This is fantastic Zoe. So many to get into and I'm delighted to have only read a handful of them! You should set up a bookshop.org store. The commissions are good and it supports indy bookshops not Bezos
Strategy is about operationalizing some “optimal” result within a frame that remains unnoticed and unscrutinized.
Fiction of the kind mentioned is about scrutinizing the unnoticed frame and articulating others, thus making imaginable what we currently do not see even as a possibility for us.
It is fascinating how the sci-fi read by the Silicon Valley set appears to become a distorted sense of that writing. The values in the tech are by its shapers.
Firstly great piece, some old authors to revisit for me and some new reads :) One of Ted Chiang’s interviews has always stuck with me, in where he explained why he loved sci fi so much as a genre. He compared it to superhero films - where you start at Point A aka “normal” and the whole plot/conflict/arc is spent trying to return back to whatever “normal” is. Where in sci-fi you start at Point A and end up somewhere completely different, where no one really has a roadmap. So it just opens up so many possibilities, in a way no other genre does
I’ve always loved science fiction as a creative genre, even films like Dune create space for imagination to break boundaries. I’ve read all of Pullman, it’s always been my favourite x
Some of my favourite books of all time are on here - they give us images of possibility and show us the reality of social construction and how we might reconstruct what is currently around us - I am thrilled to think people who have never read these pockets of imagination will now discover them - what a gift 🙏
Extremely interesting post to me. I actually made a list of 'comps' to position my own novel and came up with a similar outcome with Le Guin as the foundation for this kind of "dangerous thinking" as you framed it. Thanks to you, I discovered Octavia Butler and will look into it. I would add Orwell, but it's probably too obvious. Less obvious, and what will likely become my main comp, is "playground" by Powers. Still reading it, but it would fit well in your list I believe.
Thank you for this compilation, I am looking forward to exploring these suggestions. As an interesting counterpoint to modern authors, but still very much related, I suggest a collection of futuristic short stories from Kurt Vonnegut, “Welcome to the Monkey House”. These were all written in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these story lines can be seen carried forward into Star Trek and other sci-fi stories. It shows consequences for what seem like ideal tech-enabled solutions. My personal favourite story is EPICAC, which has a very direct link to modern AI… 🤖
So glad you wrote this and thank you for the mention, Zoe! Your original sci-fi dispatch was genuinely formative for my thinking. This is a necessary sequel.
As you said, the goal isn’t to read all of them but to know they’re there, like an anti-library of alternative worlds. Serendipitous timing as I’ve been curating a spec fic index of my own. Many strong titles here to add to the mix.
This is fantastic Zoe. So many to get into and I'm delighted to have only read a handful of them! You should set up a bookshop.org store. The commissions are good and it supports indy bookshops not Bezos
https://uk.bookshop.org/affiliates/profile/introduction
Strategy is about operationalizing some “optimal” result within a frame that remains unnoticed and unscrutinized.
Fiction of the kind mentioned is about scrutinizing the unnoticed frame and articulating others, thus making imaginable what we currently do not see even as a possibility for us.
Thanks for this post - so true
It is fascinating how the sci-fi read by the Silicon Valley set appears to become a distorted sense of that writing. The values in the tech are by its shapers.
Not necessarily a strategic recommendation but “This Is How You Lose the Time War” is *beautiful*.
Firstly great piece, some old authors to revisit for me and some new reads :) One of Ted Chiang’s interviews has always stuck with me, in where he explained why he loved sci fi so much as a genre. He compared it to superhero films - where you start at Point A aka “normal” and the whole plot/conflict/arc is spent trying to return back to whatever “normal” is. Where in sci-fi you start at Point A and end up somewhere completely different, where no one really has a roadmap. So it just opens up so many possibilities, in a way no other genre does
I’ve always loved science fiction as a creative genre, even films like Dune create space for imagination to break boundaries. I’ve read all of Pullman, it’s always been my favourite x
Thank you for writing this!
I LOVE a good reading recommendation list! Thanking you 🙏
Some of my favourite books of all time are on here - they give us images of possibility and show us the reality of social construction and how we might reconstruct what is currently around us - I am thrilled to think people who have never read these pockets of imagination will now discover them - what a gift 🙏
Extremely interesting post to me. I actually made a list of 'comps' to position my own novel and came up with a similar outcome with Le Guin as the foundation for this kind of "dangerous thinking" as you framed it. Thanks to you, I discovered Octavia Butler and will look into it. I would add Orwell, but it's probably too obvious. Less obvious, and what will likely become my main comp, is "playground" by Powers. Still reading it, but it would fit well in your list I believe.
Thank you for this compilation, I am looking forward to exploring these suggestions. As an interesting counterpoint to modern authors, but still very much related, I suggest a collection of futuristic short stories from Kurt Vonnegut, “Welcome to the Monkey House”. These were all written in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these story lines can be seen carried forward into Star Trek and other sci-fi stories. It shows consequences for what seem like ideal tech-enabled solutions. My personal favourite story is EPICAC, which has a very direct link to modern AI… 🤖
This is a treasure trove!! Thank you!
Really enjoyed the framing of your post. Makes so much sense, and now much more to reflect on as the alternates. Thank you kindly!
This opens a can o worrms 60' x 10' x 8'
This is terrific! Thank you very much for your generosity.
So glad you wrote this and thank you for the mention, Zoe! Your original sci-fi dispatch was genuinely formative for my thinking. This is a necessary sequel.
As you said, the goal isn’t to read all of them but to know they’re there, like an anti-library of alternative worlds. Serendipitous timing as I’ve been curating a spec fic index of my own. Many strong titles here to add to the mix.