ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

A Look At Science Fiction Books

by: Morgan Hamilton

Science fiction books have been my favorite reading since my childhood days. I was introduced to the world of science fiction at the good young age of eight, when I was introduced to a science fiction book club. We children enjoyed good time reading classics like ‘The Time Machine ’, ‘Invisible Man’, Journey to the Center of the Earth’, and a whole lot of science fiction books. The experience of reading them was so unique that I cant really forget the story line and characters in space operas like ‘Citizen of the Galaxy’ by Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Ender’s Game’ by Orson Scott Card, etc.

I always liked to anticipate the unpredictable, see the future. It is the epic scope of the science fiction books that attracted me. The books of a specific kind called speculative fiction try to tell today what the world looks like tomorrow. Space opera captured my childhood fantasy and still continues to. Whole galaxies lining up for a war, one party to establish supremacy and the other one defending their ground; there is suspense, thriller, unpredictability, and everything you need to unleash your fantasy. Alien races from a different dimension, prophecies, betrayal, love, honor, etc made science fiction books playing with my emotions for many years now.

Novels in a Polish bookstore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many that become sci-fi lovers asked me suggestions on science fiction books. My advice to them is to browse through collections. Science fiction books are the best categorized form of fiction writing. There come dozens of new collections every year. You can find them in different combinations. While making you choice from among the variety of available science fiction books, always make it a practice to skim through the content. At first read excerpts from all science fiction genre, and without much delay you will identify the science fiction books that are really suited for your taste. Just go with your heart – do you find it interesting to read a story? Pick it. Do you find the storyline tough? Drop it. It is that simple to make your choice.

Fantasy books sometimes overlap with science fiction books, although they are always not the same. If you have a taste of fantasy, chances are higher that you have a heart for sci-fi too and vice versa. You can clearly distinguish between fantasy and sci-fi in most cases, but there are no rules to distinguish them. Harry Potter series is pure fantasy while Time Machine is purely sci-fi. Fantasy books come with some magic, supernatural powers etc, while sci-fi characters are made more believable by defining technology, timelines and possibilities and the topics sci-fi writers choose generally will be of interest by common man.

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