Timeless Science Fiction Novels

Timeless Science Fiction Novels

"The curious case of science fiction, and the originality of ideas that preserve the legacy of a well conceived science fiction novel in the tomorrow of a fast evolving literary world." It sounds like curiosity trapped within anxiety that does not know how to free itself from the gullies of thoughts that tend to breed anxiety and never let curiosity seek the shore of scientific reasoning and rationale approach. Many science fiction novels enter this grid lock like situation between scientific curiosity, where anxiety confounds its very base of rationality. And this is how they lie buried in the list of scifi novels that were forgotten undeservedly.

However, there are few science fiction novels that defend every paradigm shift of readers’ tastes generally associated with a genre. And when it comes to science fiction novels, readers’ taste feeds on a kind of parasitic instinct that seeks to know more about the ingenuity of human thought in the day after tomorrow. And a few science fiction novels meet this demand of the readers' taste by serenading their thoughts with concepts and probabilities that make the reader envisage a science fiction based realism and be enveloped in it for sometime, while he/she believes that it is the world that exists in reality, because the readers’ common sense aligns with the plausibility of the idea being promoted by the writer of the science fiction novel, at scientific level. Where reasoning and common sense is acting at free will.

I strongly believe there is a vast difference between a science fiction novel that was written many decades ago and still remains relevant today, compared to a science fiction novel written just a few years ago, but it loses its affinity when it comes to staying relevant as human knowledge of the universe that they are a part of increases. This is why I believe what the French writer and politician, Mr. François-René de Chateaubriand, once said, “The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.”

Imitated by none!

I think this is the key ingredient that makes the big difference when it comes to offering immortality to a science fiction novel. But immortality comes with a curse too, when everyone known to you has passed away and you are left with just yourself as that stubborn acquaintance that refuses to die. And this is where the genius of the science fiction writers adds a fascinating twist to this curse by weighing it on the scale of possibilities where infinity is suspended on both ends. Because the reader is dealing with infinity, knowing which is deeper is quite impossible, because fathoming the end of either of the two infinities is impossible. Yet the writer makes you take this journey of infinite possibilities. Where a witty science fiction writer, just puts forth a brilliant and simple idea as this one:

Being immortal maybe a  curse in the fact that you are left alone once everyone has passed away. However, this angle of immortality stands challenged. Because you will still be able to make new friends, your grandchildren and their future generations will not turn sterile, so you will still have relatives around you. Perhaps they will boast about you, because you are a treasure trove of knowledge because you know a lot of details. Unless memory lapse inflicts your prudence, then immortality surely will be a curse, because now you loop of infinity will be tied with knots that restrict you to a limited trajectory of imagination, interpersonal interactions, social circle, and most important of all, it will shackle you in the room of memories, which fade away instantly; and the new reign of darkness ascends, as you begin dealing with it anew. 

Thus the loop continues, and with no burden of memories to carry around, now there are only two possibilities: infinite feeling of freshness or infinite struggle to remember who you are and what do these people around you mean to you?

Now be honest, “Didn't you like the possibilities associated with immortality?” 

That is what a true science fiction writer is capable of achieving. At this point you might think that I am being tactfully snobbish, but then don't you agree “laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died!”

That is why the original writer is not the one who refrains from imitating others, but the one who can be imitated by none.

Now which science fiction novels or science fiction novel writers cannot be imitated? 

I think there is no writer who cannot be imitated, but the freshness of thought, experiences and the ability to express them with a style that always reminds the reader of a certain writer is inimitable.

Please allow me to quote Mr. Edward Albee, the US dramatist who said, “I have a fine sense of the ridiculous, but no sense of the humour.”

Please examine the simplicity of the thought, that expresses a meaning so deep, that one could ponder on it for weeks. This is what I call a dexterity breathing writing style, which cannot be copied. Because the thought is directly and certainly borrowed from daily social experiences and interactions, and most of us know it, but only a genius writer can put it in the way Mr. Edward Albee did. And whoever likes reading the works of this great writer, would instantly know it is written by him. It is like a primitive instinct that always knows what it is seeking, and where to find it.

But we are talking about science fiction novels and what makes few of them timeless. Sci-fi novels that capture the entire range of reader’s curiosity even when the reader hails from a generation that is many decades older than the publication date of the science fiction novel, qualifies to be that best selling science fiction. 

And how does the writer achieve this level of reader centric universality of taste making the reader from the new generation feel that the science fiction novel is overflowing with ideas and topics that are not only relevant today, but hold strong validation as concepts that will still fascinate readers many decades from now.

That is quite something! Isn't it?

So, is there, or are there, science fiction novels that meet this requirement or fit into this frame of requirement for science fiction novel that does not merely impress a certain generation of men and women, but influences future generations of men and women with similar literary brilliance and awe, through the freshness of its idea/s that become the base of new scientific tides, meant to redefine scientific glory of the human civilisation in that generation?

Yes there are many science fiction novels that always satiate the appetite of a responsible reader from every generation of men and women.

