesis.
If we regard Jia Baoyu as a "person", we will define him as a noble son, a playboy, and will feel that he likes poetry voice is "not doing good work", so that he feels that his "problems" are many and insufficient for training.
And if you think of him as a "heart", you will find that this heart is not stained with mud, and the thoughts and thoughts in the heart are completely different from those of the secular people.
This heart has no hatred function, no jealousy function, no vengeance function, no calculation function.
This heart is a boundless universe that can accommodate all things in heaven and earth, can accommodate all people, can understand and forgive all people.
Because he is a "heart", so it does not have the secular that some of the concept of distinction, I do not know that there are expensive and inferior points, high and low points, master and slave points.
Therefore, he regarded the "underlings" and "masters" as equals, and was willing to act as the "divine waiter" of these slaves and maidens (not only as the divine waiter of aristocratic girls such as Lin Daiyu). Jia Baoyu's life was only in childhood, adolescence and youth, and there was no middle age or old age.
So the Jia Baoyu mind we see, only the breath of youth and the breath of the universe.
The heart is filled with nothing but love.
New achievements in the intersection of literature and science
We talked about the difference between literature and science.
It is not difficult to distinguish this difference.
But this lesson is about how literature and science can also be intertwined and grafted.
In Lu Xun ’ s time, Lu Xun introduced the French “father of science fiction ” Verne ’ s“ Journey to the Moon ” and “Journey Under the Earth ”.
The intersection of literature and science, the most important result is the production of science fiction.
If we adhere to literary dogmatism, we may reject science fiction because it is not written about the “real world ” (and certainly not about reflecting real life), but the future world.
The characters in the book are not "real people" with flesh and blood, but "scientific people" in the author's imagination.
This kind of activity space for technological people is beyond the survival situation of traditional novels, and beyond the "rivers and lakes" environment of the martial arts novels.
Its heroes are not real heroes or heroes, but science and technology heroes.
If you stick to the definition of "literature is anthropology", then science fiction is difficult to be classified as literature.
However, if we use what I call the three elements of “mind, imagination, and aesthetic form ” to examine without demanding literature in ready-made literary definitions, then we cannot but admit that science fiction has all these three elements, especially imagination, and will happily accept science fiction.
It is worth noting that science fiction has made great strides in recent years, both in China and in the West.
Among them, the United States has even ushered in the golden age of science fiction, and Lu Xu, who was listening to the class, recently published an article in the "Bookhouse" about Ray Bradbury (United States) "Fahrenheit 451" and Liu Cixin (China) "The Three Body", entitled "The Humanities in Dystopia", which tells the two representative science fiction writers of the United States and China, half. In the 21st century, through creation, we hope that science and technology and humanistic spirit can meet and understand each other.
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 develops a "science fiction utopia" into a "science fiction utopia" that warns against the anti-intellectual (anti-humanistic) tendencies of human society.
And the recent emergence of Chinese writer Liu Cixin, published in 2006 science fiction novel "The Three Bodies", not only accepted by Chinese readers, but also won the United States Hugo Award (Best Novel Award), which brilliantly realized the intersection and grafting of science, culture and literature.
He consciously fought against the spiritual split between science and culture and humanistic culture, and put more humanistic feelings into it.
Roth said of the three:
A triple star system is a star system closer to Earth that interacts with three sun-like stars, resulting in chaotic orbits and poor survival conditions.
After establishing a connection with the Earth, the Three Kingdoms decide to launch a cosmic migration, and human society is facing a crisis of extinction.
The first part of the novel uncovers this reality, and the second and third parts depict the various efforts and struggles that humans have made to cope with the great crisis. For example, launching gravitational waves into the entire universe, exposing the coordinates of the Three Body World, so that the entire solar system, including the Earth, will become the target of the cosmic "dark forest".
