Themes in Sci Fi over time

[TomK2]

I have been slowly reading Hugo winners over the past decade, from early winners to recent winners. And It seemed to me there were some trends in the winners as time progressed. Remember I said trends, and perhaps this is purely my selection bias at work. So I will ask fellow readers.

In the early Sci Fi, the boogey men and themes seemed to be Governments or the politicians. Then by the 90's the boogey men and themes seemed to have shifted to corporations. And now, in the most recent decades, sexuality, often not heterosexuality, seems to be a prominent feature.

I do not claim that these themes were absent during the other periods, but just that they were more prominent during the period I described them in. Am I wrong? If I am not wrong, do the winners get pushed to the front because of the politics and culture of the time they were written? Or are they just more prevalent and more likely to be represented in the winners circle?

Maybe you think there are entirely different themes and trends over the decades?

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Hi TomK2 and a big welcome to the group. I agree that there are definitely some trends which are more prominent during certain periods in the history if Hugo and Nebula than others. The most apparent trends span over decades, each of them tinted with a bit extra focus on one theme over other, corresponding to the time they were written in.

The Cold War, first steps in the robotics field, Korean and Vietnam wars, explosion of psychedelics and new age spirituality, AI development, sexual revolution, genetics, etc, infinitely affected the works of fiction in general. So each "era" had its own bogeyman, more often than not it was the humanity itself.

I don't see that the current atmosphere around the awards is much more different from what it was, I think we are simply more aware of what is going on and are able to see the trends that permeate the whole scene clearer due to the existence of the social media.

I think there are some timeless pieces that deserve to be on the list no matter when they were written, while others would not be even considered for publishment had they been written a decade before or after. I also think that overall both categories are equally important.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

TomK2, I agree that there are a lot of books now where "alternative lifestyle" sexuality is accented and an important part of the plot, sometimes to the point where it is annoying. But I think that eventually, as society adjusts, the gender of the characters will become less important. It will be just another characteristic of the characters, like blue eyes or brown eyes.

Sometimes, after reading some books, I gotta say, I long for that time to come.

[Gabi]

Kateblue wrote: " Sometimes, after reading some books, I gotta say, I long for that time to come.."

Amen to that, Kateblue!

[TomK2]

Hey, I am glad for the change away from "evil corporations" to "my lifestyle is different!" Plus, I have read reviews and talked to enough people who find that characters that are closer to their way of life are a huge comfort to read about. But I did think the theme was occurring more frequently, and sometimes I wasn't sure it added to the story.

For example, consider the typical swashbuckling male hero who can take a beating within inches of his life, sustain horrific injuries, yet still manage to seduce or respond to a woman despite what has just happened. That stuff is all over the place, in all types of tales. Does it add depth to the character? NO! It is a trope that actually accomplishes the opposite, if you ask me. So, does adding a different sexuality add depth to a character? Or is it a diversion to make it seem like there is more to the character than the tale has otherwise provided. I suppose that depends on the tale you are reading and the character in question.

I guess a lot of the books I have read where this has come up didn't seem to require it for the plot or the tale, but I am neither author nor esteemed critic, so what do I know?

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Tom, I saw that you recently finished reading Ancillary Justice. We read it last year as a challenge (our discussion threads: (No Spoilers / Spoilers)). I think that Lecke benefited from introducing an interesting concept in regards to sexes and pronouns, a concept which she never built upon. Not only she abandoned the consistency a hundred pages is, she managed to kick that dead horse into a trilogy.

Recently I stopped seeing the trend you are describing, in the past years characters are rarely one-dimensional. Let's hope it will stay this way.

[TomK2]

I found Ancillary justice harder to read, and a bit tedious with the gender changes mid paragraph. I would have to stop and think about who was saying what, because he said she said often was the same character. It also left me unsure about the few couples there were, and ultimately I didn't really care one way or the other. I am not sure if that was part of the point being made. If it was part of the point, I suppose I am grateful for having the relationships be what they were instead of categorizing them as heterosexual or homosexual. But that still didn't make up for the reading and comprehension impediment it caused.

edit: enjoyed your link, btw.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

TomK2 wrote: "Hey, I am glad for the change away from "evil corporations" to "my lifestyle is different!" ."

From my reading experience, these themes often go together, and antagonists are evil CEO, who is secretly a neo-Nazi and a womanizer :)

Evil corp trope I guess was promoted by cyberpunk, which in real life was affected by Japanese economic miracle

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

I found Ancillary Justice hard to read until I just decided everybody was female. I should have done so earlier, I might have enjoyed it more.