Hey bookworm friends, I’m ending my sci-fi month celebrations with a ‘big bang’ in the form of a tag! Thanks to my friend Stephen @ Reading Freely for tagging me in the Get To Know the Sci-Fi Reader tag 🚀!
This tag was created by the booktuber Books With Emily Fox, which is exciting because I watch her videos all the time!
Link-ups
Thanks to the Sci-Fi Month hosts: Imyril at There’s Always Room for One More,
Lisa at Dear Geek Place,
Annemieke at A Dance with Books,
and Mayri at bookforager
What is your sci-fi origin story? (How you came to read your first sci-fi novel)
This one is hard. Sometime around 2006, I read I Was A Teenage Popsicle, a book about a teen who got frozen or ‘vitrified’ at age 16 due to a rare genetic disease. She wakes up 10 years later and finds that her little sister is now her older sister and she has to get used to life again. When I read this I didn’t have a concept of “science fiction” but looking back this would certainly qualify, even if it focuses mostly on the family relationships.
However, the first time I was aware of reading a “Sci-fi” book was a few years later smack dab in the middle of the 2010’s YA dystopian era. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.
If you could be the hero in a sci-fi novel, who would be the author, and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story?
I would need to be in a solarpunk or cozy science fiction story. Preferably written by Becky Chambers, where the stakes are low, the world is peaceful, and the found family is thriving! I would also love it if I could speak to animals and if our society coexisted with various alien species. Is it too much to ask for?!
What is a sci-fi you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read?
Okay, I actually read a few Sci-Fi books I loved this year but since I read it recently and I’m still thinking about it, I’ll say The Last Cuentista. My review.
What is your favourite sci-fi subgenre? What subgenre have you not read much from?
Steampunk is my favourite sci-fi subgenre; the aesthetic always tickles my imagination. I also love fantasy science, solarpunk, and climate fiction. I’m not sure I would love hard sci-fi, especially a lot of the classic ones but the genre is so vast and flexible. Some of the subgenres I want to try are sci-fi horror, first contact with aliens, space western (I mean, I love Firefly), and space opera (I’ve only read one book so far).
Who is one of your auto-buy sci-fi authors?
I don’t think I have many “auto-buy” authors but if I did they’d probably include Ilona Andrews, Becky Chambers, and Annalee Newitz, just based on sci-fi stories that have stayed with me a lot recently.
How do you typically find sci-fi recommendations?
In the same way that I find the rest of my recommendations: mostly on booktube, bookstagram, and other book blogs. But increasingly, on Netgalley or browsing upcoming releases. Which brings us to the next question!
What is one upcoming sci-fi release you’re looking forward to?
Speaking of Annalee Newitz, they have a new book coming out next summer (Aug 5th, 2025) called Automatic Noode and it sounds amazing. It’s a cozy novella about abandoned food service robots that set up their own little restaurant. I can’t wait!
What is one sci-fi misconception you’d like to lay to rest?
That if a scientific concept is not 100% accurate it doesn’t count as ‘science fiction’. Like, please sci-fi stories often have technology that’s not even real, or internal logic that’s different from the real world. Don’t forget it’s got fiction in the title. It’s meant to explore ideas and make commentary on the human condition not be a research paper.
If someone had never read a sci-fi book before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books that came to mind as places to start, what would your recommendations be?
When I think of giving suggestions to a first-time sci-fi reader, they’d have to be accessible yet compelling. I also would keep in mind what types of books the reader likes.
The Martian by Andy Weir (if they want adventure and humour).
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (if they like thrillers).
Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (if they like literary fiction and want something short but punchy).
Who is the most recent sci-fi reading content creator you’ve come across that you’d like to shoutout?
I can’t say that I have any new or recent sci-fi reading creators that I’ve discovered, mostly I’ve just been watching the same creators I typically do which is fine because I love them. But anyway, aside from obviously Emily Fox, the creator of this tag, another sci-fi reading creator I watch is Willow Heath from the YouTube channel Willow Talks Books. I love the way she talks about books so here’s a video to give you an idea of what to expect from her channel.
I’ll tag a few other bloggers who read sci-fi books but if you’re reading this and you love sci-fi books, consider yourself tagged too! I tag:
👽Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
👾 Athena @ OneReadingNurse
🚀Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read any of these books? Or, what’s the first sci-fi book you ever read?
Still planning on trying Tusks of Extinction this year, if I don’t get to it in the next…er, 4 days. 🙂
What a great set of questions! I may borrow this prompt too!
Oh yes, Meg! Please do, I’d love to see your answers to these questions! 😀
Automatic Noodle sounds great!
Right?! It sounds amazing!! Probably my most anticipated release for next year as of now.