Summer Science Fiction Syllabus

Treasure Maps

Even though I can't pinpoint the exact media that introduced me to science-fiction, I can say pretty confidently that Alien (1979) was what solidified my love for the genre. As of today, I am a proud owner of a Blu-ray Alien collection (all the movies before 2017) and Alien-themed trinkets. If you ask me what I think the core theme of the movies are, I'd say corporate greed and motherhood (not at the same time). I enjoy analyzing films and poking and prodding until I find themes and the underlaying subtext. It makes my brain feel alive. I've always needed someone else's thoughts to jump off of- I find that I cannot explain what goes on in my brain. This is why I made this blog: to practice pulling words out of thin air.
I expect to face many challenges along the way. Screen addiction and shortened attention span are my biggest enemies. Even if I put my phone away, I find myself reaching for it to look things up on Google. Take HP Lovecrafts Call of Cthuhlu: it references Theosophy and multiple spiritual and mystical texts in the first 5 pages. Naturally, I had to look up some information.

Now lets take a look at what the syllabus includes.

I love scifi-horror, so the first stop in this journey is Persona by Aoife Josie Clements. Reading Nic Anstett's article in Autostraddle convinced me to add this book to my TBR list. Nic Anstett describes the book as cosmic and psychological horror, despite it not fitting the usual characteristics of the genre: the protagonists are NOT white men realizing their own insignificance against an otherworldly incomprehensible entity. No. The protagonist is a trans woman living with little agency in her life and a society leaves her powerless.

Next up: the Classics. I picked “The Call of Cthulhu And Other Frightening Tales” by HP Lovecraft. Yes, I am expecting to run into the authors bigotry and racism. In fact, that is one of the reasons I plan to read it (let me explain). The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, a prize winning novella, retells one of HP Lovecraft's popular stories “The Horror at Red Hook” from the perspective of a black man. To appreciate the novella better, I want to familiarize myself with the ;original work before I read the tribute/criticism literature.

Next is a mandatory Queer sci-fi pick. In their blog post called “Sci-fi is my queer haven”, Existential Dred recommends A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. It is described as an intriguing political tale discussing colonialism and history. The title references a famous phrase by Tacitus : "they make a wasteland and call it peace". This alone makes it very interesting to read!

Next, a classic and a feminist piece, is The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin. I am excited to find out how an author in the 60s explores themes of identity and gender. The glowing reviews are a bonus: Donna White wrote that the book was a seminal work of science fiction, comparing it to Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. One of my favorite reads, The Gods Themselves, also explores gender and its roles in an Alien society, so I'm curious to see a different approach.

Next up: Afrofuturism. The internet recommends the author Nnedi Okorafor, but unfortunately, I HATED another work of theirs called Binti. I read it almost 4 years ago, so I don't remember the details (vaguely remember thinking about Stockholm syndrome and the romanticizing forgiving your oppressor), but I prefer to start afresh. Luckily, I was talking with a fellow sci-fi solarpunk enjoyer who recommended Octavia E. Butler's work. So for now, the plan is to read Kindred by her. Side note: I highly recommend reading David Colón-Cabrera's article “Looking for Humanity in Science Fiction through Afrofuturism”.

And the last item on my list is A Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers. Because a friend got me this book, and it looks fun :)

Lets see how this goes!