In order to save itself, the earth even made a low-intelligence statement (using drugs and brain science technology to reduce human intelligence), and implemented technical self-harm, that is, to save the earth by limiting human development through technology.
This idea is to leave the final salvation to the humanistic spirit, and the literary pursuit of the "ultimate good."
From the examples of Ray Bradbury and Liu Cixin, it can be seen that the intellectual challenge caused by the intersection of literature and science is the highest intellectual thinking in the human world today, and it is also a new topic facing literature.
The emergence of outstanding science fiction, such as The Three Bodies, is challenging many traditional literary theories and definitions.
Looking at the history of literature, especially the history of modern literature, we will find that many new literary categories and literary patterns are the result of the intersection and grafting of literature with other disciplines, and over the past 100 years, we have also seen that the intersection of literature and psychology has produced the giant flow of consciousness novels such as Proust's "Remembering the Year of the Passing Water" and Joyce's "Ulysses.
Since then, we have seen Orwell ’ s Animal Farm, a new type of novel that has hit the world, which is actually the intersection of literature and politics.
We do not support literature as a tool of politics (including the idea that literature serves politics), but we do not deny that political life is also a part of real life, and political activities can also become a part of literature.
Orwell is familiar with literature, but also familiar with politics, he did not put politics above literature, but turned politics into the material and tool of literature, the art of politics refining and upgrading, so that politics is fully literalized.
The whole novel is written about politics, but it is also full of literary and artistic politics.
There are two camps in the novel: the “animal farm ” is a socialist state, the“ human farm ” is a capitalist state; the “animal ” is the oppressed and exploited party, and the“ human ” is the party that practices oppression and exploitation.
The struggle between “animals ” and“ humans ” is a metaphor for the resistance of oppressed people and oppressed peoples.
It can be said that these are well-known and commonplace political stories and political common sense.
However, Orwell designed the contemporary political struggle as a struggle between animals and people.
The characters of animal farms are pigs, dogs, horses, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, old cats, pigeons, crows, chickens, ducks, geese, sparrows, mice, turtles, foxes, etc. Point wait.
These pigs, dogs, all anthropomorphic, and most importantly, full of comedy.
Liu Zaifu ’ s “Forty Lectures on Literature ”: Literature is moving toward“ Huineng ”, not toward “Nietzsche ”, which is my own unique expression.
Book Introduction
Forty Lectures on Literature: Common Knowledge and Wisdom, Joint Publishing
Author: Liu Zai
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One of the hottest defenders of humanity.
Let go of obscure hypotheses and ask for infinite truth.
Candles shine on the heart, bid farewell to ignorance, the shortest shortcut to enter literature
The world is so rich and complex, life is so vast and boundless, human nature is so colorful, literature face all this, naturally can also show their own charm.
There is absolutely no need to incorporate the narrow framework of a certain political ideology, whether it comes from the left or from the right.
Freedom can also be completely in their own hands, only when there is an awareness of freedom, can there be true freedom, and there is no need to wait for the objective conditions of freedom to mature before creating.
— — Liu Zaifu
In 2013 and 2016, Liu Zaifu accepted the appointment of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Institute for Advanced Study as a visiting professor.
According to the course, the book is divided into two parts.
The upper part of the "What is literature: literature common sense 22 lectures" from Chinese and Western literature common sense, from the definition of literature to the state of literature, and ultimately to pursue the "literary mind" in real life; the lower part of the "how to read literature: literary understanding 18 points", then carefully read the literature works need to think about the main points, in order to understand the mysteries of literature.
And...
Liu Zai-fu, quoting literary classics from ancient and modern times, expounds in depth the meaning of literature in life, society, and human culture, not only the best primer to understand the meaning and value of literature, but also fully presents Liu Zai-fu's grand literary view.
Editor-in-Chief: Weng Shihang
Editor-in-chief: Wang Zupeng
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Le Guin’s works, including "The Left Hand of Darkness," infused the genre with anthropological and feminist insights, questioning norms of gender and culture.

