TANSTAAFL!

As I stated in class, I hold that science fiction can best be defined as the fiction of anthropology. Seldom is a particular technology or an alien encounter merely about the encounter itself, rather the purpose of such is to provide insight into the human condition. An overarching theme in the genre is of change and stasis; how does humankind react to changes in the environment, be it a new life-form or a dystopian future caused by our attempts to fly too high. Technology in isolation has little meaning in a novel; rather it is how that technology affects the character which makes it of interest.

My first meaningful foray into science fiction was reading Orson Scott Card’s Ender Saga in middle school. I was fascinated by what I would now term Ender Wiggin’s “Hero’s Journey.” Since then the preponderance of my leisure reading has been in the Science Fiction / Fantasy Genre. A frequent patron of the public library, I explored both the classics of the genre (Asimov, Heinlein, et al.) as well as a variety of current authors. Some of my favorites include: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the Dune series, Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Anderson’s Saga of Seven Suns, and Webber’s Honorverse novels. As for Science fiction in other mediums, I greatly enjoyed Joss Whedon’s Firefly, Serenity, and Dollhouse. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Star Trek, the latest reboot of the property has definitely caught my interest. The geekiest of the Science Fiction shows I watch/watched is definitely Sliders (Hooray for the 90s!).