So you think SF is all about monsters and spaceships? Think again. It's a something-for-everyone universe, which asks the most exciting question of all, 'What if...'
So you think you don't like science fiction? It's for geeks. It's for boys. It's boring. It's got bad hairstyles, worse make-up and too much Lycra. Yes, there are wastelands of that stuff out there on both page and screen, with exploding spaceships and imploding planets and stupid ray guns – not to mention the occasional three-boobed female with bad hair, all trussed up in Lycra.
So may I suggest you instead stick to the sort of books that you love: books about gorgeous otherworldly boys, about fantasy creatures, about great acts of bravery, crazy challenges, parallel universes, wild ideas, riveting plots, paranormal abilities, love, death, and, best of all, strong, inspirational women (with the requisite two boobs, obviously)? Books that sound rather a lot like science fiction actually…
The problem is no one seems able to really define science fiction. In theory, it is science in story form, or at least the possibilities offered by science written as fiction. But that doesn't mean it's set in the future.
Even the rather wonderful Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, made the mistake of declaring her book was most certainly NOT science fiction when it was published, because science fiction "has monsters and spaceships" and her book didn't. But she did her research and later went on to proudly own the term, declaring in a Guardian article that science fiction explores "the nature and limits of what it means to be human in graphic ways, by pushing the envelope as far as it will go," And what makes science fiction particularly thrilling is, as Atwood says: "Increasingly, if we can imagine it, we'll be able to do it." Yup, we really can boldly go where no one has gone before…
The classic novel Frankenstein – published in 1818, and widely acknowledged as the first true work of science fiction – was written by a woman, Mary Shelley, when she was just 18. But it has no aliens, no ray guns, no spaceships, and no boobs. The thing is, science fiction simply doesn't have to.
Nor does it need to happen on a different planet. You loved The Hunger Games trilogy, right? That's most definitely science fiction, set in an alternate, futuristic version of our own world. I guess sometimes they just call the science fiction that girls love "fantasy", because girls tend to shy away from the tacky sci-fi label.
Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond books, has also written a gripping science fiction series, known as The Enemy, which is torch-under-the-blankets reading, especially if you want to escape that girl-gets-jock schlock!
So science fiction can be set in a reimagined past, in a different version of today, on an alternate version of earth, in a parallel universe or even (as is the case with the film Men in Black II) in a baggage locker at Grand Central terminal in New York. There's historical sci-fi, dystopian sci-fi, superhuman sci-fi, and even fabulous-sounding branches like cyberpunk and, lately, the almost-painfully hip steampunk movement. Basically, science fiction just has to ask: "What if…?"
And yes, I didn't know I liked science fiction when I first discovered it. I was still in junior school in 1983 and there was much chatter about the next year because long-dead novelist George Orwell had written a futuristic book way back in the forties, and called it Nineteen Eighty-Four. It was… dark, odd, disturbing, and I wasn't sure I liked it, but I was glad I read it. I spent hours mulling over its idea of a government controlled by Big Brother, where everyone is under constant camera surveillance (for their own good, naturally) and where the Ministry of Peace deals with war. As I read it I felt my mind being prised open, expanding, and suddenly the future seemed ripe with possibilities and alternatives – not all of them happy ones, it must be said, but all of them utterly fascinating.
My next foray into science fiction was when an English teacher handed me The Chrysalids, a book by John Wyndham published in 1955, but still it felt so fresh. It too was set on earth, but after a nuclear war, where hunted teenagers were forced to hide their supernatural powers. Now I was hooked: clearly there was a world of books to be discovered, and worlds beyond those too.
And then, in 2001, a certain JK Rowling's little book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won the prestigious Hugo Award, which is presented every year by the World Science Fiction Convention. So is the world's favourite series actually sci-fi too?
Well, it may be stretching it a little because there's not a lot of actual science in the fantastical Harry Potter series – even with all of Hermione's best efforts, even with Severus Snape's endless potions classes – but still… Perhaps Harry won because science fiction recognises, and welcomes, magic of all kinds. And if you don't believe me, then go pick that fight with Katniss Everdeen. I dare you.
We have five copies of Conquest! - the first part of Jennifer Ridyard and John Connolly's Chronicles of the Invaders series - to give away, so why not give it a try and report back. To claim your copy, drop us an email on childrens.books@guardian.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.
