Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

Once again, our science fiction is set within the future. Unlike the space opera, it’s a horrible future where no one is happy, except for the evil ruling class of corporations or corrupt governments. Unlike our Speculative fiction, though, it’s less about being within the collapse of sane civilization and being beyond it. The environment is completely decimated - there’s nothing green in these stories except for the occasional neon light. Almost always robots of some kind exist, running amuck or assisting the end of humankind, whether their intention or not. Everything humans aren’t aware of—everything that should be God's knowledge alone—is common knowledge in Cyberpunk genre. While originally supposed to be a throwing of the set ways and gurus of the 80’s science fiction trends, eventually it grew its own and is supposedly a “dead” genre. Cyberpunk tech in is usually extremely advanced. It’s farther in our future than most scoff stories, which either takes place in the curre...

Of science fiction genres, I first threw myself into speculative fiction. I loved speculative fiction for the fact that—rather than cheesy sci-fi movies I’d seen depicted in media—these stories detail a world very similar to ours, only changed in a single, major way. These stories allow their authors to, as the name of the subgenre implies, speculate. Speculate either on how society could develop in the far future, or a completely different universe. These stories twist your brain. A large chunk of this subgenre focuses on our culture’s social issues and how we deal with them. Samuel R. Delaney’s Aye, and Gomorrah dealt with several layers of LGBT+ identity, a couple years before the Stonewall riots. Our main character is not only nonbinary but assigned by the government as neither male nor female at a certain age, thereby deeply exploring the concept of gender. The main protagonist is portrayed as asexual, and those attracted to them are deemed freaks, examining sexuality at an odd ...

I’ve always loved the genre of science fiction, how it could be so personal and yet so distant. I especially loved the exploration aspect of it; how the audience could sit and be awed by the atmosphere every once and awhile. I’d never touched on early science-fiction and the space opera, though. Reading a few short stories by both Arthur Clarke and CL Moore was a brand new experience for me. These futuristic settings and technologies could be the basis of real tech fascinated me as a connection to today. Satellites, touchscreens, even the modern space program wouldn’t be here if not for these fantastic first goes at what laid beyond our stratosphere. While that influence is truly awe-inspiring, the most interesting part of this genre is the very human aspects as well. Science was only part of the show, as Hugo Gernsback's description of 75% literature and 25% science stated. The idea of a space opera is they’re horse operas set in space: more about adventure, more about action, mor...

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is, overall, a novel about family. A really dysfunctional, not super healthy family, but about family nonetheless. The novel follows two brothers through their adventure of meeting each other for the first time after many, many years, and the frustration behind both their clashing personalities and the death of their father. Anansi Boys also shows the importance of family, with how Fat Charlie and Spider (the respective brothers) save each other in different ways, as well as the influence of their father, the god Anansi, on their lives. This novel also explores the unpredictability of life. The boys’ lives don’t quite work out the way both they think they should - defying both their and the audience’s expectations. Anansi dying unexpectedly, which hits both boys hard (in Charlie’s case, harder than it should) is extremely unexpected to everyone in the novel, though it’s revealed he’ll come back in a few years. Rosie, Fat Charlie’s fiancée, at the be...

A lot of recent fantasy novels in the YA genre focus on coming of age. They’re filled to the brim with values and finding one’s place in the world. (I’ve mentioned this before in an earlier post, “The Witchcraft of Coming of Age”, if you’re interested.) While not exactly YA like Akata Witch , The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern definitely fits into these patterns. Though the novel generally teaches through nonexamples, rather than pointing clearly at which values it champions, it’s still a story about strong moral compasses. From a young age, our two main characters are given expectations that they never fully understand. Throughout their trials and tribulations, they’re never sure if they’re properly living up to their parents' expectations. One main character’s father constantly reminds her that she’ll never be good enough unless she keeps training. The other main character begs for feedback and never gets more than a vague answer - if he ever hears from his father figure. Ev...