7 minute read
Read Forward Thinking: 8 Science Fiction Recommendations
FORWARD THINKING
Writer, YouTuber, and Science Fiction aficionado Tori Morrow shares some of her favourite novels in the genre - for longterm fans and readers who are new to the genre alike. Find more of Tori’s writing on her website: www.torimorrow.com and get more book recommendations from her at YouTube.com/torimorrow.
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By Tori Morrow
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To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
To Be Taught, If Fortunate is an excellent sci-fi novella, and one that is a great place to start, not only for beginners in the sci-fi genre, but also for readers who are long-term SF fans who may not want to dive into Chambers’ Wayfarer series just yet.
The novella follows a crew of four astronauts as they survey the ecology of four exoplanets that are believed to sustain human life. En route to each new planet, the crew adapts their bodies to new planetary environments through a technology known as “somaforming.” During a routine survey mission on one of the planets, though, we learn that Earth has stopped responding to the crew’s messages. The story unfolds through one of the crew members, Ariadne, as she documents their experience on each planet in the hope that Earth might still be listening.
In under two-hundred pages, To Be Taught, If Fortunate explores the impact (for better or worse) that humans have on an unfamiliar planet’s ecosystem, and leaves the reader wondering about the future of our world.
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Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler
Parable of the Sower is easily one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time. The post-apocalyptic subgenre of science fiction is one of my favourites, and Butler fuses those chaotic, “world-in-ruins” themes typically found in apocalyptic stories with religious undertones and a story of self discovery. The novel takes place after the country has suffered economic and environmental collapse. We follow our main character, Lauren, who has the gift of hyper empathy, allowing her to feel the emotions of those around her deeply. Lauren lives in a gated (and I use that word very loosely) neighbourhood where her father is a preacher and often looked to as the leader of their small community. The story unfolds through a series of Lauren’s journal entries where she documents the eventual decline of her community and begins questioning her faith. As Lauren tries to rebuild her life and make sense of the world, she begins to establish a new religion known as Earthseed.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Though Stories of Your Life and Others has grown in its popularity over the years, it’s still a book that I consistently recommend because, in many ways, it fueled my own love for science fiction and became an instant favourite. Stories of Your Life and Others is a collection of eight brilliant short stories that examine questions about God, societal norms, language, and inter-species communication that have probably never crossed your mind. Chiang handles each story perfectly - whether it’s in a structurally unique way that leaves you speechless, or simply by boiling large, scientific concepts down into familial stories of love, loss, and humanity. Each story in this collection has left a lasting impact on me, and some of my personal favourites in this collection include: Tower of Babylon, Division by Zero, and Story of Your Life.
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Lexicon by Max Barry
To this day, Lexicon is still one of the most genre-defying and trippiest novels I have ever read, and it’s one that I recommend to almost everyone regardless of the type of sci-fi and SF sub-genres they read.
Lexicon takes place at a boarding school in Virginia, where students don’t learn the usual subjects like math and science. Instead, they’re taught the art of language. Specifically, how to use language as a dangerous weapon of manipulation. Once they graduate from the school,
the students are known as “poets”.
Lexicon is told from two points of view, the first of which is a young woman named Emily, who is admitted to the school after she is approached by recruiters. In the second, we have Wil, who is pursued by strange men for unknown reasons. As the two storylines begin to collide, Lexicon becomes something akin to a sci-fi thriller/mystery novel that is unlike any other book I’ve read.
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
I love this novel and its characters more than I possibly put into words.
Do You Dream of TerraTwo? follows a group of six teenagers, who, after rigorous schooling and training their entire lives, are selected for a 23-year long journey to an earth-like planet named TerraTwo. Along with a few experienced astronauts, the teenagers leave earth for their mission. But it’s clear early on they cannot escape the mental health challenges with which they struggled nor the personal and familial challenges that impacted them at home. This is a beautiful novel, one that not only fuels a sense of wonder about potential habitable planets and space exploration, but which also grapples with important topics such as mental health. Do You Dream of Terra-Two? can feel claustrophobic at times, because we’re watching these characters struggle so intensely in the closed-quarters of their ship, but Oh tells this story so beautifully, and I think it’s perfect for both beginners to the genre or any wellestablished sci-fi reader.
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The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin
There’s a reason The Broken Earth trilogy consistently pops up on favourites and “Best Of” lists, and why each novel won the Hugo Award in its respective year. The trilogy is just that phenomenal. The story begins with the first novel, The Fifth Season, which is an excellent blend of post apocalyptic and fantasy elements written in a way - both structurally and in its tone - that make Jemisin a powerhouse of a writer. The series is told in multiple POVs and takes place on a continent known as the Stillness, which is accustomed to the world ending in various ways. The first book begins when one of our main characters leaves home in search of her missing daughter. While our main character navigates the dangers of the Stillness, we learn of the intricate hierarchy of beings who control and manipulate the Earth as a weapon. As the stakes rise, and Jemisin takes readers to the brink of another apocalyptic event unlike anything the Stillness has seen.
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Babel-17 is perfect for any reader looking for a fun, thought-provoking work of classic science fiction. Because I love reading about themes of language and linguistics in my science fiction, and can appreciate a great space opera, Babel-17 resonated with me immediately and is a novel that has stuck with me. In Babel-17 we follow Rydra Wong, a poet and ship captain, who also has an unprecedented knack for language. Rydra is approached to crack an enemy code known as “Babel-17”, but in her research she learns that Babel-17 is not a code. It’s actually a language, one that - if learned - can impact one’s concept of time and their perception of the world. I love how the foundation of the story is rooted in language, and the way Delany weaves some of the more traditional sci-fi elements and tropes into his story makes Babel-17 a fascinating read.
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
The Light Brigade probably isn’t the most beginner-friendly science fiction novel, but it’s worth the read for those wanting to be taken on a wild journey. The novel is set in a world where corporates dominate everything, including soldiers. Corporate soldiers have been fighting in an ongoing war against Mars for years. In order to quickly get to the front lines of various planets, they are broken down into light. We follow Dietz, a new soldier who - the first time they’re beamed to the front lines - begins to experience the war differently. For Dietz, the war and reality becomes difficult to keep straight, and they struggle to sort of the mess before losing their sanity completely.
