I’ve read a lot of Science Fiction in my life–but honestly I haven’t read a lot of it in the last ten years or so. No particular reason why; mostly because I spent much of the 1990s taken with thrillers and a good part of the aughts engrossed in Women’s Contemporary Fiction when I wasn’t rerereading Harry Potter or knee deep in researching one of my three partially completed magnum opi. I can tell you anything you want to know about the History of Medicine, Herbcraft in Wales, Armenian Genocide and the Amish.
After reading and loving Anathem in the first part of the year I’ve felt a growing compulsion to return to Sci Fi wholeheartedly and last week I finally gave in. The first thing I did was to rectify a long-standing error and finally read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
Which brings us to the point of this blog entry.
Since Foundation is a decades-old masterwork, I sincerely doubt I’m the first person to point this out. I suspect, in fact, that I’m the umptillionth. Nevertheless, point it out I shall. And cry “foul”.
Asimov was a certified genius, a big wheel on the board of Mensa, a biochemist and one of the grandfathers of the Science Fiction genre as we know it today. His Foundation novel (I’ve read just the first one, although I understand there are nearly a dozen more) is about a, well, a foundation designed to bridge the gap between the fall of one great empire and the rise of another. The Foundation is put in place by a genius prognosticator to engineer society in such a way as to hasten the coming renaissance. There’s a lot of tommyrot about mathematical trendcasting and psychology and of course there’s the usual (topic for another day) false religion.
What there are none of–and I mean NONE–are WOMEN. The novel actually takes the form of a daisychain of short stories showing how society reinvents itself during a dark age. Each short story shows men jumping through various hoops to mold society in the more enlightened direction. In more than one case a woman would have been useful, but aside from a brief appearance in the prologue where they serve as mere baggage for the men to take into exile there isn’t a woman in sight.
Needing a more modern take I set Foundation aside and dove into David Weber’s Safehold series. I’m about twelve percent of the way through the first book, Off Armageddon Reef, and loving it. But of course there’s the usual disappointment in that the strong female protagonist needs to become male in order to fit in. Luckily (?), she’s a robot who only has to make a few aftermarket adjustments to pass. While I’m glad that we at least get a semblance of her female consciousness I’m still aggrieved to see the truth driven home.
Science Fiction is a boys’ club. Women simply don’t factor in unless they’re Asian Scientists, Hot Lesbian Fighter Pilots, Cybernetic Organisms or Aliens. Whenever a woman takes center stage in SciFi, the unwritten rule is that she must remain cloaked in a degree of Otherness. She cannot be relateable, she can only be objectified.
It bothers me that genre fiction has splintered along these lines. Women seem to have Romance novels which, you’ll forgive me, don’t often much challenge the intellect. (Straining credulity doesn’t count.) Men seem to have SciFi which does present intriguing intellectual conundrums but lacks much in the way of believeable representation of interpersonal relationships. If I could stand to write Science Fiction I’d try to change that. But I honestly don’t like working in that space. Maybe that’s the reason why. The larger number of women are busy telling stories about now.
Well, you know good writers are supposed to write about what they know. How’s a sci-fi geek supposed to write female characters if he’s never even worked up the nerve to talk to one?
Ursula Le Guin. Octavia Butler. James Tiptree, Jr.
Paolo Bacigalupi. Nancy Kress. N.K. Jemison. Rachel Swirsky. Maureen McHugh. Kelly Link. Nalo Hopkinson.
SF — I think UR maybe reading it wrong.
No offense. And it certainly was true in Asimov’s heyday. But ya know, the Mothers Of Us All (my first list up there) changed the game and the men and women who write about men and women now (a bunch of people I’ve read recently, off the top of my head, is the second list) do things differently. OK, maybe Nancy Kress couldn’t make an interpersonal relationship believable to save her life, but that’s about her less than stellar writing and not about using men as people and women as props.
And I don’t buy the “oh, geeks [by definition, male] just can’t talk to women” meme for an instant. Some geeks are women. Some geeks, male and female, have good interpersonal relationships. The ones who don’t need to work at it.
Does Safehold really count as Sci Fi? It’s mostly taking place at a technology level well below our own. And it seems like a really strong female presence would go against a lot of the background Weber has set up on that society.
If you continue into the other books a fairly strong female character does show up. Of course she marries the male hero so you can take that for what you like.
I agree with NM. You’re judging the genre based on two examples. It’s a bit of a small sample size.
Any of Anne McCaffrey’s scifi might be a good counterpoint.
There are many very excellent scifi writers today – and in the intervening years since Asimov – to have broken the mold in various ways… But if we still call it ‘breaking the mold’, is scifi really as diverse as it could be?
The authors of the previous poster came into scifi big around these years/decades:
Ursula Le Guin : 1970s
Octavia Butler : 1980s
Nancy Kress : 1980s
James Tiptree, Jr. : 1970s
Maureen McHugh : 1990s
Kelly Link : 1997
Nalo Hopkinson : 1998
N.K. Jemison : 2004
Rachel Swirsky : 2006
Paolo Bacigalupi : 2009
These people are notable not just because they’re excellent. They also break the mold. When the scifi books aren’t about ‘hard science’ or in a specific style, the club suggests they shuffle off to another category and leave the real scifi to the pros.
There were several interviews recently (last year or so?) about a woman trying to get her scifi novels acknowledged in some respect, but I don’t recall precisely what it was about. It prompted a general discussion about the current nature of scifi and how, really, so much and nothing has changed. I just don’t remember where they went and my Google-Fu fails me.
My point is more that the mold was broken a generation ago. Writers coming along today are a lot less likely to have old-fashioned gender issues. And all the writers I’ve mentioned are considered “real” SF and have been nominated for mainstream SF awards (and if Kress, Swirsky, and Bacigalupi [been published since 1999 and nominated for major awards since 2004, BTW] aren’t doing traditional hard science SF it’s news to me; the others move in and out).
