Since childhood, I have been drawn to science-fiction and adventure. Blame in on Tintin and Les Mystérieuses cités d’or. As an adult, I continue to be fascinated by mystery, outer worlds, dystopian futures, and multiverse theory even if my understanding of physics is limited. In my spare time, I almost exclusively read science-fiction literature and the ordinary world disappears. Here is my Top 5.
1- The Three-Body Problem trilogy, Cixin Liu (2008)
This is the list’s most recent collection (trilogy) and one that metaphorically blew my mind. It’s colossal, extraordinary, educated. A must-read for sci-fi and science enthusiasts. One of my favorite genres in sci-fi could be described as ‘encounter of the third kind’, which tend to go wrong. The encounters depicted in these books are no exceptions. Here, Liu explores the concept of the ‘dark forest’, which posits that the universe is like a dark forest inhabited by suspicious and hostile species who prefer to hide and avoid alien contact to prevent the potential annihilation of their world. The trilogy’s story begins during the cultural revolution in China but spans over centuries, even millennia. Liu Cixin is Chinese and so are most of the main characters; it’s refreshing to move away from typical USA-centric stories. It is filled with compelling questions about human nature, alien life, the fabric of the universe, and the laws of physics. Awe guaranteed.
2- The Nine Billion Names of God, Arthur C. Clarke (1967)
Clarke is my favorite sci-fi author, and he never fails to surprise his readers with stories in which humanity is changed forever after an alien encounter or a scientific discovery. One of the stories, The Star, literally made me gasp with astonishment. The title of the book is already intriguing, and some plots move away from the scientific-rational world of sci-fi to explore religious beliefs, fate, and alien contact. One of the stories, Sentinel, was used as a starting point for the 1968 novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Another one that has a relatively humorous plot, Superiority, depicts an absurd interstellar arms race and was at one point required reading for an industrial design course at the MIT. Clarke’s stories constantly and skillfully put the human civilization to test.
3- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (1932)
First edition cover art for Brave New World. Leslie Holland / Chatto and Windus (London).
Apart from ‘encounters of the third kind’, I love myself a good dystopia. Written almost a hundred years ago, the world depicted in Huxley’s novel has much in common with the world we live in today: decline of religious beliefs, obsession with youth and beauty, waning family bonds, reproduction of socio-economic hierarchies, widespread use of mood stabilizing drugs, etc. The novel depicts the World Space, a technologically accomplished but sterile and emotionless world that leaves some of its citizens unhappy, yet unable to change the system. The story also brings us to the ‘reserves’, areas in which old human habits live on. There, women give birth naturally (unlike in the World Space where babies are conceived and born in labs) and family structures and religious beliefs subsist. The book criticizes social conformity, servitude and the atomization of societies which is all the more relevant today.
4- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
This beautifully titled novel is the only book on the list that was written by a female author. On the backdrop of political intrigues, the book explores themes of gender and foreignness. Le Guin’s novel was gender-bending before it was cool. The book depicts the voyage of an envoy of the Ekumen, a confederation of planets, who seeks to establish diplomatic relations with the inhabitants of a planet called Gethen. Gethenians are ambisexual humanoids, meaning that they do not have a specific gender but can be both female and male depending on the circumstances. Their sexual identity and organs are revealed only when they go through a hormonal cycle during which they are sexually active. Being a gendered man with visible sexual organs, the Envoy is perceived as a freak by the locals, which impedes mutual understanding while political rivalry further complicates his mission. Be prepared to be intellectually and emotionally challenged. I actually used this book in my one of my courses to teach about poststructuralist and feminist theories of International Relations.
5- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (1979)
It’s called a trilogy but there are 5 books. Adams is forever confusing us.
These are not your typical sci-fi books as they tell the hilarious and absurd adventures of a very average human, Arthur Dent, who embarks on a galactic journey after Earth is destroyed by bureaucratic aliens to build an intergalactic highway. Before its destruction, Earth was described in the Guide simply as ‘Mostly Harmless’. Arthur is accompanied by an eccentric researcher for the Guide called Ford Perfect (yeah, like the car), a paranoid depressed android called Marvin, and other erratic human companions. They will encounter countless bizarre life forms, one of which tortures captives by reading their bad poetry to them. Have you ever come across the sentence “The answer is 42” and wondered what was that about? Look no further. 42 is actually the very disappointing answer given by a supercomputer which took 7,5 million years to figure out the answer to: “The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”. You’ll laugh out loud.
Honorable mentions
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006). A poignant, but oh so gloomy post-apocalyptic story!
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985). A feminist dystopia that reminds us that women’s rights should never be taken for granted.
Hyperion, Dan Simmons (1989). So beautifully written. Imaginative worlds and terrifying creatures.
The Passage, Justin Cronin (2010). An interesting and touching take on the zombie/vampire (both?) genre.
The Rama trilogy, Arthur C. Clarke. Humans rendezvous with a gigantic spatial object passing Earth. Who represents the biggest threat?