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Sci-Fi Recs
Sep. 9th, 2022 07:07 pmi've always been a big fan of speculative fiction ever since i could remember. for a while, though, i forgot how much i liked reading things that fall more specifically into the sci-fi genre. then, in the last couple years, i took some english classes to fulfill more of my GEs and i Remembered. two of those classes were sci-fi specific and they basically saved my ability to read original fiction. so...
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
tlhod actually haunts me. i want to reread it but idk like do i have that much emotional energy to spare. when i got to a certain chapter i just had to stop reading and try to regain my stability. yes i did cry a little. le guin is insane for this!!! to be honest this moved me so deeply and made it feel like life was still worth it and wonder was still alive and well when i was miserable in zoom school. i carry this story in my body even if i can't remember all the delicious fine details. if you read a blurb of it, it may not seem like it's about love and acceptance and politics but it is i prommy. if you read this can you please talk to me about it
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
i couldn't stop thinking about this for like 2 weeks straight. it's so fucked up that it's baffling. but it's also real, even too real at some points. the way the details of What Happened are revealed and start to come together is well done. kept me wanting more til the end. this book is the first part of a trilogy called the Madaddam Trilogy and i'm actually reading book 2 rn!
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
this is the first time i read a sci-fi story that takes place in africa! and it's cool because nigeria is next to ghana, where half my heritage is from (let's go west africans). it's crazy how slice of life it is but at the same time sooo wack with all the perspective changes and characters and the weird shit going on. the narration goes crazy and the use of pidgin english adds that extra level of Realism. like oryx and crake, you can totally see this happening. the ending could've done more for me but it's a good read as an overall experience.
Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
we all know about the amazons, wonder woman, and all that but i've never known anything like the all female society that's in this book (and yes they are lesbians). the story is lowkey an insane ride and i got confused at some points. but we got some scrumptious organic vs synthetic tension going on in here and a couple crazy dream-like sequences that were very trippy which i'm in awe of still. while i didn't like the ending, the book's concepts and scenes stuck in my mind so well that it was worth the read to me and i would reread it.
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
so i had to read this book in one day because i was behind in class BUT LET ME TELL YOU it is doable! the story starts slow and then just builds and builds, it's so ominous, it feels like a good psych thriller movie in some ways. i love the descriptions and the imagery. the main character is very interesting but that's all i can say.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
so obviously this is super famous and paved the way and i can see why. story time: i got scared because there's a chapter title called VENI VIDI VICI and i just started looking into cravity while reading...everything connects <3 i'm actually curious whether this book had any influence over the song (the scifi vibes cravity has sometimes & the lyrics...it's possible). OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT CRAVIY honestly i had mixed feelings about the book as i read it. some parts are pretty technical and on a very personal note sometimes i had trouble imagining scenes well in my head. but i'm a sucker for fucked up things that keep you guessing. plus the multiple narrators. overall it just keeps driving on and on until WHOA but the ending is rlly a setup for the rest of the series which i'm not gonna read (or at least not past book 2) so...yeah it is what it is
Patterns of a Murmuration, in Billions of Data Points
I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE?? i promise it made an impact on me though. just can never remember the title correctly smh. anyway, i really love the diction & syntax & structure of this, the worldbuilding/situational set up, and the concept of this ai consciousness. good program, very beautiful very powerful. not only can this make you feel something for an ai but it also pushes the imagery-boundary of what is synthetic and organic. give it up for the nature-tech dichotomy
Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
note that this is a short story COLLECTION so while there were a few stories i didn't connect with as much, it's amazing as a whole. i love the variety and there are some really interesting twists in here. contains animals and creatures.
a lot of AI depictions in media are disturbing but this one is not, it felt refreshing to me. super short so that's all i'm gonna say. hehe
this is the story that the movie arrival was based off of, so if you've seen that you know this shit slaps. if you haven't seen that, it doesn't matter because this is the OG and it slaps severely imo. i cried. i lost my mind. this hurts so good. pour one out for parent-child relationships
Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
disturbing to say the least. great concept though, octavia butler was not afraid to do crazy shit and make people Think. she paved the way. @ the characters in this ummm talk about complicated relationships...
