#172 in Science fiction & fantasy books
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Reddit mentions of Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts
Sentiment score: 4
Reddit mentions: 6
We found 6 Reddit mentions of Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts. Here are the top ones.
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I love well written science fiction books that have way more to them in terms of political views, predictions about the future, "what would happen if" situations. I generally gravitate towards the genre and all these books are science fiction, but I found them enjoyable and definitely thought provoking to me. I tried to write some descriptions about them but I'm not that great at writing, and also thinking clearly in the morning while lacking sleep.
Why I added Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts (Amazon reviewer)
>Masri's collection is a monumental anthology of science fiction stories and novel excerpts that are paired with theory, criticism, and analysis relevant to a given theme found in the stories. There are no other anthologies with the breadth or scope of what Masri accomplishes here, which makes this a very unique and useful addition to any teacher's arsenal.
>Instead of focusing on one of the many historical approaches to science fiction, Masri selects 9-10 stories around particular themes (e.g., Alien Encounters, Artificial Life, Time, Utopias and Dystopias, Disaster and Apocalypses, Evolution) and pairs the stories with three contextual essays by critical theorists, scientists, and scholars (e.g., for the Evolution stories she includes essays by Steven Jay Gould, Marvin Minsky, and Steven Johnson). Additionally, Masri is careful to select stories that are representative of the whole gamut of science fiction and its writers. The collection's author diversity crosses sex, race, and nationality lines.
It really is a great collection, I haven't found any stories I haven't enjoyed at least somewhat yet.
edit: added some details and fixed some grammar
Please, please, please don't fall into the trap that many do and only end up reading male authors of scifi. It has the stereotype of being a male-dominated field. At one time, pulp magazines and mass market publishers leaned more toward male writers, because they assumed their audience was all male. They were wrong and still are today. The first science fiction novel ever written was by Mary Shelley. Female writers continue to write and publish amazing science fiction today.
If you're just getting started, I recommend the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler, and the Lathe of Heaven or the Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin. Also, Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing is a very curious book and one of my absolute favorites. There are some interesting short stories that I'd also like to share, if that's more your thing: Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts has an amazing host of male and female writers, plus context on the writers, their times, and the influences that brought each story together. I recommend "When it Changed" by Joanna Russ.
 
If you like Asimov's short stories, and you're not sure you want to take the next big step into Foundation, start with I, Robot (nothing like the movie imo, and very very good), Bicentennial man (kinda like the movie), or his time travel novel that I can't recommend enough, the End of Eternity.
 
And this might be more for once you've gotten through a few of the classics, but my favorite scifi book is hands-down Dhalgren by Samuel Delany. It changed my life. Good luck, friend. Safe travels.
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|Country|Link|
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|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|
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It's fine to define it how you want.
But, as I said, I've spent hundreds of hours researching the subject, and these are just a smattering of my findings. I was sort of summarizing the conversation.
Heather Marsi, editor of Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts, uses the family tree metaphor to describe sci-fi. Because sf as a genre is so vast, because it seems to have many different ancestors and "grandfathers," it may be best to try to be exclusionary when saying what is and is not sci-fi, but rather show how various stories are related to each other through the genre.
Then we could say, Gravity has the same sci-fi traits that many disaster movies share, along with some traits that "extraordinary voyages" stories share.
Also, because I teach English, allow me to give a bit of writing advice:
Avoid using IMO, and IMHO.
First of all, the reader should know the difference between opinion and fact. If they don't, avoid conversation with them.
Secondly, unless you are sharing opinions of others and you want to differentiate your opinion from another person, then it is ok to say "In my opinion." But generally, when you are writing, you are writing down your thoughts and what we assume to be your opinion, unless stated otherwise.
Finally, if opinions that want mentioning are never humble, so it is either oxymoronic, overly apologetic, or condescending.
Anyways, good talking to you.
Nope, but I use this anthology extensively. It's practically a course in itself.
We also start by reading some Darko Suvin.
Ready Player One was a pretty fantastic sci-fi book that was easy to read. I highly recommend it if you like SF books like Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (also two books I recommend).
Also, if you aren't sure what type of science fiction you might be interested in, get this book. You could probably find it somewhere else for much cheaper. This has short stories and excerpts from some of the best stories ever written in the science fiction genre, including Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep, "Flowers For Algernon", and one of my personal favorites, Vaster than Empires, and More Slow.
Another resource to find some of best SF ever written is the Hugo and Nebula joint awards list. You could look at either list separately, but the joint list is probably more definitive.