So you think you don't like science fiction? It's for geeks. It's for boys. It's boring. It's got bad hairstyles, worse make-up and too much Lycra. Yes, there are wastelands of that stuff out there on both page and screen, with exploding spaceships and imploding planets and stupid ray guns – not to mention the occasional three-boobed female with bad hair, all trussed up in Lycra.
So may I suggest you instead stick to the sort of books that you love: books about gorgeous otherworldly boys, about fantasy creatures, about great acts of bravery, crazy challenges, parallel universes, wild ideas, riveting plots, paranormal abilities, love, death, and, best of all, strong, inspirational women (with the requisite two boobs, obviously)? Books that sound rather a lot like science fiction actually…
The problem is no one seems able to really define science fiction. In theory, it is science in story form, or at least the possibilities offered by science written as fiction. But that doesn't mean it's set in the future.
Even the rather wonderful Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, made the mistake of declaring her book was most certainly NOT science fiction when it was published, because science fiction "has monsters and spaceships" and her book didn't. But she did her research and later went on to proudly own the term, declaring in a Guardian article that science fiction explores "the nature and limits of what it means to be human in graphic ways, by pushing the envelope as far as it will go," And what makes science fiction particularly thrilling is, as Atwood says: "Increasingly, if we can imagine it, we'll be able to do it." Yup, we really can boldly go where no one has gone before…
The classic novel Frankenstein – published in 1818, and widely acknowledged as the first true work of science fiction – was written by a woman, Mary Shelley, when she was just 18. But it has no aliens, no ray guns, no spaceships, and no boobs. The thing is, science fiction simply doesn't have to.
Nor does it need to happen on a different planet. You loved The Hunger Games trilogy, right? That's most definitely science fiction, set in an alternate, futuristic version of our own world. I guess sometimes they just call the science fiction that girls love "fantasy", because girls tend to shy away from the tacky sci-fi label.
Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond books, has also written a gripping science fiction series, known as The Enemy, which is torch-under-the-blankets reading, especially if you want to escape that girl-gets-jock schlock!
So science fiction can be set in a reimagined past, in a different version of today, on an alternate version of earth, in a parallel universe or even (as is the case with the film Men in Black II) in a baggage locker at Grand Central terminal in New York. There's historical sci-fi, dystopian sci-fi, superhuman sci-fi, and even fabulous-sounding branches like cyberpunk and, lately, the almost-painfully hip steampunk movement. Basically, science fiction just has to ask: "What if…?"
And yes, I didn't know I liked science fiction when I first discovered it. I was still in junior school in 1983 and there was much chatter about the next year because long-dead novelist George Orwell had written a futuristic book way back in the forties, and called it Nineteen Eighty-Four. It was… dark, odd, disturbing, and I wasn't sure I liked it, but I was glad I read it. I spent hours mulling over its idea of a government controlled by Big Brother, where everyone is under constant camera surveillance (for their own good, naturally) and where the Ministry of Peace deals with war. As I read it I felt my mind being prised open, expanding, and suddenly the future seemed ripe with possibilities and alternatives – not all of them happy ones, it must be said, but all of them utterly fascinating.
My next foray into science fiction was when an English teacher handed me The Chrysalids, a book by John Wyndham published in 1955, but still it felt so fresh. It too was set on earth, but after a nuclear war, where hunted teenagers were forced to hide their supernatural powers. Now I was hooked: clearly there was a world of books to be discovered, and worlds beyond those too.
And then, in 2001, a certain JK Rowling's little book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won the prestigious Hugo Award, which is presented every year by the World Science Fiction Convention. So is the world's favourite series actually sci-fi too?
Well, it may be stretching it a little because there's not a lot of actual science in the fantastical Harry Potter series – even with all of Hermione's best efforts, even with Severus Snape's endless potions classes – but still… Perhaps Harry won because science fiction recognises, and welcomes, magic of all kinds. And if you don't believe me, then go pick that fight with Katniss Everdeen. I dare you.
We have five copies of Conquest! - the first part of Jennifer Ridyard and John Connolly's Chronicles of the Invaders series - to give away, so why not give it a try and report back. To claim your copy, drop us an email on childrens.books@guardian.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.