NPR Article on Science Fiction: Response

NPR's Glen Weldon recently talked about science fiction. I had a few issues with it, the biggest of which was that he lumped science fiction, fantasy, and horror together in a way that I would hope hadn't been done since the 80s, but have since learned better. In an article that is intending to promote science fiction, this is a little damaging.

For the most part, I enjoyed his introduction. However, I want to refute his claim that all fiction is speculative. Most mainstream, or so-called "literary" fiction, is intended to be reflective rather than speculative. That's why science fiction/fantasy/horror are called speculative-- because novels of those genre speculate on what could be or might be rather than reflect on what is. Additionally, I don't believe his claim that the term "speculative fiction" is because speculative fiction writers want to "dress up" what they do. It's a lump term, more so than science fiction, since neither fantasy nor horror contains much science. Weldon, however, was perfectly willing to use the lump term science fiction, despite how inaccurate it is. His introduction was a positive one, but undercut by his lack of knowledge about the genres he was discussing. Yes, science fiction, fantasy, and horror can do amazing things. That's why there's no need to "dress it up," and to claim that writers of speculative fiction feel the need to do that undercuts everything those writers are trying to accomplish, and everything Weldon's article is trying to claim.

Without further ado, I give you: Mind-Bending Speculative Fiction For A Fantastical Summer.

Moonheart

I don't normally read high fantasy, so I had some trouble matching my recommendation to Weldon's. The fact that he recommended a second novel in a series frustrated me-- why not recommend the first, or the entire series? This makes no sense! It isn't how recommendations work! Gah. He seems to be choosing new books rather than good books, or even just logical choices, for his list.

I recommend Charles de Lint's Moonheart in return. Definitely not a new book; this classic is from 1984. This book is brilliant and subtle. Don't expect any fast action-- Moonheart moves at it's own pace, but you'll be intrigued all the same. De Lint has a real knack for catching people being people, with all of their prejudices and follies. You won't unequivocally like any of the characters. They make mistakes. They're flawed. But de Lint does something astounding-- he creates whole, fully realized people and puts them in situations where most people could only dream of how they would react. In Moonheart, Sara Kendall and her uncle, Jamie Tams, are dragged into a struggle between the light and dark forces of the universe. At the same time, the police are trying to figure out what's going on, and Sara and Jamie are just trying to survive, not save the world. Pick it up-- you won't be disappointed.


Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood

One can never go wrong with China Mieville. However, my recommendation is Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy, more recently anthologized as Lilith's Brood. Don't be put off by the horrible cover. This book discusses consent, race, species, gender, sex, biology, relations between women and men, social expectations of relationships, and anything else you could think of, all the while matching this new world our heroine, Lilith, finds herself living in to Eden-- for better, or for worse. A more complicated series of books I can't think of, but neither can I think of one better. You could read these books several times and still not be quite sure of what Butler intended, but enjoy the journey all the same, safe in the knowledge that she knew what she was doing.

The series follows Lilith Iyapo and her family in their encounters with an alien race. The alien race desires to crossbreed with humans to further their own genetic development, and don't require verbal consent for this as long as they can read some kind of consent in the person's mind. Meanwhile, humans who don't agree with the Oankaali hate the humans who do, as well as the cross-species children.


To Say Nothing of the Dog

If you're claiming to represent the genre to a new group of people, choosing authors that aren't yet into their groove probably isn't a good thing. That said, I really want to read The Quantum Thief, which Weldon had in this spot on his list. However, I recommend a more established author, Connie Willis, for a surer bet.

Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog is a brilliant, witty story of a cat brought through time and how messing with time can have dire consequences. Or, sometimes, not. A mass of timelines confused and twisted about, time lag-- a bit like jet lag, but funnier-- and jokes that sometimes even your first-person narrator doesn't get, this book is a sheer romp in the past. A deeper question is, what if we altered time? Can we? What horrors would we see in our history, what joys? To Say Nothing of the Dog veers on the side of joy; for a more serious read, Willis' Doomsday Book is a sure bet, though I am a little uncomfortable with the lead male character's patronizing of the younger female lead. I haven't read all the way through yet, though, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.


Splatterpunks II

I'm not much of a horror reader, but I was so horrified by the inclusion of Melissa Marr into any recommended reading list that it broke my heart. Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series is known for having heavy undertones of rape, and the heroine has her choice between one severely abusive boy and one that's more subtly controlling, yet we're meant to love the more subtle one. I can't say that I've read Graveminder-- maybe it's different, but I doubt it. Melissa Marr talks big about feminism, but doesn't often deliver.

Horror and I enjoy one another more when I read them as short stories. Thus, I recommend the Splatterpunk II anthology. This anthology is largely for women, and all about women. Women take control, women commit horrors on men, and women are just overall pretty badass. Splatterpunk isn't for everyone. It can be a little too splashy and visceral. But if you're going to do horror, go all the way, or don't do it at all. The sheer brilliance of splatterpunk is that it is painfully truthful, showing all the things you never wanted to see and making you enjoy reading about them. And that's amazing.

Little Brother

Here, Weldon recommended 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America. First, this is not science fiction, fantasy, or horror. It's more like political commentary. If we are looking for near-future science fiction, however, one can go little wrong with Cory Doctorow. Though nearly everything he writes fills this role and is excellent to boot, his YA novel Little Brother was the first I read and a particular favorite of mine. When a terrorist attacks the city, a boy and his geeky group of friends have to save it with Xboxes. Meanwhile, they're facing increasingly strict public policy, having to decide how they rate individual rights, and how far the government should go to protect the country. Also something of a how-to manual for programming, this is an easy-to-read book, despite how horrifying it can be on occasion, and shouldn't be taken lightly.