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Content: Queer literature worldwide has seen immense shifts that are hard to articulate. Owing to multiple factors, including resistance movements, literary works by LGBTQIA+ writers are increasingly getting published, gaining visibility, and winning accolades. While it can’t be denied that queerbaiting and profiteering have influenced the newfound inclination of publishing houses to commission a book by a queer writer or two every year, their sheer presence and publication frequency signal a huge change.

Over a decade ago, when I found a recent edition of Ruth Vanita’s and Saleem Kidwai’s pathbreaking book Same-Sex Love in India: A Literary History at Amrit Book Co in New Delhi’s Connaught Place, or Akhil Katyal’s The Doubleness of Sexuality: Idioms of Same-Sex Desire in Modern India in May Day Bookstore, Shadipur, New Delhi, there was no dedicated “LGBTQIA+” shelf in bookstores. A few works by queer writers could be found in the “women’s or gender studies” or “academic books” section.

This has changed, and so have the narratives.

The shifting of tides

Though Vanita, Kidwai, and Katyal’s books were introductory texts for me, it was only when I read John Burbidge’s The Boatman: A Memoir of Same-Sex Love, that I truly felt an instant connection with the story. In a foreign land, the author was experiencing many ways to express his newfound desires. Along with the description of the 1980s’ and 1990s’ India, he captures how queerness was peppered across locations in India’s major cities.

While Burbidge’s record is urban-centred, Maya Sharma’s focus has been on unearthing stories from the un- and underprivileged parts of India, particularly Gujarat. Her book Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India broke new ground in feminist discourse. In her latest, Footprints of a Queer History: Life-Stories from Gujarat, she shares long and revealing narratives of the specific experiences of lesbians and transmen. Her works continue to remind us why it’s more important than ever to keep our ears to the ground, because unseeing and avoiding queer experiences from non-mainstream cultures severely impacts queer-feminist discourse.

The world over, the evidence of what happens when histories are forgotten is apparent. Memoirs like American artist and author David Wojnarowicz’s Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration and Modern Nature: Journals 1989-1990 by English writer and filmmaker Derek Jarman come to mind. Their eerie resemblance with the mismanagement during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak is not only heart-breaking but also a reminder to excavate the past to re-inform the contemporary world of the undocumented and forgotten.

Olivia Laing has been doing it for a long time. But it’s the younger scholar Kit Heyam’s work Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender that attracted much attention last year. Much like in Mark Gevisser’s The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers, the focus of the book is not on one particular region but on an aspect, which happens to be the queerness that was lost on people of the time when heteronormative systems were challenged world over. The famous “impersonators” or traditional Islamic singers or the Hijra community in South Asia are but a few of the people Heyam cites in their book to make the point.

Queering Tribal Folktales from East and Northeast India by Kaustav Chakraborty runs along the same lines. It notes how oral stories, mainly from four cultures – Toto, Rabha, Lepcha, and Limbu – were inherently queer. The researcher, who studied the various tribal folklore and tales from the eastern and north-eastern parts of India, constructs a “counter-discourse of an indigenous queer” in this book. And in doing this, he not only shares a queer reading of the oral traditions, but also questions the obvious heteronormative understanding of these stories, which according to him was a spin-off. These tales were anything but cis-het in nature, he concludes.

Can queer futures be foretold?

This is the central argument of two books that unknowingly cover the universal. They articulate queer anxieties, traumas, joys, and experiences by studying them from a particular angle. While Adam Zmith’s Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures does it by keeping amyl nitrite at the centre, Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin does so by centralising the experiences queer people have at a site that’s more often than not threatened by extinction: the gay bar.

Zmith describes the origins of amyl nitrite and captures through it how the chemical came to be associated with the formation of gay subcultures and identities back in the day, and further argues how the futures of queer and nonbinary bodies can be determined from a “forty-five second” high from sniffing poppers. Atherton Lin, on the other hand, in his exceptional account, notes the formation of a sense of “community” through the “fleeting, gently pervy interactions” and “unaccountable version of agency” in the many experiences he meticulously describes and dissects with the abandon of a theorist in his book. It is interesting how such vastly different works approach the formation of the experiences that fundamentally unite them.

