Science Fiction and Narrative Form

by David Roberts, Andrew Milner, Peter Murphy

Locating science fiction as its own distinct and increasingly important narrative form, this book explores how the genre challenges pervasive perceptions of society as presented in the conventional modern novel. Inspired by, and building upon, Georg Lukács's criticism of the orthodox novel for its depiction of life as alienating and disjointed, Milner, Murphy and Roberts posit that science fiction steps beyond this contemporary form to be a more constructive literature, better able to conceive of society as complete, integrated and well-rounded. Taking stock of three kinds of science fiction which lie outside the scope of the modern novel - theological or ontological science fiction, the science fiction of future history and epic science fiction – this book demonstrates science fiction's unique capacity to encapsulate the whole world, persons and events, things and objects in a glance, and address the motive behind the wish for a meaningful totality.

With reference to a vast array of works by authors such as Michel Houellebecq, Elias Canetti, Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Marge Piercy, Iain M. Banks, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, Dirk C. Fleck, Philip K. Dick, George Orwell and Kazuo Ishiguro, this book offers a compelling argument for rethinking the position and potential of the science fiction novel and to challenge the way we perceive our culture.

238 pages, Hardcover

Published February 23, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
David Roberts is an English editor and novelist.
Roberts worked for several years as a book editor at Chatto and Windus, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and Michael O'Mara Books. Since 2000 he has been a full-time writer, best known for a series of crime novels set during the late 1930s, and featuring the joint adventures of Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne. The novels use actual historical events as a backdrop and there is an Author's Note at the back of the books briefly outlining what happened to the historical characters subsequently.
Publishers Weekly has described his novels as "well-researched" and "first-rate fun".

Reviews

[Mjhancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science Fiction and the Narrative Form looks at the science fiction genre in the context of the epic and the modern novel. Its basic claim is that the epic genre was about relating the individual to their society in a harmonious way; the modern novel was about how that focus shifted to the ordinary individual over time. But the novel's failure comes as that harmony is jeopardized in the increasing alienation of society of the 19th century onward. And science fiction is the form that succeeded where the novel failed, by projecting the individual relationship with society into the future. And in terms of theory, they build on a few people, but most prominently, György Lukács's The Theory of the Novel.

I don't totally buy the argument--there's a flattening of science fiction that takes place in order for it to fully work. But it has really drawn my attention to how science fiction relates to previous genres, and I've personally found that really valuable. Each part of the book is written by a different author. Roberts emphasizes the general theory and history over time; Milner discusses the range from the historical novel into science fiction, with a major focus on Kim Robinson; and Murphy discusses the epic in science fiction, mostly through a really, really detailed look at Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. There is some tone shifts in writing, especially between Roberts and the other two--it honestly feels like a different book after the first third. I really liked Milner's conclusion, exploring how science fiction in general has dealt with the troubles of our time, through viral pandemic, climate change, nuclear war, and artificial intelligence, though I'd really liked to have seen a lot more of it. To sum up, it lagged a little in places, but I found its portrayal of the trends of literature to be very interesting.