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icastico

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When a man undertakes to create something, he establishes a new heaven, as it were, and from it the work that he desires to create flows into him. For such is the immensity of man that he is greater than heaven and earth - Philipus Aureolus Paracelsus (1493 - 1541)

Drummer-composer

And a scientist (neurodevelopmental disorders) and professor too

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NickEast , to writers
@NickEast@geekdom.social avatar

I didn't realise this was a thing, do people really think Mary Shelly wasn't the first SciFi author? 🤔

@sciencefiction @writers @writingcommunity @writing


icastico ,
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@NickEast @sciencefiction @writers @writingcommunity @writing

I always think of Margaret Cavendish as the first to write a science fiction novel - The Blazing World (1666).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blazing_World

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@errhead @NickEast @sciencefiction @writers @writingcommunity @writing

There is a case to be made. The challenge is defining terms and distinguishing between fantasy and science fiction (or even what counts as a novel). Samuel R. Delany has argued against these earlier works being considered science fiction, as I recall - even HG Wells and Co.

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@eyrea @iinavpov @AspiringLuddite @NickEast @sciencefiction @writers @writingcommunity @writing

The Blazing World has a similar claim. It’s debatable. Here is Samuel Delany’s take.

https://www.publicbooks.org/samuel-delany-on-capitalism-racism-and-science-fiction/

fulanigirl , to blackmastodon
@fulanigirl@blacktwitter.io avatar

@blackmastodon
Can you participate in a thought experiment with me? The posts warning about fascism are good, but I'm wondering what you think fascism actually looks like. Give a thought, and list what it looks like. Don't just say "the end of democracy." List what the concrete changes will be and make it local. "In my town/city/county/state the following will happen......" Think about it before replying. Not just for .

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@fulanigirl @blackmastodon

I would simply refer people to Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism” essay.

KitMuse , to bookstodon
@KitMuse@eponaauthor.social avatar

I need your help . One of the classes I'm taking at the graduate level this semester is Religion & Science Fiction. I read more fantasy, and would like to do my research paper on something that's not obvious (like ST/BS5/Matrix/etc.) & I'd love to use more modern sf rather than the golden age classics.

Anyone have any interesting ideas for my research paper on regarding the intersection of religion and science fiction?

@bookstodon

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@KitMuse @bookstodon

Currently reading the Chaos Walking trilogy. Might fit the bill.

ZOEconomy , to random
@ZOEconomy@sciences.social avatar

Earlier this year I went to the post office to get stamps, and I saw a set of stamps in the Black Heritage series depicting Ernest J. Gaines. I had never heard of this man. Who was he, I thought?

I bought the stamps and headed home, but it didn't seem right to use them without getting familiar with his work which is clearly a big fucking deal if he's on a stamp. When I got home I googled him and l found his book "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" on Libby and borrowed it.

1/2

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@ZOEconomy

Sounds like this should be shared with @bookstodon

brendan , to bookstodon
@brendan@vermont.masto.host avatar

I’ve been compiling a list of recommended science-fiction books.

Check it out and feel free to add yours—> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16jo7x3cmkQdhpwi8cy5SJcHrLYZJXVZhgabKWtznf-c/edit

@bookstodon

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@brendan @bookstodon

Lots of good stuff there, but needs more Samuel R. Delany. Start with “Stars In My Pockets Like Grains of Sand” or his short story “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-precious Stones”

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@pebbe @brendan @bookstodon

I would say “Space Opera” - but if you exclude it from sf, about half this list goes with it.

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@pebbe @brendan @bookstodon

“That's pure fantasy…”

“Pure” only if you ignore all the sf tropes in which it is embedded (e.g., far future, faster than light travel, genetic engineering). Like I said, no less so than many others.

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@pebbe @brendan @bookstodon

Hence, “Space Opera” - I don’t disagree with your point about the hero theme, but those tropes don’t make it a pure fantasy. Herbert acknowledges the Arthurian tales as a framework, but he included specific elements related to science and its future development. It has elements of both hard and soft sci-fi throughout and focuses on the metaphorical depiction of current events that is at the heart of sci-fi.

rabbit_fighter , to bookstodon
@rabbit_fighter@mastodon.world avatar

@bookstodon I'm looking for book recommendations for an 11yo who reads at a much more advanced level. He likes sci-fi. He has read the Hitchhiker's Guide series and loved them. I think he would enjoy some more 'hard' sci-fi as well. He needs something challenging but without subject matter that is too mature. Thanks for any help!

icastico , (edited )
@icastico@c.im avatar

@rabbit_fighter @bookstodon

The Ender’s Game books by Orson Scott Card
The Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft

icastico ,
@icastico@c.im avatar

@RainbowFrog @rabbit_fighter @bookstodon

My 11 year old loved the series and it inspired some thoughtful discussions. yMMV

icastico ,
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@aprilfollies @RainbowFrog @rabbit_fighter @bookstodon

There is also quite a bit of racism and misogyny- so it is a book best read together and discussed, but I don’t think it is beyond an 11 yo by any means. No more so than Hitchhiker’s.

icastico , (edited )
@icastico@c.im avatar

@rabbit_fighter @Jennifer @gregmefford @bookstodon

Then I would wait on Ender’s Game.

Maybe City of Ember by Berman. My kid loved those as well.

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