Zoë Playdon’s The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes: The Transgender Trial that Threatened to Upend the British Establishment is yet another investigative project. Ask yourself: What would the world be like if a major development, say, the knowledge of the production of vaccination against a virus, was concealed from the public? The hiding of Ewan Forbes’s file that noted his gender-reaffirmation surgery was one such event. Classified files were unearthed and a journey to reconstruct a purposely hidden figure underwent in the writing of this remarkable work that points to an opportunity lost – that its public knowledge may have done the job of the fourth wave of trans-feminism in the earlier waves itself.

Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me (Bloomsbury, 2017) by Bill Hayes, on the other hand, is an inward-looking book. It explores the aloneness, loneliness, and grief-stricken state the author found himself to be in when he reached New York only to fall in love with one of the iconic writers, neurologist Oliver Sacks. While the latter talked little of his sexual identity and barely discussed his sexuality in his memoir On the Move: A Life (Knopf, 2015) except for how strongly his mother reacted to learning his queerness, through Hayes’s book we get a glimpse of the sort of intimacy Sacks desired in his life that came late to him. And when life appeared promising for both, Sacks was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

But from loss, Hayes extracted wisdom. He developed an understanding of why we go on despite loss, failures, and disappointments, and documents it in the book through different artists and vantage points. A genre-defying book in every sense of the way, it is a must-read for every queer writer in my view.

While Insomniac City had photographs and diary entries along with prose, Sunil Gupta’s Wish You Were Here: Memories of a Gay Life, exposed itself to me as a collection that presented vulnerability so uniquely that it was heartbreaking to sift through the book. Before Gupta’s book, I hadn’t come across any documentation of the queer scene of the 1980s from the migrant, diasporic viewpoint. And besides that, the thriving sociality and intimacy he’s able to inject into his creative work led me towards his other works too.

Be it eclectic works like the ones listed above or soul-baring memoirs by popular figures like Onir, A Revathi, and Akkai Padmashali were inspiring, informative, and inventive, I cannot help but argue that nothing like Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi has ever been written. Born to a Nigerian father and Tamil mother, Emezi describes themselves as an Igbo spirit.

In this sense, the memoir challenges the very aspect of the memoir – the personal, for there’s no such thing there. In other words, this self, this homebody doesn’t exist. From this outrageous entry point to taking its readers through body image issues and dysphoria, becoming an overnight success to living unapologetically in a sprawling bungalow, Emezi’s book is not only genre- but world-bending. Their work is a reminder of what happens when the axis of study is twisted, inverted, or changed.

Shapeshifting in fiction

Works of fiction are not far behind when it comes to being a shapeshifter. A few examples include Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, translated from the Marathi by Jerry Pinto, which serves as a reminder of how effectively women’s and queer people’s bodies have forever been policed. Their desires are hypersexualised, and their movements are heavily monitored, forcing them to meet societal expectations and fit in.

Barring the similarity with the 1968 Italian movie Teorema by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the story is unique in the way it lays bare the hypocrisy of a traditional Indian household. In the sense that the owners’ daughter is forbidden from interacting with the male tenant, but their boy can visit him at odd hours because queerness doesn’t naturally seep into their everyday to be vigilant about. A relationship between two men, if any, is harmless to them, but a daughter must not even think of hanging out with a man. As it happens, the tenant gets intimate with both of them. The way the book uncovers and weaves the desires into the narrative makes it unlike any other book that has been published in recent times.

One cannot not mention Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters when it comes to highlighting unique works. Peters’s book is funny, full of trans joy, fights, and nastiness, but it’s also a reminder of how several forms of oppression interact with each other and present themselves in front of a select group of people in a way that further disenfranchises them.

Then, Selby Wynn Schwartz’s Booker longlisted novel After Sappho is an immensely innovative book as well. It appears to be a collection of vignettes of the most iconic feminists of the past two centuries, but it weaves their stories in a manner that exposes the sexist publishing industry, remarks about women’s, in particular of lesbians and bisexual women’s, exclusion, and notes how a world that thrived on their labour was constructed, and in more ways than one challenges what a novel can or should be.

Laurie Hashim’s historical fiction A Paradise of Illusions was a tale waiting to be told. For a long time now the Eurocentric telling of World War II narratives has dominated the literary sphere. But in Hashim’s multicultural setting, queerness not only comes out as natural but also as an inevitable part of the lives of the very people that inhabited this diverse region in which the story is set in. The classic way in which she tells this story would remind many of Dickens and Austen.

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s work My Father’s Garden is an interesting, non-urban depiction of same-sex love and desire. It’s stunning how powerfully and effortlessly the book propels in its first part like an adrenaline rush someone experiences in an act of intimacy. Jerry Pinto’s documentation of the same-sex desires in men’s washrooms of specific railway stations in Murder in Mahim and capturing the existential crisis a teenager faces growing up queer in Mumbai in The Education of Yuri are examples of how queer narratives from India have moved from the “same-sex couple having fun until one of them marries a cishet woman” to a nuanced understanding of everyday queerness.

Be it How Many Countries Does the Indus Cross or Like Blood on the Bitten Tongue: Delhi Poems, a collection illustrated by Vishwajyoti Ghosh, when it comes to poetry, I find Akhil Katyal’s imagery consumable and his liminal prose precise enough to capture a moment of intimacy, loss, aloneness, and nostalgia as if it could only be experienced through his verses. But like me, many queer people would say they live that experience many times over reading his works.

A queer-affirmative shift

It’s interesting that many works increasingly weave in a character or two who’s queer. How much of this is necessary, or is forced into the narrative, can be easily judged. In Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors by Aravind Jayan, The Anatomy of Loss by Arjun Raj Gaind, and Manjhi’s Mayhem by Tanuj Solanki this happens rather organically. Or perhaps purposely in a way that seems central to the story. And much to the disappointment of my queer friends and allies, I believe that any writer should freely write whatever they want to write about.

The only thing that must be kept in mind is what Shehan Karunatilaka noted in an interview with me for Deccan Herald – that “you do it with empathy, respect, and skill. The idea of fiction is to inhabit the minds of other beings, for both the reader and the writer. But if you do it lazily or offensively, you should be ready for the flak.” In that sense, it’d be a disservice to not include and celebrate the above books, and Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida and Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree as Ret Samadhi in Hindi and translated by Daisy Rockwell in this queer-affirmative shift. It’s noteworthy that both put South Asian narratives on the global map, created a stir by kickstarting meaningful conversations that compel the publishing industry to look towards the global south, and, of course, won major awards – the former won the Booker Prize, and the latter won the International Booker Prize and the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.

The many hues of queer literature

What excites me most, however, is not these awards or the visibility that queer works are attracting, but the immensely talented writers writing queer-themed books for young readers. Works like Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow, written by Benjamin Dean and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, Ritu weds Chandni, written and illustrated by Ameya Narvankar, The Many Colours of Anshu by Anshumaan Sathe, and My Paati’s Saris written by Jyoti Ranjan Gopal and illustrated by Art Twink, make me want to be a kid again and have the privilege to encounter, read, and celebrate these books. Each one is a reminder of how inherently gendered the upbringing of children is, and how wonderful and liberating experiences can be for them if their worldview is not restricted by categories and boxing of any kind.

There’s an increasing need for works like Trying to Grow by Firdaus Kanga to challenge the ableist mindset; The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan, which reintroduces the questions of pornography and sleeping with your students; Love and Reparation: A Theatrical Response to the Section 377 Litigation in India by Danish Sheikh, which presents a done-to-death subject interestingly; Girlhood: Essays by Melissa Febos, which makes even critical assessments appear effortless and accessible; or the sci-fi novel Machinehood by SB Divya, where even bots are either nonbinary or genderfluid. It’s paramount that LGBTQIA+ writers be supported by grants and the will to invest in their stories for stipulated and standard heteronormative structures to be shaken up by exciting books.

Dick’s stories explored unstable realities and political paranoia, expanding science fiction’s thematic range.

The New Wave also incorporated more experimental writing styles and challenged the rigid boundaries of the genre.

In recent decades, science fiction has further diversified and expanded in both themes and voices, reacting to rapid technological advancements like digital computing, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, as well as social and political developments such as environmentalism, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activism.

Movements such as cyberpunk—influenced by the rise of information technology and characterized by dystopian settings blending low-life and high-tech—have redefined futuristic narratives.

Contemporary sci-fi increasingly addresses ecological crises, identity politics, and global perspectives, reflecting a broader cultural consciousness.

What concepts does Ishiguro's literary science fiction novel bring up?

Importantly, the genre has grown to encompass a wide array of voices from traditionally underrepresented demographics, reshaping the canon and expanding thematic depth.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

Women authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood have introduced feminist perspectives, character-driven storytelling, and nuanced examinations of power and environment within science fiction.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

N.K. Jemisin, for example, has achieved critical acclaim for her exploration of social injustice and systemic oppression within speculative settings.

Title:

Content: Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
“A story from the Stone Age. ”
A collection of stories recently published by the Syrian Writers Authority
Published recently by the Syrian General Authority for Book 2023, and within the series "Science Fiction Literature", the collection of stories "A Story from the Stone Age", by: Herbert George Wells Translation: Maha Asaad Marza.
Herbert George Wells
Herbert George Wells, a pioneer of science fiction literature, was born on September 21, 1866 in Kent, England, and died on August 13, 1946 in London, England, and is famous for his fiction novel, mixed with science, a writer of short stories, and one of his most famous works Time Machine, The Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau, War of the Worlds and the Early Men on the Moon.
Herbert became famous for his novels of the literary genre, and unlike his contemporary Jules Verne, Wells' novels contained purposeful social critiques and did not limit themselves to telling adventures.
His first novel, which included science fiction, began in 1895 and was titled The Time Machine and became popular among young people.
His second novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, was published in 1896, about a mad scientist who turns animals into human beings, in 1897, The Invisible Man, about a world that succeeds in concealing itself, and in 1898, The War of the Worlds, about a Martian invasion of the Earth.
In 1909, the author published a novel, Anne Veronica, which discussed the maturation of a woman's thought and her appearance in a new and open dress, and which aroused much controversy, but was well received by critics and readers who came to read it.
The theme of the collection is “A Story from the Stone Age ”.
After the absence of the moon from among the trunks of trees on the rocky edge, he sent two enormous beams of light, and a strip of darkness was emitted through the papyrus.
Then came the sound of a continuous rustling, the sound of water splashing, and the papyrus moved further and further apart.
In the end, a hole appeared in it, as if it were splitting from the roots to the ends...
The end has come.

Authors of color, particularly in the Africanfuturist movement, including Nnedi Okorafor, have brought culturally rich narratives drawing on African mythology and speculative futures.

Who wrote "Binti," a Hugo-award-winning African futuristic science fiction horror story?

LGBTQ+ writers have contributed deeply to stories interrogating identity, sexuality, and social justice, infusing the genre with new dimensions of personal and political conflict.

Representation continues to expand globally, with recent waves including prominent Chinese authors like Liu Cixin, whose "Three-Body Problem" trilogy has gained international recognition for its sophisticated hard-science narrative and philosophical speculation, and Wang Jinkang, known for integrating Chinese cultural elements into speculative futures.

Likewise, science fiction from the Arab world is growing, drawing on ancient philosophical traditions and contemporary political concerns to produce innovative utopian and dystopian works.

The development of science fiction has been closely tied to broader technological and societal changes.

Initially responding to the industrial revolution, early science fiction explored mechanization and human progress.