Emergency Skin by N. K. Jemisin
very relevant sociocultural commentary. rereading it only makes it stronger imo because seeing the little pieces of foreshadowing and etc. is super satisfying. love the main character. i felt touched by the ending! 2020 hugo award winner!!
the actual concept of this is amazing (and fucked up/haunting) in itself but for me, it's how it's written. some parts of it are like poetry! who else loves when lines are repeated and gain different meanings? please read this.
this is a clever commentary on multiple fronts. ngl i didn't remember that much about it except that some lines were very good and the ending made me smile. i realize i have to reread all of these stories so i can keep carrying them with me :>
Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit - Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts by Ken Liu
okay honestly this didn't have the biggest impact on me overall, like yeah it's good but it made the list because i really like how history and perspectives are talked about in this. there are also some really great lines (i could reread this just to mine it for quotes).
i found this heartwarming and creative. tbh i'm not the biggest fan of robots, they're cool but i don't go out of my way to consume robot media or anything, so i was surprised by how much i loved it. HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SHORT STORY 2021!!
The Sin of America by Cathrynne M. Valente
an unconventional narrative style for a short story, at least to me. at first i was lost because it seems super random but it turns out it's very heavy on symbolism. i can see why this is a hugo awards 2022 nominee (could it win?). definitely makes you think!
the ratings are kind of whatever because i'm just doing my best with what i can remember rn (i'd love to reread all of these one day!), also i'm not someone who rates stuff in general lmao. bottom line is if i didn't care for it or found it mediocre, it wouldn't be here!
ALSO: as for the stuff that i didn't connect with as much, i can totally throw those titles at you, too, if that's something you're into. happy reading my friends <3
here's a list of recently-ish read works that i love
Novels
- rating: 5/5
- subgenre: planetary exploration, aliens
tlhod actually haunts me. i want to reread it but idk like do i have that much emotional energy to spare. when i got to a certain chapter i just had to stop reading and try to regain my stability. yes i did cry a little. le guin is insane for this!!! to be honest this moved me so deeply and made it feel like life was still worth it and wonder was still alive and well when i was miserable in zoom school. i carry this story in my body even if i can't remember all the delicious fine details. if you read a blurb of it, it may not seem like it's about love and acceptance and politics but it is i prommy. if you read this can you please talk to me about it
- rating: 4.5/5
- subgenre: dystopian future, post-apocalypse
- warning: child porn/prostitution is a backstory point
i couldn't stop thinking about this for like 2 weeks straight. it's so fucked up that it's baffling. but it's also real, even too real at some points. the way the details of What Happened are revealed and start to come together is well done. kept me wanting more til the end. this book is the first part of a trilogy called the Madaddam Trilogy and i'm actually reading book 2 rn!
- rating: 4.25/5
- subgenre: alien invasion, afrofuturism, environmental fiction
this is the first time i read a sci-fi story that takes place in africa! and it's cool because nigeria is next to ghana, where half my heritage is from (let's go west africans). it's crazy how slice of life it is but at the same time sooo wack with all the perspective changes and characters and the weird shit going on. the narration goes crazy and the use of pidgin english adds that extra level of Realism. like oryx and crake, you can totally see this happening. the ending could've done more for me but it's a good read as an overall experience.
- rating: 4.25/5
- subgenre: dystopian future
we all know about the amazons, wonder woman, and all that but i've never known anything like the all female society that's in this book (and yes they are lesbians). the story is lowkey an insane ride and i got confused at some points. but we got some scrumptious organic vs synthetic tension going on in here and a couple crazy dream-like sequences that were very trippy which i'm in awe of still. while i didn't like the ending, the book's concepts and scenes stuck in my mind so well that it was worth the read to me and i would reread it.
- rating: 4/5
- subgenre: wilderness exploration, humans vs nature
so i had to read this book in one day because i was behind in class BUT LET ME TELL YOU it is doable! the story starts slow and then just builds and builds, it's so ominous, it feels like a good psych thriller movie in some ways. i love the descriptions and the imagery. the main character is very interesting but that's all i can say.
