To Infinity and Beyond

It is no secret that I like to read Science Fiction. Not Fantasy mind you... even though I enjoy some good Fantasy too (you know, hobbits, dragons, vampires, werewolves, etc.) No. Science Fiction. Really good Science Fiction. Science Fiction about space and quantum physics and well, science in general and all that fun stuff that comes in between. What I love about Sci Fi is that it is intelligent and creative and surprising and you just never know what to expect. It talks about big issues in simple ways and it makes me think and wonder and dwell in possibility. 

For the last few years I have been having a hard time finding good Sci Fi and I just figured I was missing it somehow until that fateful day a few weeks ago when I had a realization... I am not just missing it. People aren't writing it anymore. I went to the expert (Google) and confirmed my fears. Apparently it has lost popularity and was related to the Space Age, the novelty of which has passed. Don't get me wrong. I guess technically people are still writing Sci Fi but the genre today is generally about something called Steam Punk (which I could explain to you but I am not going to... if you are interested you can look it up on Wikipedia). Suffice it to say Steam Punk is more about a damaged future than the Sci Fi of my heart which is about a future of possibility. They are inherently different and I just can't get up quite the same amount of enthusiasm for the new stuff.

This may possibly be the first time in my life when I have truly mourned the passage of time and missed something that came before... Well, I am not one to let go easily - at least when I have an alternative. Darn it. If they aren't making any new Sci Fi (the kind I like anyway) I am going to read every bit of what is out there.  I am going to be an old-timey Sci Fi expert!  What better resource to go to than the Top 100 Sci Fi Books of all time?  I am going to read every stinkin' book on that list.  In fact, I already have a pretty good start!  Ender's Game is #1 on the list for good reason.  It is amazing in so many ways.  Hyperion too - #15.  Stunning!  #2, Dune, I read when I was 13 or so...  yes, my Sci Fi love began at an early age.  I may try to read it again though I am not a re-reader in general.  Contact (#39) and A Wrinkle in Time (#35) are also significant, literally life changing books for me.  In fact, I think A Wrinkle in Time began this odyssey for me.  I vividly remember picking it up at the library as a child and reading every word cuddled up in bed on one of our summer trips to Montana.

The first three books in my actual attempt at the Top 100 are (in order of reading) Fahrenheit 451 (#7), The Martian Chronicles (#22) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (#8).  Loved it, loved it and LOVED IT! Oh, I am so going to enjoy this process...  I am just trying not to think too much about what I am going to do when I am done with the list.  

On that note, something that brings so much happiness and joy to my heart...  

So far, Milo is also a book lover.  I am going to do everything I can to make sure that love sticks around!