what does the future hold? In our new “Imagining the Next Future” series, The Polygon explores the new age of science fiction – in movies, books, TV, games and more – to see how storytellers and innovators envision the next 10, 20, 50 or 100 years. years at a time of extreme uncertainty. follow us as we dive deep into the unknown.
Science fiction is in a constant state of change, and creating a solidified canon is something that will vary from person to person. Certainly, there are classics throughout the genre, books that differ greatly from their peers, such as Frank Herbert’s Dune, Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, and Ursula K. le guin is the left hand of darkness. these books are legendary not only for giving readers much to think about, but also for impacting the writers who follow them, influencing subject matter, technique, and perspective.
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The last 15 years have provided a lot of fodder for science fiction authors, and looking back, it’s clear that science fiction is in a period of transition: there are more people than ever writing stories, from all kinds of backgrounds. and on a variety of new platforms that didn’t exist before. and in the midst of that transition, there have been many novels that have broken through and changed the face of science fiction.
The following 14 books are some of the most consequential and groundbreaking stories to hit bookstores or shelves at the time: books that forever altered the genre in various ways by changing the conventions or tropes that authors traditionally used. they glowed. a way or popularized something new, or have proven to be very popular with readers around the world.
blindsight by peter watts (2006)
The first contact between humanity and an alien civilization is a cornerstone of science fiction, ranging from aliens with funny noses to genuine aliens. Peter Watts’ novel BlindSight stars after the planet is bombarded by a strange group of objects that emit a single emission before going dark. When scientists receive another transmission from a comet outside the solar system, they send out an expedition made up of five transhuman specialists, including a vampire.
What they discover is truly strange: a kind of hive-mind intelligence that is part of a much larger diaspora. Where many sci-fi adventures deal with humanity’s introduction to a galactic civilization in which we become equal partners/citizens, Watts posits something far stranger: interstellar intelligence that is genuinely alien, and to which humanity is turning. becoming a great nuisance and threat. it’s a groundbreaking novel that helped the authors move away from human analogs and into stranger, more introspective territory about our place in the cosmos.
Related books: the dark forest by cixin liu, story of your life by ted chiang, mieville china embassy city
the hunger games by suzanne collins (2008)
adult and adult sci-fi are often marketed to very different audiences, with both sides disparaging each other. It’s a meaningless barrier, and Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games is a good demonstration that the designation no longer necessarily means that an author is speaking ill of his or her audience.
Set in a dystopian future where the United States has collapsed and been replaced by Panem, children are selected for a brutal competition every ten years from each of the country’s twelve districts, in which they fight to the death, as punishment. for a failed revolution.
Collins’ book deals with pressing issues of brutality and trauma, as well as inequality of wealth, poverty, and revolution. Upon its release in 2008, the book became a best-seller and media franchise, unleashing an avalanche of dystopian-themed novels exploring the darkest underbelly of modern society.
Related books: shipbreaking by paolo bacigalupi, maze runner by james dashner, divergent by veronica roth
the rope girl by paolo bacigalupi (2009)
Between major hurricanes, widespread wildfires, and a global temperature that continues to rise, climate change has been at the forefront of public consciousness for the past decade. While the issue was undoubtedly resolved in 2009, Paolo Bacigalupi’s Rope Girl was a breakthrough for science fiction by putting a world with drastically changed weather front and center.
Set in a world where oil is no longer a thing and where agricultural mega-corps control the world’s food supply with genetically modified crops, Bacigalupi’s story is set in a futuristic Thailand that managed to avert environmental apocalypse: because the country has been able to keep outsiders out, crop failures and famine are avoided. However, that success comes with problems: agents from some of those agricultural bodies are working to get their hands on the country’s seed bank to solve some of its problems, while a genetically modified woman tries to escape sexual slavery while war is coming.
Climate change is a topic that is ripe for fiction, but Bacigalupi goes beyond mere disaster porn with this novel. The Rope Girl looks at how unbridled capitalism and its associated abuses underpin climate disaster.
