Science fiction needs more love

Lisa McCurrach

This is something I see more and more evidence of every day as a fan of the genre, and I’ve only been reading it in earnest for the last few years. There are an astounding number of misconceptions about science fiction and its place in the literary world, and even among those who read, write and enjoy it, there’s no shortage of unpleasantness (see the recent upset surrounding the Hugo Awards, for a start).

But that’s not the conversation I want to have. I prefer to talk about the many ways in which science fiction is worth celebrating, not criticising. It was a science fiction novel (John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War) that kindled so much excitement in me that I felt compelled to set up an online blog just to talk about books. I followed up that book with so many other excellent examples of the sheer quality and the breadth and depth of the interpretation of ‘science fiction’ that’s available today, that to mention them all would take up far more space than I’ve got here – and I have still barely scratched the surface of it.

My exploration of science fiction may be a slow yet delightfully steady ongoing process, but it’s been helped along via an online blogging event known as Rinn Reads Sci-Fi Month. This event and my own blog share one basic yet essential goal in common – to share our passion for this genre with anyone who feels the same way. Another thing the event and my blog have in common is that they will both be three years old this year, and Sci-Fi Month’s creator, the eponymous Rinn, has invited me to co-host with her. Basically, this involves fitting as much science fiction-related discussion into my schedule as possible, and getting the word out about the event to anyone who might be interested. To that end, let’s talk a bit about it!

Sci-Fi Month is a month-long celebration of all things science fiction, from books to films and TV, comics, art – whatever the medium, it’s all welcome. The event is held in November and takes place online, on blogs and/or various forms of social media. Anyone is welcome to participate, as well – we’ve seen bloggers, reviewers, authors and publishers contributing, and it doesn’t stop there. If you enjoy science fiction and you’ve got an Internet connection, that door is open. This is the best part of it, for me – there are no necessary credentials needed to prove you’re eligible. There’s no test to pass – all you need is enthusiasm (though the aforementioned Internet connection probably helps too).

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me happy to be a fan of science fiction, and given the scale of its success over the last couple of years, there are plenty of people out there who agree. The fact that I can help to organise something like this is immensely exciting to me, and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out this time.

So will you join us?

Rinn Reads Sci-Fi Month