The atomic age and space race of the mid-20th century turned the genre towards visions of space exploration and the consequences of nuclear power.

What time period produced science fiction works that included idealogies such as capitalism, and communism, and also threats of nuclear power, racism, pollution, and more?

The digital age inspired cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk narratives that engage with the implications of computing, AI, and virtual realities.

Social movements such as feminism, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activism informed the narratives, pushing science fiction to confront questions of social justice, identity, and equity.

The traditional canon of science fiction comprises foundational texts such as Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein," the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and the Golden Age masterpieces of Asimov’s "Foundation," Herbert’s "Dune," and Heinlein’s novels.

What is considered the first true science fiction novel of the modern era, which foreshadowed genetic tinkering?

Who are considered great masters of the golden age of science fiction?

However, the contemporary canon increasingly includes more diverse voices and genres.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

Authors such as Liu Cixin with "The Three-Body Problem," N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood are examples of who have brought fresh perspectives and have been recognized by major awards like the Hugo and Nebula.

Many recent acclaimed works also blur the boundaries between science fiction and other genres such as fantasy, horror, and literary fiction, reflecting a more experimental and inclusive era.

Anthologies and series featuring women, non-binary authors, and writers from China, Africa, and other regions demonstrate this expanding inclusivity.

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Content: Science Fiction: Chinese Female Writers | Culture | DW | 21.10.2023
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Cultural warp and weft
Science fiction: the rise of Chinese women writers
While the space for feminist expression in China has shrunk further over the past decade, there ’ s good news from this week ’ s World Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu: Chinese female writers are thriving in the science fiction world, making them one of the most striking trends in the genre.
The rise of Chinese female writers in science fiction has become one of the most striking trends in the genre, according to participants at this week's World Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu.
The World Science Fiction Conference, the world ’ s oldest and most influential science fiction event, was held in China for the first time this year and attracted a large number of local fans, both male and female.
China remains a relatively socially conservative country, and under President Xi Jinping, the space for feminist expression has narrowed further over the past decade.
But author and editor Regina Kanyu Wang, who was nominated for two prestigious Hugo Awards at the World Science Fiction Conference this year, said the number of women writers in science fiction has soared in recent years.
She said more and more women are now realizing that "it's not just nerdy, nerdy science-fiction novels like Liu Cixin [author of the three-body series] that can be published, or can be considered science fiction." Liu Cixin is great, and we all like him.
But there's a lot more to it than Liu Cixin's style. "
The good news, says Wang, is that once women start to become writers, they don ’ t feel they ’ re being treated unequally.
The market and readers need a new perspective, she said.
The 81st World Science Fiction Conference will be held in Chengdu from October 18 to 22.
"Now, many Chinese female science fiction writers focus on issues that women face that men may not feel," Zhou Danxue, a literary scholar at XJCC Liverpool University, told AFP. "These writers can reflect unique female experiences in their own way."
Wang said that in the past two years, four anthologies of Chinese fantasy novels written only by female or non-binary authors have been published, which is a major breakthrough.
There wasn ’ t even an all-female science fiction writer ’ s portfolio before that.
Before the 1990s, there were very few female science fiction writers.
An article in the collection "The Way Spring Comes", which Wang Kanyu participated in compiling, pointed out that the Internet is a training base for women and queer talents.
Author Ni Xueting explained that the widespread use of the Internet “not only brought a new sense of community to people, but also … removed many barriers to writing based on industry and social stereotypes, especially for non-male writers. ”
Chen Qiufan, one of China ’ s leading science fiction writers, told AFP that the genre had traditionally not received special attention and was seen as “written and read by boys. ”
He said there was now a "wider and more diverse audience", estimating that his readers were split equally between men and women.
Chinese women writers begin to make their mark in science fiction
Monet, a 21-year-old woman who visited the science fiction convention on Friday, said she sometimes felt isolated among her own fan base.
“It ’ s hard to share my interests with people who don ’ t understand me.
They ask, "Why does a girl like science fiction?"
She is optimistic about these changes in attitude, pointing out that there are a lot of interested primary and secondary school students at the conference site.
“I think interest in Chinese science fiction has to be nurtured from an early age, ” she says.“ We didn ’ t have that opportunity when we were young … I really envy them, to be honest. ”
(AFP)
© 2023 Deutsche Welle Copyright Notice: All content in this article is protected by copyright law and may not be used without special permission from Deutsche Welle.
Any misconduct will lead to recovery and criminal prosecution.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

