The Power of Fiction & My 2019 Favorites

I love science fiction. If we’re friends on Goodreads, you’ll see that at any point in time, I am usually in the middle of at least one sci-fi book. For my job, I drive quite a bit across the great (and sizable) state of Texas, and usually, those long uneventful drives are accompanied by a sci-fi audiobook (Pro-Tip: Many public libraries have an app that allows you to check out audiobooks for free. Austin Public Library does and its a game-changer. Goodbye, Audible). While the case can be made for all fiction, science fiction specifically offers us an escape to other worlds or bizarre futures and helps us examine age-old philosophical or ethical questions from within fresh new frameworks. I like how Camus quaintly put it in The Stranger, “fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.”

A few of my all-time favorite fiction books:

• Embassytown by China Miéville. My favorite sci-fi. Emphasizes how critical language is to shaping us, our relations, and morality in a truly alien context and narrative. Among a ton of a lot of other philosophy of language and political science. Amazon | Goodreads

• Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy by Liu Cixin (Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death’s End). An ambitious story spanning time and space to reflect on earth’s struggle to maintain our humanity while fighting for survival and coping with scientific discoveries. Amazon | Goodreads

• The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks (The Black Prism, The Blinding Knife, The Broken Eye, The Blood Mirror, The Burning White). A fantastic narrative that among many other things compares utilitarianism to virtue ethics in the context of magic, warring kingdoms, and mysterious religions. My wife disapproves when I refer to this as “Harry Potter for adults.” Amazon | Goodreads

"Aww. That's a cute little readin spot, Dad" -Our seven-year-old daughter

I’ve read some phenomenal books in 2019, both fiction and non-fiction (Click here for a list of my top recommended non-fiction). In the last few months, I’ve been stuck on two authors: Jasper Fforde and China Mieville. These two authors exemplify what good science fiction (film or books) can do.

One example is Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. Fforde creates an imaginative post-apocalyptic world where because of climate change and nuclear fallout, the four-month-long winters are incompatible with normal human life. Most people enter into a chemical-induced hibernation each year to survive. However, law enforcement officers called Winter Consuls attempt to maintain order among those who stay awake and safety for the general sleeping population.

I enjoyed this book because it creatively explores a common, yet critical, philosophical problem. What gives human beings moral value? In other words, what is the ethical status of those who do not possess some central human qualities? In Early Riser, "Nightwalkers" wake up early before everyone else. The hibernation drug has a common side effect of destroying the early riser’s higher brain function. While the Nightwalkers (aka “Deadheads”) seem like nothing more than mindless roaming zombies, many have trouble accepting the mainstream wisdom that these individuals have entirely lost their humanity. Among many other dilemmas like surviving the Ice Age-like winter, Charlie Worthing, a new Winter Consul, struggles with how society and Hiber-Tech (the makers of hibernation drugs) treat and “re-purpose” these people for the greater good. When writing this article I got a little carried away and wrote a more in-depth discussion of Early Riser and the bioethical controversy around Brain Death and Organ Donation, which you can read here. 

But this is the power of fiction, in addition to other benefits, it helps us reflect on common questions and dilemmas from a new angle and perspective. Good fiction has the ability to inspire and enrich us for what we face in “the real world.”

9. Kraken by China MiévilleExplores the role of metaphysics and religion in a modern age and how a society can exist with dissident spiritualities. Amazon | Goodreads

8. Exit West by Mohsin Homid

Made me think about the critical importance of home and geographical origins are to one’s self-identity and perception. Amazon | Goodreads

7. Vox by Christina Dalcher

Caused me to reflect on the various ways we ignore women’s voices and the personal and social impact of this systematic injustice. Amazon | Goodreads 

6. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

A creative homage to English Lit and exploration into how the liberal arts can unite society around a common identity and character. Amazon | Goodreads

5. Themis Files Trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel (Sleeping Giants, Waking Gods, Only Human) 
A really fun, albeit somewhat two-dimensional, story that looks at the nature of our species and, like many other books, reveals that we’re not all that sophisticated or enlightened as we like to think. Amazon | Goodreads

4. Imperial Radch Trilogy by Ann Leckie (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, & Ancillary Mercy)

Reflection on personhood and identity. Part of the narrative is told through the perspective of a self-aware spaceship who perceives and interacts with others through the ship and legions of enslaved cyborg-like ancillaries. Amazon | Goodreads

3. Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis (Part of The Space Trilogy)

Describes a pre-Fall planet unstained by sin in very unique literary style. He also creates new languages for aliens because, you know, he’s CS Lewis. Amazon | Goodreads 

2. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (No, not that one).
Reflects how society arbitrarily organizes itself by pushing us into a post-apocalyptic world where social classes are determined by the severity of your color blindness. Amazon | Goodread

1. The City and the City by China Miéville

One of my top five favorite fictional books. Makes me reflect on political and cultural identities and how we practice coexistence with the other. Amazon | Goodreads 

What fiction has enriched and inspired you recently?