Asimov and his buddies were great writers, with some real blind spots. But the genre they worked in have moved way past them. Which is good.
So I think that my problem clearly is that I stopped reading SciFi in earnest about 20 years ago. And in the interim there are apparently tidal waves of new authors coming in to rectify the problem that drove me away from it all those decades ago.
I was so steeped in Asimov, Clarke, Ellison and Dick that I didn’t really read much else. I stopped because so much of it seemed so unrelatable.
Now that I’m back in it, I guess I ought to seek out those reccommendations in earnest.
W, as for Safehold I still consider it the best of what I go to SciFi for—alternate cosmology with a scientific foundation. I gather from the few reviews I’ve read over at GoodReads that there is a pitched battle over whether it’s SciFi or Fantasy or just plain ol’ vanilla SpecFic. It’s admittedly early days for me, but from what I’ve seen so far it’s no less Sci Fi than Dune was. I think a lot of SciFi junkies are just shocked to see something go “backward” instead of forward and I actually love that little conceit.
>And I don’t buy the “oh, geeks [by definition, male] just can’t talk to women” meme for an instant.
Oh, I don’t either, that was just some cheap and easy fun on an old stereotype.
‘kay, then. I may have been a tad humor-impaiared; it was time for me to eat and I was getting crabby.
Recommendations: Sheri S. Tepper (“The Fresco” is wonderful fun), Kate Elliot’s Jaran series for a fascinating female protagonist and outstanding world-building, Connie Willis, Katherine Kerr (start with “Daggerspell”).
Coble, if you haven’t read any SF for the last 20 years I’d be glad to make you up a reading list…. There’s so much good stuff out there that you can look forward to a lot of enjoyment.
Wow, Kat.
First off, I’m so happy you’re liking the Safehold series! There have been quite a few times I’ve had to stop and wipe my eyes while reading it. When Weber hits you, he does it with a hammer.
Regarding Asimov, I noticed the lack of women when I read him way back in high school. I chalked it off not to antipathy, but rather ignorance on his part. Turns out I was right. He said as much in interviews. He was one of the original greats of SF, but in my opinion he was passed a long time ago. Lapped, even. He and others like him showed the way, but I think they’ve been far surpassed since then.
I was going to respond to the whole male-female thing in SF in general, but then Erin came down the stairs and we got into a long talk about it. Turns out I have much more to say than I can say in a comment here. I may have to churn away on this for a while.
BTW, Weber’s Honor Harrington series definitely has strong female characters. It takes place in a culture when equality has become completely ubiquitous. They’re Admirals, fighter pilots (no lesbian pilots here), presidents, etc. I’d be interested therefore if, from a woman’s perspective, the book comes across as portraying the women as men with different plumbing. I don’t think so, but then my piping disqualifies me from saying, right?
Jason, I’m having so much fun with Safehold I think I will check out the Honor H. Series.
Nm, I’d LOVE a reading list. I’ll figuratively cross my fingers that the bulk of it be on Kindle.
Ooooh, I’d love to do that. I promise it’ll be pretty much science-based and without unjustifiably sequinned names. Just one question: have you read LeGuinn, Tiptree, and Butler? Because, if not, I’ll include them in the list.
nm, if you make a list, would you post it in the comments here? Because I would like to see it, too.
No, I won’t do that. Because I’m home from work today with back spasms (which is already odd enough) and, since my physician’s office is closed today, self-medicating with a muscle relaxant (one! I only took one!) which has made me totally loopy, and I have already written two pages of commentary on which books and stories Coble should read from New Wave writers alone, and why, and being utterly shocked that so many things are not already being read on Kindle (no worrries, Coble, some of them are), so I can only imagine how long this list is going to be by tonight. So it will be way too long to post. And, of course, there will be the sudden drop-off in word count once I get the proper medication, and anyone who reads it will see the difference clearly and laugh at me. So I don’t exactly want it out in public. But, Rachel, I will also send you a copy.
ACK!!! Back spasms AND drugs….it’s a wonder you’re coherent enough to leave a comment. (Said the drug queen.)
I’m sooooo eager for this list.
It’s like Christmas. And Chanukah. And Arbor day.
Yes, I’ve read LeGuin. Not a fan of the Earthsea stuff, honestly.
I haven’t read the other two.
I have read whatsherguts…Connie Willis…and I like some things (To Say Nothing Of The Dog) and am not wild about others (Passages). I don’t think of her as Sci Fi per se, but it seems I’m in the minority there.
I have been to see my physician and she has prescribed even more drugs. Which she says ought to get rid of the spasms, and then I only have to wait for the ridiculous huge pulled muscle in my side and back to heal. So I may be sleeping a lot for a few days. So I think I’ll send my pages on the New Wave folks to you and Rachel and finish the rest when I am more level-headed. So check your e-mail.
nm, if you make a list, would you post it in the comments here? Because I would like to see it, too.
Why is some spammer repeating my comments?
Not only are they repeating your comments, they’re repeating the least informative one.
Pardon the brevity and the typos. This was sent from my iPhone.
nm, thank you! sorry about the back spasms!
A sci-fi list and I don’t get a copy? I’m bummed.
W, my impression was that you already read a lot of SF, so I don’t think I’d have any revelations for you. But if you want my list anyway, ask Coble to send me your e-mail address and I’ll include you.
BTW, I am now on a completely different muscle relaxant, as properly prescribed, and though it has kept the spasms away and my pulled muscles are starting to heal up, even at half dose it’s making me too woozy to finish up the second part of my list.
Rachel, why do back spasms just happen out of nowhere, anyway?