Utopia

[close] NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!! We're a group building a reliable bookshelf-database of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror books that do NOT mention sexual violence or dubious sexual consent. We're inspired by Sarah Gailey's essay urging authors to "Do Better" https://www.tor.com/2016/08/22/do-better-sexual-violence-in-sff/ Join our long term project by sharing your recent reads in our monthly chat. Once a month we update the bookshelf database but recommendations are welcome everyday of the year!

[close] I'd love to connect with people interested in utopian fiction. Specifically, I am interested in speculative fiction that does NOT rely on scifi and fantasy. I love that stuff, but there are plenty of places to talk about scifi and fantasy utopias. I'm thinking about the classic utopias that used to rely on some cheap premise to justify some really cool world building. We definitely, definitely, definitely don't need to confine ourselves to those classic genres sticking close to the form of an outsider visiting an isolated utopia then returning to tell the story, but this is where it begins: More's Utopia, Perkins-Gilman's Herland, Skinner's Walden Two, Bellamy's Looking Backward, Morris's News from Nowhere, Hilton's Lost Horizon, Huxley's Island, etc... In fact, I am here to find out if there are some fresher takes on utopia. Let's talk about it.

[close] This group is for exchanging thoughts about science fiction and fantasy stories that show humanity at our best and project healthy, inclusive, and diverse possibilities of forms of local and world community. For dystopia, just read the news. We want fiction that gives us a sense of hope, meaning, and purpose.

[close] This group is for anyone interested in Utopian and Dystopian Literature to discuss anything from Thomas More's Utopia to present day fiction. Everyone is welcome, including experts or those who are completely new to the genre and want to know more! Utopian fiction depicts imagined societies that display speculative improvements to the real society in which they were written. Although not always perfect, and more often than not unfeasible, the societies of Utopian fiction emit optimism for a better way of living. Dystopian fiction, or anti-utopia, on the other hand, depicts alternative societies where negative developments dominate. These pessimistic depictions are often warnings of the perceived dangers at the time of writing, particularly influenced by the rapid development of science, and the realisation of its destructive powers following the First World War. Perhaps the fundamental interest of Utopian and Dystopian Literature lies in its relationship to the time it was written, whether it is a symbol of a society’s optimistic faith in progress or the growing fear of the destructive nature of mankind. The books chosen for the group's to-read shelf are a selection from the ‘Key works’ list from The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature, plus suggestions from group members