What Happened When I Switched from Fantasy to Science Fiction

It was a long taxi ride after dark in San Francisco. The radio played something strange.

“Love and war,” he said, “are Earth’s two staple commodities. We’ve been turning them both out in bumper crops since the beginning of time.”
— Robert Scheckly, The Store of the Worlds

We’d started the ride in the middle of the story. My ears strained to pick up the thread.

“…That’s the whole point! Anyone can buy sex. Good lord, it’s the cheapest thing in the universe, next to human life. But love is rare, love is special, love is found only on Earth. Have you read our brochure?”

“What is this?” I asked my companion.

“It’s a Robert Sheckley story.” I’d never heard of him.

I had to know how that story ended. The taxi dropped us off before it was finished.

A few years before that taxi ride, someone extraordinary gave me a book in a pink gift bag. That book was Armor by John Steakley. The sparkly bag was an enigma, and it wrapped a masculine military tale. Sneaky mystery filled that tale, which, in turn, had a tender, enigmatic heart locked in its core.

I never would have stumbled upon Armor in the pure fantasy aisles. For the first time, I was reading battle scenes. I’d only seen them in movies before. It was something entirely different to me. The technical side wasn’t a stumbling block at all.

Even more to my delight, the space story turned out to have plot twists and character reveals.

The gift was to help me break into science fiction. It certainly did.

I’ve gone on to read more classic science fiction titles in my quest. It started with that gift and continued with the tale from the taxi ride. My motivation in switching genres was to try new things. I wanted to “level up” and keep up with my friends. I didn’t expect the science fiction genre to make me a better person.

Since reading Starship Troopers, I strive to be on the bounce. This is the phrase the main character’s drill sergeant shouts at him at all times. It becomes a major catchphrase of the book. As the character goes along, the layers of the phrase peel back. It means to let no good deed go unpraised, however small; to let no detail go unaddressed; to let no mistake stand. It gets said with love, and it gets said with discipline, until ultimately it becomes cheery.

Ender’s Game enlightened me to the technique of fighting to end all future fights. It also injected me with awareness that an institution can keep you in the dark even as it educates and uses.

Science fiction expanded my mind in new directions. I find myself thinking more about ideas than about things or people now. Because of something Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady of the United States, once said, I think this means I have grown as a person.

“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” — Eleanor Roosevelt.

Why Try Science Fiction?

Wonder and fun await you in this fiction genre. It is a world where a cold, intellectual premise can expose the human condition. Yet, at other times, the genre is an ace at the technique of using stock characters. It uses them to reveal the nature of reality… or the possibilities of existence.

If the fantasy genre is about imagination, science fiction is about curiosity. It gives you personal reasons to know more about the world we live in: its mechanics, its cultures, its technology. Science fiction shows you how to scry your future in the shiny metal mirrors of technology.

A sci-fi habit sparks new conversations with the people around you. After I picked up the genre, closeted scientists around me began to open up. I feel like I know people better now. One small example: I discovered that laminar flows and the stars fascinate someone very close to me. Would that have ever come up if they didn’t see me reading science fiction?

Picking up science fiction sent out a signal flare that I have curiosity about the real world, too, and not just in pure imagination.

The tight writing in the genre impresses me. It tends to be good at making it all count. So far, every character trait and every plot incident I’ve read in sci-fi’s end up relevant.

Finally, if you like plot twists and character reveals, you’re in for a treat. I wasn’t prepared for how many sci-fi’s rock both.

Regrets

If I could do my genre switch over again, there are some things I would do differently. I would start with one of Robert Sheckley’s short story collections and not read Dune.

Dune could be called “drug addicts in space.” Just kidding, I’ll be nicer. The spice must flow. I was even tempted to use its other catchphrase in this article’s title (“Fear is the mind-killer!” I thought it linked to how fear of the genre will limit your mind). Still, the book did not help me discover why people love science fiction.

Then there are Sheckley stories. It turns out there are a lot more where that story came from. He was prolific.

Robert Sheckley. — Image: Imagination (magazine), 1954

Mr. Robert Sheckley strides into your head like it’s his. He blows your mind, stirs up your emotions without regard, and keeps you thinking. His stories have fantastic hang time.

His works are short. So, you don’t have to make a big commitment upfront if you’re not too sure about science fiction yet. If you haven’t been one to like short stories, you might find that you do after a few of his. (This is another way my science fiction adventures changed me — I like short stories much more now).

But Also, No Regrets!

Exploring a new genre brings incredible books into your life.

I wouldn’t have picked up Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card if I hadn’t intentionally tried science fiction. But now I know that it’s one of the best stories you could ever read.

I suspect the greatest hits of anything outside of one’s regular ballpark would be rewarding. But, for Science Fiction particularly, there is one last honorable mention: Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

This book was technical and challenging. I think that’s what most readers are afraid of about science fiction. But, as Dune said, “Fear is the mind-killer.” If your goal is to discover science fiction, you would do well to give Asimov, the grandfather of science fiction, a chance.

Why Switch to Science Fiction?

If you like having your mind blown — but also getting stirred up — try science fiction. It turns out to pack a real storytelling punch.

And you too may find yourself a better person on the other side.