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the red trilogy, pretty nagata
robotics and science fiction are synonymous (2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the term), and over the years we’ve seen authors approach the field ranging from benevolent servants (c-3p0 or robbie de i, isaac asimov’s robot) , to brilliantly malevolent (hal, from 2001: a space odyssey.)
As robotics and artificial intelligence have advanced in recent years, so have the stories we’ve told about them. One of the most intriguing reads on artificial intelligence is Linda Nagata’s The Red, a military thriller set in the near future. The story follows Lieutenant James Shelley, a soldier in a cyber-enhanced unit who has the ability to get out of trouble thanks to a voice in his head.
That voice turns out to be a massive, distributed artificial intelligence that emerged amidst the world’s myriad systems and uses soldiers like shelley to carry out its plans, particularly when it comes to imminent threats to human civilization, like warheads. nuclear. . nagata’s vision for artificial intelligence is terrifying and realistic: a powerful, unknowable force that has the potential to shape our lives in ways we don’t expect, and is a very different version of the kinds of robots and artificial intelligences that have existed before. that.
Related Books: Self Employed by Annalee Newitz, Sourdough by Robin Sloan, Burnt by August Cole / P.W. singer, the lifecycle of software objects by ted chiang
leviathan awakens by james s.a. corey (2011)
when daniel abraham and ty franck —writing together as james s.a. corey—started a new space opera novel, his friends advised them to focus on epic fantasy. space opera, they were told, simply didn’t sell. they ignored the advice, aiming for “beer and pizza money,” and ended up with a novel that blended hard sci-fi and noir mystery as the specter of war looms over the solar system.
leviathan wakes kicks off corey’s the expanse series, an ambitious and sprawling project that explores humanity’s future in space, examining not only the dangers of balkanization and marginalization in society, but also the dangerous possibilities that a galactic diaspora could represent for humanity when we venture out to the stars.
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While space opera never really died out, Leviathan Wakes has helped reinvigorate the story, paving the way for other authors to explore space and discover new revelations about humanity as they do so.
Related books: embers of war by gareth powell, killer robot series by martha wells
the martian by andy weir (2011)
andy weir’s the martian has probably the luckiest origin story. Weir worked as a programmer for various software companies during the early years of his career, but had always written on the side, posting short stories like The Egg on his website in 2009. That same year, he began writing a story about an astronaut. stranded on mars, in which he discovered how a realistic mission to mars would unfold.
That realism is one of the reasons the Martian caught a lot of people’s attention: Weir spent a considerable amount of time getting the details right for a realistic mission to Mars, and the steps his hapless astronaut, Mark watney needed to go on to survive, how he grew his food, how he figured out how to communicate with earth, and ultimately escape the planet.
Furthermore, the Martian helped demonstrate the potential of desktop publishing. When Weir was unable to sell the novel to a publisher, he began serializing it on his website for free and then began selling it on Amazon. The book quickly became a bestseller, leading to a major publishing deal and then a blockbuster movie directed by Ridley Scott.
Related Books: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Lana by Hugh Howey, Enlistment Terms by Marko Kloos
auxiliary justice by ann leckie (2013)
When Ann Leckie burst onto science fiction with her first novel, Auxiliary Justice, she immediately drew praise and criticism for one of her stylistic choices: a civilization that did not use conventional pronouns.
In the far distant future, the Radchaai galactic empire rules countless civilizations with the help of powerful Ais starships, loaded with corpse soldiers it controls like puppets. One mind of the ship, Toren’s Justice, is destroyed, but survives in the mind of one remaining soldier and sets off to exact revenge for destroying him.
leckie helped popularize two things: he developed a civilization that completely broke with conventional representations of gender and identity. she certainly wasn’t the first to use these tropes, but after the book, science fiction authors have been increasingly free to explore an increasingly sophisticated field of gender identity and representation.
auxiliary justice also explored another heady theme: looking at the nature of a galactic empire not through the lens of building a uniform interstellar civilization, but through that of imperialism, colonization, and subjectivation.
