Please read classic science-fiction. Like, I am begging you on my hands and knees to read classic science-fiction. There is so much literary value in books that ask “what if?”
Here’s a curated list (according to me):
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969. Genly Ai is a human diplomat sent to Gethen to convince them to join an alliance. He has to navigate the “foreignness” of the planet’s inhabitants being genderless and getting caught up in their own political turmoil. 10/10 no notes. Won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Preserved in The Library of Congress. An exploration of gender, identity, society, politics, and most importantly, empathy for other. Genuinely think this book would go crazy on tumblr, please read it.
“Tell them at Shath that I take back my name and my shadow.”
Dune - Frank Herbert, 1965. Paul Atreides can see the future and carries the extreme burden of his ancestry. He finds himself in a position in which he can manufacture an ideal future for the greater good, but he will have to commit to huge sacrifices to achieve it. Also won both the Hugo and the Nebula. If you saw the movies, you have maybe grasped half of what makes Dune ideal science fiction. There’s six official novels in the series, but you literally only have to read the first one to experience the full onslaught of Herbert’s ideas. He combines religion, philosophy, universal consciousness, humanism, politics, and ecology all together into something entirely unique.
“Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
Hyperion - Dan Simmons, 1989. Seven pilgrims share their stories with each other as they travel to the planet Hyperion, to look for answers to the heavy and terrible riddles they bring with them. A mysterious being on the planet is rumored to be able to grant wishes. Won the Hugo Award. What if the Canterbury Tales were set in distant space? There are four novels and several short stories in The Hyperion Cantos, but I recommend sticking to the first two. Simmons tackles heavy topics like the passage of time, the loss of memory, and mortality.
“….loyalty to those we love is all we can carry with us to the grave.”
Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler, 1993. Lauren Olamina can literally feel the pain of others. As she travels through the post-apocalyptic US, she develops a new religion that preaches change and spreading the seeds of the Earth by traveling to and inhabiting other planets. Butler’s original novel was a finalist for the Nebula Award, but the graphic novel version (2020) did win the Hugo. This book can often be found on Banned Books lists due to the way it tackles racism, social inequality, political extremism, and environmentalism.
“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you.”
Foundation - Isaac Asimov, 1951. The Foundation is an organization established to preserve knowledge through a foreseen Dark Age predicted to occur when the Galactic Empire collapses. The members of the association use ‘psychohistory’, the science of predicting future historical developments to make decisions through centuries of political and social turmoil. Asimov is one of the Big Three of Science Fiction for a reason. The Foundation novels span thousands of years and cover the efforts of the organization to survive societal collapse, pass down knowledge, and bridge the gap between individual actions and pre-determined results. There’s also a pretty decent adaptation on Apple TV too!
“I am afraid a monster is grown that will devour all of us. Yet we must fight him.”
Other, worthy classic sci-fi novels:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick, 1968. The inspiration behind Blade Runner, but also majorly influential to the Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.
Neuromancer - William Gibson, 1984. The father of the cyberpunk genre.
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury, 1950. A collection of short stories that popularized the ‘human colonies on other planets’ trope.
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