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Science Fiction: Spanning Space, Time, and Genre

by Brandi Tambasco, Circulation Assistant/Interlibrary Loan Librarian

This article originally appeared in the "Off the Shelf: A Reader's Review" column in the Library's Fall Season 2011 Features Newsletter.

Hugo Gernsback coined the term "science fiction" in 1929 to describe pulp magazine stories of spacemen and time travel. Since then, the genre has exceeded its roots and flourished in the hands of authors who are often as extraordinary as the tales they tell. Here is a brief reader's history of the often neglected, surprising, and amazing field of science fiction.

The Golden Age (1930s-1950s)

Stars My DestinationBetween the 1930s and late 1950s, science fiction grew out of its cheap magazine beginnings and entered the general public's awareness. At the forefront of the movement toward serious sci-fi was John W. Campbell Jr., editor of the story magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It survives today as Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Among the writers featured back in 1939 was Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), whose seven-novel Foundation series chronicles a group of mathematical sociologists seeking to form an empire that spans the entire Milky Way. In addition to that series, readers should also consider Asimov's short stories, particularly the I, Robot collection detailing his seminal Three Laws of Robotics.

Ray Bradbury's (b. 1920) classic dystopian novel Farenheit 451 began as a shorter piece entitled "The Fireman," also in one of the Fifties' many science fiction magazines. This is the tale of Guy Montag, a fireman responsible for burning books rather than extinguishing blazes, in a future totalitarian United States that prohibits reading.

Readers preferring mystery and action over galaxy-spanning empires would be wise to consider the two classics by Alfred Bester (1913-1987). The Stars, My Destination, strongly influenced by Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo and considered a precursor of the cyberpunk novels of the 1980s, relates the journeys of nonentity Gully Foyle in a universe where teleportation - "jaunting" - is possible. The Demolished Man is a detective novel set in a world where a powerful businessman is murdered despite the near-eradication of violent crime through telepathy. The book is notable for Bester's use of unique typography to record telepathic conversations.

Further Reading

New Wave (1960s-1970s)

The Man in the High CastleNew Wave stories are marked by experiments in form and content as well as a transition away from "hard" science, such as physics and engineering, to "soft" science like psychology and anthropology. Perhaps the author best epitomizing this movement is Philip K. Dick (1928-1982). Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, on which Ridley Scott's classic film Blade Runner is based, follows two characters in a post-apocalyptic future: Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter of androids, and J.R. Isidore, a simple man who drives for an android animal-repair shop. Especially intriguing are scenes in which reality breaks down and the interpretation of events is left up to the reader. Another of Dick's most recognized novels is the alternate- history thriller The Man in the High Castle, in which the Axis powers triumphed in World War II and have divided up the United States. A particularly noteworthy plot device introduces a novel-within-a-novel about winning Allied forces in yet another alternate history.

Another popular New Wave author is Ursula K. LeGuin (b. 1929), who focuses on the more sociological aspects of science fiction. LeGuin's short story collection Changing Planes tells stories of several different planets and the societies that inhabit them. In one, people share dreams and a collective unconscious mind.

On the cusp of the New Wave transition is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, which deserves consideration as the best children's science fiction book ever written. The story concerns the travel of Meg Murry, her five-year-old genius brother Charles Wallace, and their potentially telepathic friend Calvin through time and space in search of the Murrys' scientist father. L'Engle (1918-2007) continued the story of the Murrys in four additional novels to comprise the Time Fantasy.

No science fiction list would be complete without Frank Herbert's (1920-1986) masterpiece Dune. Inspiring not only David Lynch's 1984 cult hit film but also a more faithful Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, Dune is a rich, complex tale in which political alliances and manipulation, religious zealotry, ecology, science, human emotion, and evolution are interwoven. This space epic follows the maturation of the young Paul Atreides as he seeks in turn to fulfill and avoid his destiny. The saga continues in five sequel novels written by Frank Herbert, as well as a series of sequels and prequels by his son Brian with Kevin J. Anderson.

Further Reading

Contemporary (1980s-today)

To Say Nothing of the DogIn the 1980s, science fiction transitioned away from the New Wave, and books were more influenced by factors such as the Cold War, the expanding availability of information, and environmental concerns. The Ender series by Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) is a prime example of contemporary science-fiction, describing a universe in which humankind is fighting for survival against an enemy with whom it is impossible to communicate. In the first book, Ender's Game, hope for survival depends on the children of the Battle School, including the boy Ender, who are taken from their parents and groomed to play integral roles in the war for the future of humanity. The story of Ender continues for four additional novels. Also of note is the Shadow companion series of six novels (two are forthcoming), telling the parallel story of Bean, a supporting character from Ender's Game.

Not to be overlooked among the high-stakes stories is Douglas Adams's (1952-2001) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "a trilogy in five parts." This lively comic sci-fi series follows hapless Arthur Dent on his travels through the universe after Earth is demolished to make way for an intergalactic highway.

Along with the dramatic changes in computer technology, contemporary science fiction has been strongly influenced by the incredible discoveries in genetics and medicine. The Passage by Justin Cronin (b. 1962) is influenced by the former, telling the story of an immunity-boosting drug that mutates into a virus and drastically changes human civilization. This first installment of a planned trilogy blends science fiction and horror to describe its apocalypse and resulting post-apocalyptic world. Robert J. Sawyer's (b. 1960) Frameshift takes off from genetic discoveries with its story of Pierre Tardivel, a geneticist working on the Human Genome Project. What develops is a complex mystery involving evolution, genetics, murder, and Nazi war crimes. Both genetics and technological advancement play an important role in Sawyer's Rollback, which follows 87-year-old Sarah and her husband of sixty years as they undergo a medical procedure to revert the body to the mid-twenties while leaving their mental capacity and memories intact.

Connie Willis's (b. 1945) Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog are award-winning companion novels that revolve around a team using time travel for historical research. In Doomsday Book, a young historian specializing in medieval history becomes accidentally stranded in an England ravaged by the Black Plague. The lighter To Say Nothing of the Dog tracks the mishaps of a young historian as he looks for artifacts in Victorian England while trying not to interfere with the time continuum.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Susan Collins was inspired by her channel-surfing. Seeing the justaposition of reality TV contests and coverage of the Iraq War, she conceived of a post-apocalyptic world where the government forces children to fight to the death in an annual televised event. The engrossing, thrilling tale of sixteen-year-old Katniss's involvement in the Hunger Games is now being adapted into a series of feature films, with the first one due for release in 2012.

Further Reading