How Great Science Fiction Works

Summary:

This is an Audible exclusive audiobook lecture series about the history and craft of great science fiction. It explores the genre from the earliest examples through the pulp era and up to modern day.

Review:

I quite enjoyed listening to this series of lectures. I’ve always been interested in science fiction, though I haven’t read as much of it as I have fantasy or mystery novels. I did come to realize through this that the genre includes more than stories about space travel, which I always seem to attach to it. Science fiction is technically any story that uses science to create a setting in which the characters experience life in an alternative manner to how we experience it today. Thus books like Jurassic Park are considered sci-fi, though they are firmly grounded on earth.

I think the fact that the first recognized work of modern science fiction is Frankenstein is also quite telling. That book is often thought of as gothic horror, which it is, but it sits firmly in the definition given above for science fiction. Also, the genre has existed for a long time, much longer than modern fantasy, which truly took shape with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books.

I enjoyed exploring the various facets of sci-fi and how authors can create utopian or dystopian worlds, fly us through space at hyperspeed, create new alien races, or simply deal with a viral outbreak on planet Earth. Alternate histories are another popular option for the genre, which almost always include a scientific explanation as to why the universe exists. Time travel and/or manipulation is yet another popular trope. All of these and more provide authors and readers with many avenues to explore together.

As someone who has tried to read several works of classic science fiction, by authors like Asimov and Vonnegut, I appreciate that the pulp era style isn’t the only option in the genre. A lot of what I’ve personally struggled with is the terse or stunted feel that the prose often has, which leaves me feeling frustrated and inevitably leads to not enjoying the story. It often feels like they were so focused on being lean in their writing that they took it too far. Sometimes the extra “unnecessary” words are worth it to make your prose feel natural, in my opinion.

This audiobook made me excited to read more science fiction and to explore writing some myself.