Five Mind and Genre-Bending Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Novels

Now that autumn is upon us, what better time to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and some great speculative fiction? If you ever find yourself searching for a great new read, keep an eye out for the following titles:

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin
Here’s an incredible novel that never seems to get enough attention. The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of Genly Ai, the human ambassador of the intergalactic Ekumen of planets whose mission is to unite all of the developed worlds of the universe to promote the exchange of knowledge, art, and technology. Genly carries out his mission on the planet Gethen, inhabited by humans who have evolved hermaphroditically and thus have no gender. What begins as a straightforward diplomatic task quickly unravels as Genly becomes the focus of a sinister plot, and an epic quest for survival throws him into the company of an unexpected ally. Every bit as radical and relevant now as it was when first published in 1969, this novel examines culture, politics, and gender to confront the question of what it means to be human.

Radiance, by Catherynne Valente
How do you feel about alternate history? Mythpunk? Space opera? Neo-noir? Now how do you feel about those things all at once? In Radiance, outsider literary juggernaut Catherynne Valente spans dozens of genres and prose styles within one novel, which tells the story of a prodigious documentary film-maker’s epic quest to capture on camera the elusive space whales of Venus. That’s right, Venus is home to elusive space whales and trust me, they’re awesome. Valente’s work shatters every barrier it touches, completely blurring the line between riveting sci-fi and achingly beautiful literary fiction.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Although most post-apocalyptic works don’t really involve much fantasy or science fiction, Station Eleven belongs on this list for its nuanced and powerful speculative portrayal of life after global catastrophe. Twenty years after a pandemic kills 99.9% of the human population, culture lives in on the form of The Traveling Symphony, a troupe of musicians and actors who travel from settlement to settlement to perform classical music and Shakespeare. Grounded in the universal need for human empathy and compassion, this novel portrays profound tragedy with subtlety and grace, suggesting that art is a vital force in our lives, capable of enduring even the greatest calamities.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami
I know Murakami can be a little divisive amongst readers, but I fell hard for him and his whacky wonderful worlds many years ago, and this novel takes his unique style to its science fiction extreme. Split narratives investigate the mysteries of the human mind and the power of technology to alter reality; half of the chapters focus on the exploits of a stolid young Calcutec working in the Tokyo underground data security industry, while the others follow the journey of an amnesiac newcomer to an enigmatic and otherworldly town full of phantomlike people who live without shadows. With a cast of kooky and dynamic characters, this novel tackles some of science fiction’s grandest themes in typical Murakami fashion, managing somehow to be both whimsical and hard-hitting at once.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
A golden staple of classic science fiction, I’m sure many of you have already read this book, but I only recently found my way to it so I’m giving it a shout-out nonetheless. Told over a series of loosely connected vignettes, The Martian Chronicles details the cycle of humanity discovering, conquering, and abandoning life on the Red Planet. Although by no means immune to criticism or the passage of time (I could rail against the sexism of Bradbury’s ‘spacewives’ all day long), The Martian Chronicles is nonetheless a poetic, bold, and profoundly heartbreaking vision of what it might mean for our species when we turn our sights to the stars, and it has earned its mythic status among science fiction enthusiasts.

​Written by Cara B.