Six Things I’m Thankful for in Sci-Fi Books These Days| #Scifimonth | #toptentuesday

You know initially I wasn’t going to write anything for this Top Ten Tuesday prompt (as always hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Thanksgiving is not a thing outside of certain countries. But then again, one can always twist a prompt in a fun way.

So I decided I’d talk about some things I’m thankful for in sci-fi books. It is still Sci-Fi Month after all.

Big (non-mainstream) Families or Polyarmorous Families

Sci-fi can really open your eyes about things. I used to not care that much for poly families. But poly isn’t just a man that has a relationship with multiple women like shown on TLC. It is what is shown to us. What we think it is. In fact a lot of poly relationships are traingles or foursomes etc. They all have an important close relationship with one another. Sometimes all sexual though I don’t think that is nessecary. I think it gives a different viewpoint on these things.

Sci-Fi is a perfect place to explore these things as it is seen as more progressive. I also like families that aren’t set up traditionally that aren’t nessecarily poly. Found families and so on.

Examples: The Expanse by James S.A. Corey (background) | Escaping Exodus by Nickey Drayden | Warp Gate Concerto by Dorian Graves

LGBTQ+ That Is Normalized

Look we need more normalization of LGBTQ+. In sci-fi I do see a uprise of books where non-binary, trans, poly and all the rest are normalized in the stories. It is not wrong to write a coming out story or a struggle story into sci-fi either but we also need that normilization where we can just feel accepted on the page for who we are.

Examples: Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee | The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers | A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Soft Sci-Fi Being Accepted

There was a time when sci-fi was seen as just hard sci-fi by those that also liked to boot the women out of the genre. Yeah those. You weren’t ‘accepted’ as a sci-fi fan because you didn’t read the right kind of books. Which meant hard sci-fi.

Soft sci-fi has been moving up though and more widely accepted. Soft sci-fi shares less of the science and asks more of the philosophical questions. It focuses more on the social issues, the characters and their relationships.

Examples: The Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers | This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladestone

Fuck Imperialism

Stick it to the man!

Examples: Seven Devils by Elizabeth May and Laura Lam

Thought Provoking Questions

Piggy backing of soft sci-fi are the thought provoking questions. They don’t seem to be exclusive to soft sci-fi anymore. They come forward in all subgenres and that is a good thing. Often these questions also have to do with what is happening in real life, and it can open your eyes to sides you might not otherwise have considered.

Examples: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Creating Diverse Stories for Our Future

And lastly I feel that the opening up of the genre to those it was closed for a while because publishing would not accept them, is a great thing. We all need those stories to read.

Examples: Where the Stars Rise. Edited by Lucas K. Law and Derwin Mak | Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee | Binti by Nnedi Okorafor