More Non-binary authors
More female authors

The genre’s institutional recognition through awards and conferences reflects this broadening scope.

Moreover, science fiction literature increasingly grafts literary traditions with modern scientific understanding, philosophical inquiry, and cross-cultural aesthetics—seen in Chinese classics and Western works alike.

This interdisciplinary interaction has produced a vibrant literary form rooted in both imaginative speculation and real-world scientific concepts.

Lastly, current genre-bending works incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, queer themes, and magic realism to produce complex, layered narratives that defy conventional categorization.

This reflects a sci-fi landscape that is not only evolving in thematic content but also in stylistic and narrative experimentation, fostering an inclusive environment for diverse voices and stories.

In conclusion, the evolution of science fiction literature is marked by continuous growth from its scientific and social origins through the technological optimism of the Golden Age, the introspective and experimental New Wave, and into a contemporary period characterized by global perspectives, inclusivity, and genre innovation.

For your science fiction book club, it will be valuable to select texts that represent this historical breadth—traditional classics like Wells and Asimov, alongside works by influential women, authors of color, and LGBTQ+ voices who have enriched and expanded the genre’s thematic and cultural horizons.

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Content: (Credits: Far Out / Picryl / LSE)

Film

The classic science fiction movie that H.G. Wells hated: “Originality there is none”

Although the English author H.G. Wells wrote in many genres of fiction and also extended his writing to the realms of politics and social commentary, his contributions to the creative world of science fiction are perhaps what he is best known for and which led to him sometimes being considered the “father of science fiction”.

But it’s fair to say that the very nature of science fiction often makes it the perfect literary and artistic output to explore the ills and issues of a collaborative society, and Wells’ utopian works at points foresaw the rise in technology that seems to be almost symbiotic with humankind today, whilst his science fiction works explored concepts such as time travel and the existence of aliens.

Seeing as Wells’ science fiction work, including The Time MachineThe Island of Doctor MoreauThe Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds, are so well admired, we’d think that the writer would be well positioned to consider other notable efforts in the genre, whether in fiction or other mediums. With that in mind, it’s worth bringing to attention that Wells was no great fan of one of the most significant science fiction movies of all time, at least from a pioneering perspective.

Wells once reviewed Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expression science fiction silent movie Metropolis and called it “the silliest film” that he’d ever seen, claiming “it would not be possible to make one sillier.”

Via Wired, Wells wrote: “It gives in one eddying concentration almost every possible foolishness, cliché, platitude, and muddlement about mechanical progress and progress in general served up with a sauce of sentimentality that is all its own.”

Metropolis is one of the first-ever feature-length science fiction movies and takes place in a futuristic urban dystopia, focusing on the affluent son of a city’s master who tries to help the workers of the city rise up out of their lowly position in partnership with a saintly figure of the workers, Maria, and the city master, Joh Fredersen.

Upon release, Lang’s film was praised for its art direction and special effects, but the story was considered a touch naïve and cliched, which Wells also took issue with. The writer criticises Metropolis at great length, but some highlights from the review see him point out the production’s expensive cost, the film’s title, its characters and pretty much everything in between.

“Originality there is none. Independent thought, none,” he wrote. “The pity of it is that this unimaginative, incoherent, sentimentalising, and make-believe film, wastes some very fine possibilities.”

Evidently, Wells was no great fan of Metropolis and considered it “a waste of money”.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

Who are considered great masters of the golden age of science fiction?