science/speculative fiction

~ Exhalation – by Ted Chiang ~

Review from Drew: Mix some short stories into your life! And there is no better place to start than with Ted Chiang - he’s brilliant. Many of his stories lean towards science fiction, but in a way that’s really thoughtful and deep and has a lot to say about life and spirituality. His other book Stories of Your Life and Others is just as good - the titular piece Stories of Your Life was the basis for the movie Arrival, which got my brother excited enough to read it.

~ The Dispossessed – by Ursula K. Le Guin ~

Review from Drew: My ex’s favorite book of all time - I just finished it and whole-heartedly agree with her. It’s a science fiction novel about a brilliant physicist who was raised in a utopian anarchist society as he tries to bridge the gap between his world and their sister planet, which looks very much like our own. There are tons of new-paradigm seeds in this story that have planted themselves firmly in my subconscious. And Ursula Le Guin in general is a must-read for any science fiction lover - I’d recommend The Left Hand of Darkness as well.

~ Wild Seed – by Octavia Butler ~

Review from Drew: I’m a little obsessed with the concepts of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, and I’ve never seen them as clearly portrayed as in this novel. Doro is an ancient spirit with boundless powers, possessing humans and killing without remorse as he jumps from body to body to sustain his own life. He’s immortal, so he spends his time traveling the world and breeding humans with supernatural powers into beings that at least might resemble him. He knows no equal until he meets Anyanwu, who can heal with a bite and transform her own body, mending injuries and reversing aging. She uses her powers to cure her neighbors and birth entire tribes, surrounding herself with kindred who both fear and respect her. The mixing of the two is horrifying, and magical, and fuckin’ well worth the read.