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> The series is likely to be a change of pace for science-fiction fans in the United States, where many leading contemporary writers in the genre are rejecting
by infruset 12y ago
> The series is likely to be a change of pace for science-fiction fans in the United States, where many leading contemporary writers in the genre are rejecting classic alien-invasion plots in favor of those that take on real-world issues like climate change or shifting gender roles.
Does anyone know what books the author is referring to?
- pavlov 12y agoI guess such recent works as Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World, among others. Who knew that sci-fi could be something else than alien invasions and scantily clad women in pulp covers?
- infruset 12y agoThanks! For a while I've had this notion that the best way to understand differences in gender is to picture some situations of everyday life with reversed genders, and then I thought while reading this, maybe there's a sci-fi book doing exactly that? Turns out this is slightly different, but it seems interesting, I'll give it a try.
- pavlov 12y agoBoth Le Guin and Ballard are absolutely worth it! To clarify, the snark in my post was not directed at you, but rather the original author's suggestion that these are somehow recent themes in science fiction. It sounded like he had just been revived from cryogenic sleep where he'd spent the last 50 years with a dusty Heinlein novel in his stiff hand :)
- emilng 12y agoFor more recent examples, check out work by Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler. If you can wait, Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam series is also apparently getting developed as a TV series for HBO.
- monkeypizza 12y agoI think "Mundane SF" is the term you are looking for.