Sci-Fi Sharing and Q&A

[Oni]

I realize that Sci-Fi is not a popular genre in Indonesia. So I open this thread for sharing and Q&A for this genre.

[Euisry]

Actually, I love Sci-fi genre. But since it's quite rare and not popular in Indonesia, I almost never read any sci-fi books. So sad :(

[Oni]

If you buy ebooks, actually there are plenty of them. Other than that, you need to order from online bookstore.

[Tiza]

I've been wanting to start reading Sci-fi books for a while, but always decided to read other books instead. What book woud you suggest to read for newbies? I've a mind to read Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert or Lois McMaster Bujold. What should I pick first?

[Oni]

Some sci-fi are a very long saga, such as Dune by Frank Herbert and Vorkosigan Saga by Lois M. Bujold, which I don't recommend for newbies.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card would be a good entry point. It is a part of a series, but the rest of the series is not that good anyway.

But Dune is one of the most loved sci-fi. The world building is very complex; a Dune encyclopedia is published to describe the entire Dune world and culture. So it is very satisfying.

[Femmy]

I love watching scifi movies, but I don't really enjoy scifi novels. I think it's because scifi usually explores an idea or concept, which is fine for movies, but I prefer character-driven novels. However, I do enjoy some of Orson Scott Card's novels, which do have great characters.

[Oni]

You are right Femmy, sci-fi novels tends to be poor on characters building, but very strong on concept, idea, or world building.

For example the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. The time span of the series is thousands of years, and one characters might only get one chapter, and then the story leap forward for 100 year, with another character show up.

[Tiza]

Thanks for the suggestion, Oni. Will vote for Ender's Game for Sci-fi month then. I might also give Dune a try after that, as it comes in a managable 6 books instead of Vorkosigan's 15 (intimidating!).

I can see what Femmy meant. I also have a vague idea that this genre will emphasize more on concepts, and that is a bit daunting for me. Nevertheless, I will give this genre a try and I hope I'll like it :)

[Oni]

Tiza wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion, Oni. Will vote for Ender's Game for Sci-fi month then. I might also give Dune a try after that, as it comes in a managable 6 books instead of Vorkosigan's 15 (intimidatin..."

There are plenty of subgenres within sci-fi. The one which emphasize on the "science" (therefore lots of discussion on ideas and concept) is usually what we called the hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi; hard sci-fi for the natural science focus, and soft sci-fi for the social science focus. I myself prefer the soft sci-fi.

The other theme is military sci-fi, which is my personal favorite. It is quite strong on character building and military strategy. Ender's Game can be included in this theme.

Some others are apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, dystopia/utopia, steampunk, cyberpunk, and space opera.

[Femmy]

Ah, I forgot that dystopia is a subgenre of scifi. Maybe we could nominate one of those. There seems to be no shortage of it after the success of The Hunger Games. Anyone knows any good ones?

[Dini]

Some of my favorite dystopias are Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. The latter has a lot more science-y stuff in it.

Here's an interesting Goodreads infographic: Dystopias through the ages. http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/35...

[Oni]

Dini wrote: "Some of my favorite dystopias are Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. The latter has a lot more science-y stuff in it.

Here's an interesting Goodreads infographic: Dystopias..."

Hunger Games indeed create a new hype of dystopia genre. Unfortunately, I think most new dystopian novels tend to be more romance-y than science-y, which I regret as a hardcore sci-fi fans.

Handmaid's Tale is a serious book discussing the aspect of theology and feminism, especially the theology of body (which is euphemism for sex theology). Not deep physical science, but deep social science.

[Nenangs]

i liked incarceron and wool...

[Tiza]

Ah, right, dystopian and apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic are also count as Sci-fi. They're so popular as a genre of their own that it's easy to forget that they're actually a sub-genre. I mean, think about it. When I heard of the word 'sci-fi', the first things come to mind are space ships, laser guns and time machine :p

[Oni]

Tiza wrote: "Ah, right, dystopian and apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic are also count as Sci-fi. They're so popular as a genre of their own that it's easy to forget that they're actually a sub-genre. I mean, think ..."

Dystopian and utopian are a really old genre, even before sci-fi. Some argue that the first utopian or dystopian novel are Utopia by Thomas Moore, first published in 1516, and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. And then in modern era, the genre is revived by the "Red Scare" (you can google that), which produced novels like 1984. Nuclear holocaust later generated several novels such as A Canticle for Leibowitz, Alas, Babylon, and On the Beach, just to name some popular one.