Related Books: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
the long road to a small angry planet by becky chambers (2014)
Since cyberpunk and Frank Miller’s run on Batman in the 1980s, it seems the entire field of science fiction has lurched toward an aesthetic of grim realism. the world is a dark and angry place, where terrible things happen and life is meaningless. There is no shortage of genuinely insightful good books that adopt that mindset, like Richard K. morgan’s altered carbon or paolo bacigalupi’s relentlessly gloomy, rope girl or water knife. And that’s before you get to superhero movies (at least until Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Ragnarok).
That’s why Becky Chambers’ debut novel, The Long Walk to an Angry Little Planet, was a breath of fresh air for many readers. is an endlessly optimistic sci-fi adventure that follows a young woman, rosemary harper, who joins the crew of a ship that helps create wormhole tunnels, the walker, as they travel the galaxy, stopping planet after planet. planet.
It’s an enjoyable read, familiar to anyone who likes the space opera Firefly, in which Chambers is very interested in understanding the interpersonal functioning of each of the crew members and how they fit together. it’s a book that’s endlessly fascinated with how a complicated world works, and one that retains its sense of optimism as its characters take to the stars. it is a book that understands that communities and civilization as a whole function because of a heightened sense of empathy, understanding, and compassion for one another, a lesson that is desperately needed these days.
Related books: closed and common orbit / record of a spaceborn few by becky chambers, space opera by catherynne valente
the problem of the three bodies by cixin liu (2014)
liu cixin’s novel, the three-body problem and its sequels (the dark forest and death’s end) are ambitious books that have a sense of classic 1970s grandeur, but also explore humanity’s place in the cosmos. The series follows humanity’s discovery of an alien civilization and subsequent invasion of Earth, beginning during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and extending through the heat death of the universe. Along the way, Liu explores just how dangerous life could be in the larger universe, ponders technological dystopias and utopias, launches some massive space battles, and just about anything else you can think of.
the incredible success of the three body problem (president barack obama and facebook CEO mark zuckerberg have praised the book) has led to greater visibility of the science fiction scene in china, which has led to the publication of more of liu’s books, but also others, such as hao jingfang’s wanderers, as well as dozens of shorter country works that have been translated into english in the years since.
This success in Chinese science fiction has translated into additional interest in science fiction from around the world and a greater awareness that science fiction is not just a North American/European style of storytelling: it is truly global.
Related books: ball lightning, liu cixin, wanderers by hao jingfang
station eleven by emily st. john mandel (2014)
For much of its history, literary critics and creators have often viewed science fiction as an unidentifiable stain you might find under your shoe, something below the dignity of serious readers and thinkers. . never mind that science fiction has a long history of books that are easily on a par with their “literary” counterparts.
Despite those longstanding prejudices, the conventions and tropes of science fiction have begun to seep into mainstream literary circles, especially as those authors begin to grapple with a world that increasingly resembles the setting of a science fiction novel. A stellar example of this is Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Season Eleven, which explores the aftermath of a deadly flu pandemic that devastates civilization, and in which the survivors come together not only to try to rebuild society, but also to try to preserve the things they make make life worth living, like art and theater.
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mandel’s novel attracted considerable attention from both literary and genre readers, and felt like a novel that helped convince readers of both stripes that (a) neither was going anywhere and (b) ) there are elements of both traditions. which are worth delving into.
Related books: Separation by Ling Ma, Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan, Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. chess
gap by nnedi okorafor (2014)
nnedi okorafor’s response to neill blomkamp’s film district 9 was one of anger, due to the film’s portrayal of nigerians and the misuse of their african background. her response was to write her own version of an alien invasion set in africa, lagoon.
