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Let’s all welcome Lydia P. Brownlow as a guest on Adventures in Literature today. She is the author of Vermilion Sunrise and sharing her thoughts on Science Fiction’s modern appeal. What she highlights below are many of the reasons that I was drawn to Science Fiction novels when I was a teenager and what has kept me so engaged in the genre throughout my adulthood. I love finding new ways to think about the challenges we face as a society. I hope you enjoy her thoughts, and leave a comment below sharing your thoughts as well!
The Future is Today: Science Fiction’s Modern Appeal
Article by: Lydia P. Brownlow
In 1975, Isaac Asimov defined science fiction as “literature that deals with the reactions of human beings to changes in sciences and technology.” Fifty years later, science and technology are part of our daily lives on a scale never before seen in human existence. Consequently, science fiction stories have become more directly relevant to a larger group of readers.
As an author, I’m intrigued by both parts of Asimov’s definition: the potential science and technology of the future, plus the human reaction. My debut novel, Vermilion Sunrise, is a story of exploration and survival. A group of teenagers, from countries around the world, must establish the first human colony on a distant planet. The scientific backbone of the story stems from the work of many modern-day scientists: astronomers identifying exoplanets (planets beyond our solar system); astrobiologists discovering what conditions are necessary for life; engineers designing new means of spacecraft propulsion; astronauts learning how the human body reacts to space travel; and other scientists in a variety of fields, all discovering new information about the universe.
While the setting of science fiction stories may be futuristic and foreign, the characters’ reactions are ones with which we can identify. For example, my adolescent characters struggle to survive on another planet, and yet they deal with the same fears and challenges as today’s Earthbound teens. The characters in Vermilion Sunrise must learn how to make new friends. They must figure out how to be part of a group without losing their individuality. Meanwhile, the otherworldly setting forces those teenage characters to confront life’s biggest questions, such as, What’s my purpose? Whom do I trust? and What do I value most?—questions we all face, especially in times of crisis.
Many sci-fi novels have exciting, high stakes plots, and such thrills do more than entertain. Researchers have suggested that reading science fiction helps kids and teens develop into resilient adults. During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Professor Esther Jones, now at Brown University, wrote this advice: “Let them read science fiction. In it, young people can see themselves – coping, surviving and learning lessons – that may enable them to create their own strategies for resilience.” Sci-fi stories also help remind adults of that same resiliency.
Of course, people are more likely to read books if they are fun! That’s part of the joy of writing science fiction, taking today’s headlines—artificial intelligence, human space flight, gene splicing, ocean pollution, exoplanet discoveries, etc.—and extrapolating them into a provocative future. That’s also why sci-fi is naturally philosophical. These stories raise not simply the questions of “can we” about technological inventions, but also the questions of “should we.” With our technological know-how and our scientific knowledge growing at an exponential rate, such questions are worth asking.
Young adult (YA) science fiction is designed to be accessible. This attribute also makes YA sci-fi a good entry point for adults new to the genre. The books are frequently set in the future, yet they explore today’s newsworthy issues. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) is regularly in the news. But another way of thinking about the nuances of AI is reading YA books with an AI character, such as Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray, Hard Wired by Len Vlahos, or Rash by Pete Hautman. Does this mean the future of AI will look like one of these books? Probably not. But science fiction is not primarily about predicting the future; it’s about helping us contemplate today and tomorrow’s issues in an entertaining, thought-provoking, futuristic way.
The sci-fi genre may be best known for its strange new worlds, exotic spaceships, and quirky robots. But at its core, science fiction explores what it means to be human, no matter where we go or what scientific advancements we make. I encourage anyone who’s intrigued by that concept to give science fiction literature a try.
About Lydia P. Brownlow
Lydia P. Brownlow grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. Fortunately, her parents didn’t make her choose between being a literature kid or a science kid, so she became both. She majored in English at Rice University and earned a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Though a lawyer by training, Lydia has often found herself in the classroom instead of the courtroom. She’s taught high school, junior high, college, and law school.
A determined optimist, she loves adventures big and small, especially those taken with her husband and two sons. In her younger years, Lydia thought a perfect day meant time swimming and time curled up with a good book. Decades later, that’s still a perfect day! For more information about Lydia and her writing, please visit http://www.lydiapbrownlow.com.
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