While "sci-fi" itself has become a hackneyed term, thanks to the popular TV and movies such as Star Wars and Star Trek. Most people will relate sci-fi with space-ship, laser gun, and alien. The modern sci-fi itself can be related to two authors: H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne. But the most recent development of sci-fi nowadays can be traced to the influence of several giant figures in the sci-fi world such as: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, and Frank Herbert.

[Novia]

I love Sci-fi...always wonder why some people don't like sci-fi.

The imagination is just amazing

[Tiza]

Oni wrote: "Tiza wrote: "Ah, right, dystopian and apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic are also count as Sci-fi. They're so popular as a genre of their own that it's easy to forget that they're actually a sub-genre. I..."

Thanks for sharing this, Oni. Sci-fi hardcore fan indeed :D

Yes, it's because dystopia has dated for so long that it's easier for me to think dystopia as just dystopia (A Clockwork Orange is my personal favorite dystopian novel inspired by the red scare). So, what you're saying is that dystopia is not a derivative of sci-fi, but the term of sci-fi itself has expanded and used to identify many other genres?

[Oni]

Well, I think historically, dystopia/utopia is one of the earliest form of literature. Some would even argue that several books in Bible such as Revelation/Apocalypse is the earliest form of dystopian/utopian literature, which predates sci-fi.

Sci-fi itself is a relatively new term, arrived at the early days of popular culture. The term itself is problematic, some interpreted rigidly, some quite loosely. That's why dystopia/utopia can be incorporated within the realm of sci-fi.

[Euisry]

Whoa... this discussion is interesting. Thanks for opening my mind about this sci-fi world. Next time I'll explore sci-fi books too...

Oh, i'd like to ask, how about Dan Brown's books? Are they considered as sci-fi books too?

I think I'm still confused in determining which genre is which book

[Reza, The Curator]

Maybe we shouldnt have a vote. Maybe e can have next month's group read as an 'Intro to scifi' kinda thing, for those new to the genre. You guys can mull over and come up with a book (or several) that can serve as an introductory book to the genre for new scifi readers or a must-read scifi even for
non scifi readers.
How does that sound?

[Zaky]

ya,its rare in our negri...i always found sci-fi from internet,it could be ebook or just short story...

[Zaky]

Reza wrote: "Maybe we shouldnt have a vote. Maybe e can have next month's group read as an 'Intro to scifi' kinda thing, for those new to the genre. You guys can mull over and come up with a book (or several) t..."

ya, i agree with youe idea, make a group about scifi...cool!

[Oni]

Euisry wrote: "Whoa... this discussion is interesting. Thanks for opening my mind about this sci-fi world. Next time I'll explore sci-fi books too...

Oh, i'd like to ask, how about Dan Brown's books? Are they co..."

Sometimes the borderline between sci-fi and non-sci-fi cannot be easily drawn. One of the easiest way (not necessarily the correct way) is by looking at the bookstore, is it placed on sci-fi rack or not.

Dan Brown, and also Michael Crichton (to make my point), usually is located on thriller section, which make them non sci-fi writer. Some of Michael Cricthon's novel are bordering sci-fi realm actually, for example The Andromeda Strain and Sphere. I myself would categorize those novel as sci-fi, but some more "fundamentalist sci-fi fans" would not accept Michael Crichton as a sci-fi writer. But for Dan Brown novels, I think the consensus is that he is not considered as writing any sci-fi stuffs. At best, he writes techno-thriller.

[Oni]

@all:

Looks like World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War would gain some votes for next month read.

Considering Reza's suggestion, I think I would be nice if we can read some short stories by famous sci-fi writers, to get the feel for the intro to sci-fi. You can read most of them freely on the Internet. I can give the links. It is short, but can be served without diminishing the taste of sci-fi. Many sci-fi novels are expansion of short stories anyway.

[Novia]

I think Chricton can be considered as sci-fi writer. State of Fear, Timeline, Jurrasuic Park are all full of scientific knowledge. If those aren't sci-fi, where do they put that?

[Oni]

novia wrote: "I think Chricton can be considered as sci-fi writer. State of Fear, Timeline, Jurrasuic Park are all full of scientific knowledge. If those aren't sci-fi, where do they put that?"

Sometimes sci-fi or not is determined by how you market them. If you look only at the story line, all the novels that you mention is sci-fi. But the publisher somehow wants to market them as thriller novel, so you find them in thriller section, instead of in sci-fi section together with Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov novels. But it can differ from one bookstore to another.

Maybe the publisher wants to gather bigger crowd instead of just sci-fi readers.

[Reza, The Curator]

@Oni: are you thinking like Phillip K Dick's short stories? We need to come up with something by this week, voting or not.

[Oni]

Yes, Reza. Something like Philip K. Dick. But not just from him alone, we can sample sci-fi short stories from several writers and several subgenres.