Chapter 13 : Fantasy and Science Fiction

Summary :

In fantasy and science fiction, the laws of physical reality are violated.  Science Fiction is a subgenre of Fantasy.  Though all Science Fiction is Fantasy, not all Fantasy is Science Fiction.  

The criteria for evaluating Science Fiction is as follows :

1. Despite the fantasy aspects that are present, the characters must behave in a consistent/believable way.
2. There are rules for the fantasy world.
3. Authors must assist the readers in “willing suspension of belief.”
4. The themes must explore universal truths.

In the video, Dr. Perry organized her talk on science fiction around her book, Sci Fi on the Fly.  There are many different types of science fiction, and she talked about each one.  There are also hard vs. soft science fiction, with the hard delving into more science than story most of the time.  Though many people often don’t pick science fiction as their favorite, they need to realize that in science fiction the characters have the same conflicts as in other genres.

The areas of that Dr. Perry introduced were (along with some examples) :

1.  Apocalyptic and Post Apocalyptic - There has been a catastrophe that characters must recover from.  It often has a primitive setting, and possibly a society has been wiped out.  Examples were : The Testing, Tumble and Fall, A Matter of Days, Monument 14, The Rule of Three, Ashfall, Life As We Knew It, The 5th Wave, Grasshopper Jungle, and Vivian Apple at the End of the World.
2. Steam Punk/Bio Punk/Cyber Punk - Steam Punk deals with steam powered machines and developing technology.  Cyber Punk is hacking, computers vs. machines, and tends to be bleak and dark.  Bio Punk is hackers, dark, and something with manipulating DNA and it’s dangers.   Examples were : Killer of Enemies, Etiquette and Espionage, Something Strange and Deadly, Little Brother, Bzrk and Dearly Departed.
3. Dystopic - These books have been around for a while, but have resurfaced in popularity because of the Hunger Games series.  They are books that deal with propaganda, have a figurehead, have people that have to conform and show no individuality, the illusion of a perfect world, resistance to government and joining of a rebellion.  Examples were : Eve, Legend, The Declaration, Bumped, Scored, Article 5, Under the Never Sky, and Memento Nora.
4. Extra-Sensory Perception - These books deal with a supernatural awareness of events, knowing what other people are thinking, or knowing the future.   Some examples were : The Diviners, Soulless, Eat Brains Love, Freakling, Wake, Vibes, Dead is the New Black and Bruiser.
5. Robots/Androids/Cyborgs/Artificial Intelligence - This books can encompass many things.  Some examples were : Eve and Adam, Beta, Girl Parts, Cinder and Skinned.
6. Space/Extra Terrestial - Some examples were : Black Hole Sun, Rules, Tune, These Broken Stars, Mothership, Glow, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Across the Universe and Alienated.
7. Time Travel/Parallel Universe - The topic is pretty self explanatory, with characters somehow traveling to another time or place.  Examples were : Waterfall, The Here and Now, The Power of Un, Choices, Through to You and Prism.
8. Virtual Reality/Gaming - The examples were : Feed, Eye of Minds, Doom, Awaken, More Than This, Ready Player One, Z and Epic.
9. Lastly, many books fall into the Miscellaneous category.  Some books Dr. Perry mentioned were : Sick, Dualed, Dull Bay and The Originals.

Reflection :

I have to admit that Science Fiction has never been my favorite genre.  I tend to lean towards realistic and historical fiction, because science and technology topics never grabbed me as a child.  But after listening to the video and reading such books as Hunger Games and Divergent, I now have quite a few titles that I would like to try out.  I liked the point made that even though they are termed science fiction, they still explore themes that other works of fiction do.  As a future librarian, I know I need to broaden my scope and read more works of science fiction, especially since they are so popular with YA readers.  I also need to make sure that I have a wide variety of the different types of science fiction that Dr. Perry talked about available in my library.

I also found the criteria set forth for evaluating science fiction very helpful.  When I am writing my blog posts (especially on The Knife of Letting Go, which I am currently reading), I will refer back to them to see if I think the author is doing a good job in such things as creating believable characters and sharing universal truths.