- rating: 4/5
- subgenre: space war, humans vs aliens
- warning: 80's-typical very offensive & out of pocket language
so obviously this is super famous and paved the way and i can see why. story time: i got scared because there's a chapter title called VENI VIDI VICI and i just started looking into cravity while reading...everything connects <3 i'm actually curious whether this book had any influence over the song (the scifi vibes cravity has sometimes & the lyrics...it's possible). OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT CRAVIY honestly i had mixed feelings about the book as i read it. some parts are pretty technical and on a very personal note sometimes i had trouble imagining scenes well in my head. but i'm a sucker for fucked up things that keep you guessing. plus the multiple narrators. overall it just keeps driving on and on until WHOA but the ending is rlly a setup for the rest of the series which i'm not gonna read (or at least not past book 2) so...yeah it is what it is
Short Stories
- rating: 4.75/5
- subgenre: AI, not completely dystopian future but it's bleak
I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE?? i promise it made an impact on me though. just can never remember the title correctly smh. anyway, i really love the diction & syntax & structure of this, the worldbuilding/situational set up, and the concept of this ai consciousness. good program, very beautiful very powerful. not only can this make you feel something for an ai but it also pushes the imagery-boundary of what is synthetic and organic. give it up for the nature-tech dichotomy
- rating: 4.5/5
- subgenre: ominous and weird slice of life
note that this is a short story COLLECTION so while there were a few stories i didn't connect with as much, it's amazing as a whole. i love the variety and there are some really interesting twists in here. contains animals and creatures.
a lot of AI depictions in media are disturbing but this one is not, it felt refreshing to me. super short so that's all i'm gonna say. hehe
this is the story that the movie arrival was based off of, so if you've seen that you know this shit slaps. if you haven't seen that, it doesn't matter because this is the OG and it slaps severely imo. i cried. i lost my mind. this hurts so good. pour one out for parent-child relationships
- rating: 4/5
- subgenre: aliens, body horror
- warning: yeah so the body horror and gore (no eye stuff though) is just really nasty. not for the faint of heart
disturbing to say the least. great concept though, octavia butler was not afraid to do crazy shit and make people Think. she paved the way. @ the characters in this ummm talk about complicated relationships...
- rating: 4.5/5
- subgenre: planetary exploration, fuck elon musk (not Literally but it's not a joke)
- note: can't find it online but if you also can't find it and really want to read this, i will send you the pdf
very relevant sociocultural commentary. rereading it only makes it stronger imo because seeing the little pieces of foreshadowing and etc. is super satisfying. love the main character. i felt touched by the ending! 2020 hugo award winner!!
the actual concept of this is amazing (and fucked up/haunting) in itself but for me, it's how it's written. some parts of it are like poetry! who else loves when lines are repeated and gain different meanings? please read this.
this is a clever commentary on multiple fronts. ngl i didn't remember that much about it except that some lines were very good and the ending made me smile. i realize i have to reread all of these stories so i can keep carrying them with me :>
- rating: 3.75/5
- subgenre: climate fiction
- note: lmk if you want the pdf :]
okay honestly this didn't have the biggest impact on me overall, like yeah it's good but it made the list because i really like how history and perspectives are talked about in this. there are also some really great lines (i could reread this just to mine it for quotes).
i found this heartwarming and creative. tbh i'm not the biggest fan of robots, they're cool but i don't go out of my way to consume robot media or anything, so i was surprised by how much i loved it. HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SHORT STORY 2021!!
- rating: 3.75/5
- subgenre: um??? small town weirdness i suppose
an unconventional narrative style for a short story, at least to me. at first i was lost because it seems super random but it turns out it's very heavy on symbolism. i can see why this is a hugo awards 2022 nominee (could it win?). definitely makes you think!
the ratings are kind of whatever because i'm just doing my best with what i can remember rn (i'd love to reread all of these one day!), also i'm not someone who rates stuff in general lmao. bottom line is if i didn't care for it or found it mediocre, it wouldn't be here!
ALSO: as for the stuff that i didn't connect with as much, i can totally throw those titles at you, too, if that's something you're into. happy reading my friends <3