With the work, okorafor has embarked on a specific subgenre of science fiction that he calls “African Futurism,” something he says is different from the more well-known Afrofuturism. he says, is a mode of fiction focused on Africa, rather than science fiction generated within the African-American community, and “more directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology, and point of view as it branches out into science fiction.” black diaspora, and does not privilege or focus on the West.”
is an important distinction, highlighting the increasingly global nature of the genre. As the world becomes more connected, creators around the world are starting to use science fiction tropes to imagine futures without that Western mindset.
related books: black leopard, red wolf by marlon james, binti by nnedi okorafor
the fifth season of n.k. jemisín (2015)
nk Jemisin’s vision of the land is one that is hit by “season five,” periodic apocalyptic events that send the remnants of humanity fleeing to fortresses to try and wait out the worst disasters. Jemisin follows a woman with powers (called Orogen) named Essun as she works to survive amidst a system that routinely oppresses people like her, and as she works to remake the world into a better place.
Season 5 is the work of a writer at the top of her game: Jemisin splits the story’s perspective not just between three people, but with three different times, all tied together at the end for one excellent reveal.
While the novel is stylistically phenomenal, it’s what Jemisin does with its story that sets it apart from its peers, grappling with an important question: how do you take a world that’s inherently broken and make it better? A recent panel discussion at New York Comic Con discussed the nature of fantasy literature, with several creators noting that the genre has traditionally upheld established power structures. jemisin pushes against that trope, using her characters to break traditional norms and rebuild a world that is more fair, just, and equal.
related books: the war of the poppies by r.f. kuang, the stars are legion by kameron hurley
aurora by kim stanley robinson (2015)
How do you travel between the stars if you’re writing a story set in a realistic world where things like hyperspace and warp drives can’t exist? You travel in a generation ship, a huge ship that is designed to be a small world unto itself, allowing multiple generations of humans to survive the long journey into the depths of space.
kim stanley robinson turns her gaze to what a generation ship might look like, following passengers on a generation ship bound for tau ceti. Robinson is known for his deeply researched works, and Aurora presents one of the best-realized depictions of what life beyond our solar system might look like. The generation ship is nearing the end of its journey and is in a difficult state: it is running low on some critical items, and when it reaches Tau Ceti, its passengers discover that while their new home can technically support human life, it will be. an inhospitable existence for generations to come. With this book, Robinson highlights an uncomfortable truth about the galaxy and science fiction: humanity is a species specifically suited to life on Earth, and its health and well-being are paramount to our survival and future.
Related books: the children of time by adrian tchaikovsky, seveneves by neal stephenson, moon: new moon by ian mcdonald
the calculating stars by mary robinette kowal (2018)
In Mary Robinette Kowal’s alternate history, an asteroid falls off the coast of Washington D.C., a possible doomsday event that devastates the world just after World War II. Governments around the world conclude that if humanity is to survive, it must establish off-planet colonies on the moon, Mars, and beyond, and establish a multinational space program to achieve that goal. think jfk speech on steroids.
kowal draws from the current state of space exploration for this alternate history, putting some of its darkest moments front and center, where women and people of color were denied admission to the space program due to systemic racism and sexism. its characters fight to be a part of the show, arguing that if humanity wants to survive, everyone has to participate, including women and people of color.
In doing so, kowal addresses some of the deepest assumptions we’ve ever had about the space program and shows how systemic inequality has impacted our progress in space. While we have been able to resolve the technical barriers to getting into orbit, in order to survive and thrive, we will need to resolve some of those more difficult problems.
Related Books: The Future From Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz, Wayfarer Series by Becky Chambers
the lesson of cadwell turnbull (2019)
A spaceship lands not on New York City or another major world capital, but on the United States. uu. virgin islands. First contact with aliens known as ynaa turns out to be tense: they are benevolent, but can be extremely violent. When a boy is brutally murdered after what seems like a minor slight, a series of actions is set in motion that could unravel relations between the ynaa and humanity.
While reading this book, I couldn’t help but think about the state of race relations in the United States: at its core, it is about young black men running up against the immovable and unbreakable force that is American law. execution mechanism. the book is a study in power and how two opposing sides look warily at each other and what happens when things get out of hand.
Given the events of the summer of 2020, this is a theme that is certainly here to stay as the authors use science fiction to explore this deadly power dynamic and white supremacy that is a part of American life.
Related Books: deep below the solomon rivers, the city we became by n.k. jemisin, riot baby de tochi onyebuchi
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