From Black-authored science fiction rediscovered by Georgia Tech students, to a bit of Disney nostalgia, enjoy this collection of science fiction recommendations to mark your celebration of Science Fiction Day, Jan. 2.
'The Martian Trilogy'
Recommended by Lisa Yaszek Regents' Professor, School of Literature, Media, and Communication
"Before Star Wars, before Flash Gordon, there was John P. Moore’s Martian Trilogy — the first Black-authored space opera in history. Published in 1930 and serialized in 34 African American newspapers with a readership of at least 180,000, the story rockets readers to Mars alongside three Black scientists and a Black science fiction writer who build their own spaceship. On the red planet, they encounter two rival, ultra-advanced, all-Black Martian civilizations locked in a battle for supremacy — complete with daring soldiers, forbidden romance, and a stunning young singer at the center of it all. A bold, thrilling escape from the violence of Jim Crow, Moore’s lost classic celebrates Black brilliance in science and the arts during the Harlem Renaissance. Rediscovered and newly republished with the help of student researchers in my Science Fiction Lab here at Georgia Tech, The Martian Trilogy finally takes its place as a foundational epic of science fiction.
'Cinderella in Space'
Recommended by Corinne Matthews Assistant Director and Brittain Fellow, Writing and Communication Program
"In this picture book reimagining of a classic fairy tale, Cinderella dreams not of balls and princes, but of rocket ships and space. In a fun twist, Cinderella does not need a ball gown and glass slippers to attend a royal ball. Instead, her fairy god-robot gives her the tools she needs to repair a broken-down spaceship to attend the Prince’s Royal Space Parade — among them a sonic screwdriver that the prince in question may find handy when his own spaceship runs into trouble! Interstellar Cinderella gives us an engineer in space for kids in the form of this irrepressible chief mechanic in the making. If you liked fairy tale retellings growing up as much as I did but wanted them to have a little more STEM in the mix, then this picture book is for you."
'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells
Recommended by Carol Senf Professor, School of Literature, Media, and Communication
"Before the genre was officially called science fiction, H.G. Wells created scientific romances in which people who resemble engineers of today were characters. Sadly, it seems that Wells didn't think too highly of this particular kind of problem solver. Aside from the traveler in The Time Machine (who may be a designer instead of an engineer), his engineers are monsters rather than creators. The Morlocks in The Time Machine are cannibals who feed on the foolish Eloi, and the Martians in War of the Worlds use their weapons of mass destruction instead of trying to get to know earthlings."
'Tower of Babylon' by Ted Chiang
Recommended by Amanda Weiss Associate Professor, School of Modern Languages
"I recommend the short story, 'Tower of Babylon' by Ted Chiang. It won the 1991 Nebula award for Best Novellette and the 1992 Astounding Award for Best New Writer. 'Babylon' is a genre-bending work that takes questions of faith literally as a team of miners, engineers, etc. try to solve impossible technical questions to literally build a tower to reach the 'vault of Heaven.' It is something of a science fiction treatment of a biblical tale: what if engineers of that era, and with the scientific understanding of that era, had to literally build the tower? The denouement has a scientific explanation, which has inspired some interesting debates on the physics of the story's building and world. You can read one such debate on Stack Exchange.
Stitch's Great Escape (ride)
Recommended by Ida Yoshinaga Assistant Professor, School of Literature, Media, and Communication
"Disney Imagineers, the engineering wizards who craft theme-park attractions, once offered Tomorrowland visitors the outer-space-set Stitch’s Great Escape (2004-18). The interactive adventure depicted the irascible blue alien’s flight from a galactic carceral facility. Considered the worst exhibit in the Magic Kingdom, its most obnoxious aspect was reportedly a nauseating burst of chili-flavored smell stemming from headpieces of locked-in visitors. This twist to Stitch’s first escape was not so much to simulate a space experience, so much as olfactory programming so that parkgoers would purchase chili dogs at a Main Street vendor which had emitted a similar smell. Despite the exhibit’s unpopularity, Native Métis podcasters Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel in decolonial sci-fi broadcast Métis in Space (2014-21) admit about the film Lilo and Stitch, “…(E)ven though…there’s all sorts of issues with it, it’s just like a fun movie.” (S3 E6, December, 2015)."
Credits:
'The Martian Trilogy' image courtesy of Amazing Stories; "The Time Machine" PD-US, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=161926483; Stitch's Great Escape By Theme Park Tourist - https://www.flickr.com/photos/themeparktourist/23430214285/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96153906; Tomorrowland image SteamFan, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons