Olivia Barone
Editor in Chief
Science-fiction is a simply weird genre that has captured readers’ imaginations since pulp magazines became mainstream in the 1890s: containing only fiction and worth about a penny, allowing writers ultimate creativity. Despite originating over 100 years ago, literary scholars have struggled to come up with any certain criteria that makes up science-fiction, leading to a genre that is just as vast as it is strange. Here are some of my favorite science-fiction reads to add to your collection.
Kazuo Ishiguro is a contemporary author that has recently caught readers’ attention. Writing mostly science-fiction, one of his most popular works continues to be “Klara and the Sun.” The 2021 release focuses on the rise of artificial intelligence in a world divided by class: some parents being able to afford genetic modification for their children, ensuring their futures, and others frowned upon because they cannot. Klara, a robot designed to be a best friend for one lucky child, meets Josie, a young teen who has grown up sick as a result of gene-editing that was designed to make her smarter. Klara is tasked with keeping Josie alive, no matter the sacrifice, while discovering what humanity means to her as a machine in this dystopian world.
“Kindred” by Octavia Butler creatively uses time travel to tell the story of slavery in the antebellum south. Main character Dana finds herself caught between two worlds as she is inexplicably transported from her apartment in 1976 Los Angeles to a slave plantation in 1815 Maryland. She is unable to control her new ability but finds that each time she is called back to Maryland, it is to save the plantation master’s son, Rufus, from a new peril. Soon finding that she is a descendant of Rufus, Dana must save the young boy’s life to preserve her own, both in her past and present.
Avid readers might know Margaret Atwood for her award-winning novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but it is not her only science-fiction marvel. “Oryx and Crake” follows Snowman, a human with a defeatist attitude living a post-apocalyptic world where he might be the last of his kind. Likely set in the late 21st century, this degraded version of society is a result of experiments performed by millionaire corporations such as medical treatments and hybrid animals. The book relives Snowman’s past along with him, discovering his role in creating the wasteland in which he lives, all beginning with his best friend and their creation of an experimental drug.
The science-fiction genre provides for a wide scope of possibilities ranging from the rise of artificial intelligence to the downfall of the human species. If you’re in search of something unique to begin reading in 2025, one of these pieces of strange fiction might have what you’re looking for.