Speculative Science Fiction
Downloadable Brochure:
Click here for
brochure in .pdf format. Email
me if you need me to send you a hard copy.
Major Themes:
-
Focus on social issues like overpopulation, AIDS, fear of technology,
poverty,
or environmental concerns.
-
Setting is usually future or near future Earth, but can sometimes be an
alternate dimension or another planet used as an allegory for
contemporary
Earth.
-
Societal structure is often a complete dystopia or a utopia that is
based
on an ethically questionable act, such as ritual human sacrifice or Big
Brother.
-
Main character is usually in dissent with the society, even if he/she
begins
story at harmony with society.
Major Contributing Authors:
-
Nancy Kress: genetic engineering
addressed in many
of her works.
-
George Turner: usually addresses
overpopulation and
class structure.
-
Robert Heinlein: questions religion and
social mores
about relationships.
-
Octavia E. Butler: writes from an
African-American
feminist perspective.
-
John Barnes: examines the relationship
between humans
and technology and illustrates societal changes.
-
Phillip K. Dick: his major theme is
that technology
cannot solve fundamentally human problems.
Great books you can buy
from 
-
Stranger
in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein: A human raised among Martians
comes to Earth and challenges its religions.
-
1984
by George Orwell: A man lives within a totalitarian communist society.
-
Commitment
Hour by James Alan Gardner. In a futuristic society, a
person’s
gender is a choice when one turns 18.
Gathering
Blue by Lois Lowry: A young girl’s weaving talent brings her to the
attention of the rulers of a future Earth village after the death of
her
mother.
Brave
New World (Perennial Classics) by Aldous Huxley: A young man
encounters
an outsider and begins to question his society’s structure
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Lea Henry