Look around you…on the train or bus, at cafes and bars—people everywhere seem to be reading some variant of Science Fiction. As a genre, Science Fiction has been around for some time. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is cited by most as the first Science Fiction novel ever.  And in the 1930s, H.G. Wells was writing predictions for the future. But, today, add the emergence of newer similar genres like Paranormal, Dystopian, or Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy fiction, and it’s easy for readers to get things confused. These are all forms of what’s called Speculative fiction. And all of them are growing in popularity all of the time giving Science Fiction a unique vitality and energy as an evolving art form.

If you look up Science Fiction in Wikipedia, here’s what you’ll learn:

“Science Fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginative content such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction, making it a ‘literature of ideas.’ Science fiction has been used by authors as a device to discuss philosophical ideas such as identity, desire, morality, and social structure.” I would add that, for me, the best Science Fiction is inherently optimistic in nature taking a positive view of both technology and humanity.

 

The Future is Now – 5 Reasons People Love Science Fiction

But, the question remains: Why now? Why, in 2014, do readers make the choice to read a Science Fiction book above any other? I’ve got a few ideas.

– We’re living in Science Fiction. The world in which we live, in many ways, is the manifestation of that imagined by early Science Fiction writers. For example, in his 1933 book, Men Like Gods, H. G. Wells envisioned an “answerphone,” in which people leave voice messages that the recipients can listen to when they choose. Decades later, the answering machine was born. Science fiction is always as much about the present day as it is about the future. We need it to help us understand and make sense of the world we live in.

– Technology is accelerating more rapidly than at any time in human history—faster than the average human brain can comprehend. So much good has come out of technology…I’d probably still be sitting at my desk trying to get a novel published if it weren’t for the advances in digital publishing technology. However, people feel considerable anxiety about technology getting out of control or being used for malevolent purposes. The message of many classic Science Fiction works is that we can overcome. Human actors always prevail over technology. Science fiction provides comfort in a highly technological era.

– It’s exciting and entertaining to read about the amazing inventions that you imagined as a kid—things like tourism on the moon, communicating through the television, or even holograms, or satellites orbiting the earth possibly coming to fruition. In 1945, Arthur C. Clarke proposed earth-orbiting satellites, 20 years before the first actual one was launched. Science Fiction appeals to your imagination, your sense of wonder at the capabilities of technology and of humans who created it. Despite the closings at NASA, the American fascination with space travel and cosmic investigation is stronger than ever. Science Fiction represents an artistic expression of this technology and it’s thrilling to read.

– Thanks to the non-stop news cycle—on radio, television, and the Internet—we have access to more information from across the globe than ever before. More knowledge is a good thing; but, unfortunately, much of this news is not good. Constantly hearing about the atrocities overseas, terrorism abroad, or school shootings here at home has put us on edge. As advanced as technology has become and as seamlessly integrated it may be into our American lives, there are still parts of our world that feel primitive, frightening, and dangerous. Science Fiction provides an escape from the tragic realities of modern life, but it also gives us hope that we will survive and find a way to solve these global problems.

– Never before have Science Fiction stories been rendered so believably in film. Before the development of CGI, or computer-generated-imagery, it was impossible to create a realistic visual representation of Science Fiction—making many of these tales impossible to share on film. In fact, early movies about the future looked rather hokey with silly flying saucers and aliens that may as well be made of tin foil (and probably were!). But, with the release of the epic space opera Star Wars in 1977, George Lucas went leaps and bounds ahead of what anyone else was doing. And he didn’t have CGI at the time.  Later, CGI came along and has forever changed the way that Science Fiction stories can be told, offering spectacular special effects and mind-blowing visuals. A whole new audience of moviegoers is attracted to the genre—that audience has translated into more readers of Science Fiction as well.

So, why Science Fiction now?  You tell me.

What compels you to pick up a work of Science Fiction these days? Or, have you always been a Sci-Fi geek? I’d especially like to hear from new readers of the genre—what caused you to go cosmic?

 

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