science fiction

Science Fiction is “the branch of literature that deals with the responses of human beings to changes in science and technology,” according to Isaac Asimov. Alvin Toffler recommended reading science fiction as the only preventive medicine for future shock.

According to a Slate.com article by Robert J. Sawyer, the job of science fiction is “not to predict the future. Rather, it’s to suggest all the possible futures—so that society can make informed decisions about where we want to go. George Orwell’s science-fiction classic Nineteen Eighty-Four wasn’t a failure because the future it predicted failed to come to pass. Rather, it was a resounding success because it helped us prevent that future.”

In celebration of the power (and necessity) of science fiction, there is a list of my favorites at So May We Be. Most of the authors are white males--please suggest other authors I should read.