Circa24's Blog - Posts Tagged "sci-fi"
Is Silent Consent Really Science Fiction?
Science fiction has come a long way since the mid-20th century. Then, the words conjured stereotyped images of technological futures, bug-eyed monsters, and spacecraft written predominantly by white males. But even then, Sci-Fi struggled to break free from those narrow constraints with stories like 1984 and Brave New World. Pioneering women authors like Ursula Le Guin explored anthropology and gender identity (e.g., Left Hand of Darkness) and wish fulfillment (Lathe of Heaven) and blurred the boundaries between Sci-Fi and Fantasy worlds, and Octavia Buttler explored plagues, immortality, and mind control (Seeds to Harvest)
The writers and topics have become increasingly diverse. Authors like Mary Doria Russell have explored cultural misunderstandings (The Sparrow), and Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) has provided what may be the most chilling dystopian tale of the future since 1984 by Orwell. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull used the medium to explore the experience of colonization by others, and Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason's Ill Wind explores how a random act can begin a chain of events that collapses civilization.
So, is Silent Event Sci-Fi? Yes, it is a novel of an ecological collapse that looks at the potential consequences of an extreme depletion of fuel reserves by overuse. The surviving society has had to find solutions to its energy crisis and deal with the depleted lands and toxic wastes left by their ancestors. It may not have the bug-eyed monsters and spaceships of some of the better-known works, but it falls well within the genre of dystopian worlds.
The writers and topics have become increasingly diverse. Authors like Mary Doria Russell have explored cultural misunderstandings (The Sparrow), and Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) has provided what may be the most chilling dystopian tale of the future since 1984 by Orwell. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull used the medium to explore the experience of colonization by others, and Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason's Ill Wind explores how a random act can begin a chain of events that collapses civilization.
So, is Silent Event Sci-Fi? Yes, it is a novel of an ecological collapse that looks at the potential consequences of an extreme depletion of fuel reserves by overuse. The surviving society has had to find solutions to its energy crisis and deal with the depleted lands and toxic wastes left by their ancestors. It may not have the bug-eyed monsters and spaceships of some of the better-known works, but it falls well within the genre of dystopian worlds.
