Miscellaneous Chatter > Literature
New Wave SF
What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Soterion ---Along with writers like Bakker and Miéville, I'm a huge fan of New Wave SF; so I thought I'd make a place where other people can suggest titles/authors, ask for recommendations, and just share their love of this awesome turn in science fiction literature.
My current obsession is M. John Harrison. I read some of his Viriconium works a while back and remember enjoying them but not being ecstatic about them (although I've been told by some I should revisit them). However, Harrison's "Kefahuchi Tract" novels are absolutely stellar. I've read Light and Nova Swing, and I just got Empty Space in the mail the other day. Can't wait to start it.
I typically trace "New Wave SF" back to Philip K. Dick, who is probably my favorite science fiction writer. I see his work as the trigger point at which SF turned in a more radical direction, becoming more aware of itself and its place in the literary community, and how it comments on culture. In addition to Dick, I figure writers like Samuel Delany and Harlan Ellison into the mix as progenitors of the movement. I also continue to track the New Wave's influence though the '70s and '80s, where I think it picked up femininst SF and cyberpunk. Intriguingly, I don't perceive it as very active in the '90s, which I view as more heavily dominated by writers like Orson Scott Card and Dan Simmons, whom I don't consider New Wave (if anyone has any recommendations for good '90s New Wave texts, I'm all ears).
I think it picks up again in the '00s, albeit in a new form (I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest that 9/11 played a major role in this resurgence, at least in the Western world). I would posit that writers like Charles Stross, M. John Harrison, and Peter Watts are all doing something unique and worthwhile and are operating primarily under the influence of the New Wave (Stross blends New Wave with space opera romanticism, Harrison lends something of a Beat tone to the SF mode, and Watts delivers a brutal dose of anti-humanism). As far as SF novels of the last ten years or so, Watts's Blindsight sits very high on my list. Meanwhile, writers from the past several decades are still contributing as well, notably William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.
Anyone else a fan of New Wave SF, and does anyone have other recommendations? I'll start off by recommending Peter Watts to anyone unfamiliar with him. His works are available for free on his website (http://www.rifters.com/), and they're some of the most provocative and intelligent works of hard SF to have come around in a long time, in my opinion.
Cheers!
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Madness ---That you've left out... Heinlein, maybe?
I enjoyed the joint foray in James S.A. Corey.
Also, TSA is Epic Fantasy - no doubt about it. If he bridges F/SF, Bakker has yet to commit to it in a meaningful way. I'd love to see him do some straight SF. Buy Dune from that hack Herbert the Son and write them again ;).
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Meyna ---I enjoy Gene Wolfe's writing and I definitely think he qualifies, though it's true the fantasy elements of his works may outshine the science fiction, if only because the perspectives offered in the story lack the understanding necessary to treat the concepts in question as technology rather than magic (think Heron Spear in The Second Apocalypse). I have only read the first chunk of his Solar Cycle, The Book of the New Sun, though I hope to finish off the series some day.
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Soterion ---Gene Wolfe is a great call! I've read The Book of the New Sun, and that's definitely something worth considering. Significantly different from most New Wave material though. The difficult part is that it borders very close to some form of dark fantasy, almost similar to Miéville at times.
--- Quote from: Madness ---That you've left out... Heinlein, maybe?
I enjoyed the joint foray in James S.A. Corey.
Also, TSA is Epic Fantasy - no doubt about it. If he bridges F/SF, Bakker has yet to commit to it in a meaningful way. I'd love to see him do some straight SF. Buy Dune from that hack Herbert the Son and write them again ;).
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Oh, I don't consider The Second Apocalypse to be SF. I realize now that was poorly written on my part; I just meant that Bakker and Miéville are two of my favorite "speculative fiction" writers, but I don't consider either of them to be "New Wave SF." You're right, Bakker is definitely epic fantasy, and I'd consider Miéville some brand of dark fantasy: or, even more intriguingly, something akin to slipstream or magical realism provided that the mix is allowed to tend more toward the "fantasy" side of things (which it obviously does in Miéville's works).
Miéville does have one true SF installment actually: his novel Embassytown. I would classify that as a strong contender for a modern New Wave SF work.
Not sure about Heinlein; he strikes me as more traditionally "Golden Age" SF, even though he continued writing well into the '70s and '80s. Dick writes about Heinlein in his nonfiction collection, admitting that while he admires Heinlein as a writer, he despises his politics. I think the antagonism between Golden Age SF and New Wave emerges in large part from political/ideological differences. Golden Age is generally more influenced by more traditional value systems and anthropocentrism (even where humans are dispalced, as in Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End). Heinlein, to my mind, seems largely trapped in the traditional tone of the Golden Age movement.
Thanks for the comments!
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Madness ---A pleasure to comment, Soterion.
Perhaps, you can enlighten me on these distinctions. I'd very much classify myself as a Golden Age reader by your depictions here but I'm not sure what to even offer the two categories.
Does CJ Cherryh count as New Wave? Faded Sun Trilogy and Foreigner are two favorite SF for me as well and I can think of more in this vein.
EDIT: Also, big +1 on Horselover Fat... I'm surprised there's no thread for him specifically yet.
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