Before you start thinking that I am making castles in the air, let me erect the castle in the ground of reality. And given below is the reality of what I consider to be timeless science fiction novels:

• Frankenstein
• Dune
• Time Machine
• Invisible Man
• The Martian

The list can get lengthy and the ground of reality may get overweighed by these Titans of science Fiction Novels. And I do not want to bend the reality, because that right is reserved by the giant of physics Mr. Albert Einstein. Whose originality of thought still fascinates the physicists today.

Ah yes, no more deviation from the main topic. Sorry! I will stay my course. I promise!

When I mentioned my favourite science fiction novels: Frankenstein, Dune and Time Machine, I was reminded of English born US poet, Mr. Wystan Hugh Auden, who said, “Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.” And if I remember these science fiction novels, I have my valid reasons when it comes to these novels deserving my affection. They possess a strong element of fascination for readers of all ages and all generations. And to me this element of fascination is the way they assign maturity to a scientific thought as the plot of the story progresses and the reader gets drawn into its plot. 

The scientific ideas proposed in these science fiction novels are brave, futuristic, adventurous; and they challenge the standard logic of science, to the extent that a reader is forced to think like a scientist and decide for himself/herself the conduciveness of these brave scientific thoughts. And this is when the science fiction novel attains a fan following that outlasts every generation of readers. Because it manages to progress a scientific thought in the mind of the reader, while assuring the reader that the thought is innovative and he/she possesses the common sense to build upon it based on his/her understanding of the scientific common sense and facts associated with it.

You don't seem to agree! 

Let me explain it by offering you a brief summary of what I think and why I  think what I am thinking. And let me begin with Frankenstein.

• Frankenstein

This science fiction novel still fascinates readers today. The novelty of the idea is so gripping that the reader is left spellbound by the possibility of creating a human being and then animating him with life. And while the reader is thinking about life, and begins to deal with the spiritual aspect of life, he she has only tread a few steps in this direction, that the science fiction writer begins highlighting the pain and agony suffered by Frankenstein’s monster, because he lacks soul and a soul mate. And it is done with such surgical precision, that the author actually invades your mental space without allowing you to realize that via the story of the sci fi novel, he/she somehow reads your mind and addresses the anxieties linked to the subject in the plot of the science fiction story, just a few seconds before it sprang in your mind. This auto relaying of science fiction author’s thoughts against the silent enquiries of your mind, develops into a bicycle like locomotion, where one of the pedals is your enquiry and the other pedal is the author’s response to this enquiry, and when this happens the bicycle of science fiction story moves ahead with such ease that you begin to enjoy the journey and the fact that you are dealing with an extremely complex scientific idea with the ease that is self assuring. 

And this bicycle maintains the same rhythm and unflinching momentum as well, no matter which generation of readers is interacting with the science fiction novel, because the idea can be entertained with the same amount of amazement and scientific enthusiasm that it had enjoyed 40 years ago. Do you know why?

Because Frankenstein’s monster seems real to every reader, although the emotional reality of Frankenstein’s monster is interpreted differently by every reader. Because as readers we all possess different levels of sensitivity at emotional level. So there will always be a segment of readers who feel the monster’s pain, but there will be a section of readers who just focus on the possibility of creating such a thing. They do not want to deal with the philosophical aspects of the monster’s creation and his emotional state. To them what matters the most is the possibility of creating something like Frankenstein’s monster. And this is where the writer’s inimitable writing style manages to satisfy all these sections of readers, with different levels of sensitivity.

Take for example Frankenstein’s monster. The moment a reader begins to pity him, and another section of less sensitive readers disregard the need to sympathise with the monster, the writer throws a new dice of possibilities at you. In this case, it is the monster’s need to seek a mate in exchange for sparing the life of his creator. Now at this moment the monster is portrayed as revengeful, filled with resentment, and the writer adopts sublimity to now let the readers pull at these thoughts in a tug of war like competition. Where if you pull the less sensitive reader towards being sensitive, the reader that is less sensitive is also offered a chance to equalise, and pull the sensitive reader towards your thoughts surrounding Frankenstein’s monster. Thus the bicycle once again manages to maintain its balance and it moves ahead smoothly.

It is this attention to detail that makes science fiction novels like Frankenstein appeal  to tasteful readers across all generations.

Ah, I should talk about other science fiction novels I specified in the list above. So let me refer to Dune.

Today in 2023, when NASA and other world renowned space agencies are planning to send humans to Mars, and finally cultivate the atmosphere of Mars so that it becomes suitable to support human life. I have no doubt that one day human species will become inter-galactic. When that happens we would need a Global federation that will define or lay out rules and regulations defining how humans should claim complete or partial rights over different habitable planets. And the science fiction novel Dune, does explicitly refer to such a federation. 

So, it is relevant even in 2023 and it will stay relevant even when we have become intergalactic. And if you read Dune carefully, it offers a blueprint that humans should adopt in future as a building block to manage amity among humans settled on different planets, but with interdependencies that cannot be gotten rid of. Unless one wants to engage in a devastating war where casualty is unprecedented and both parties suffer tremendous economic and other losses. Here, it is the writer’s foresight that grasps the reader's attention, and the writer’s ability that makes the reader live these moments with high emotional resonance, that stand out and make the author’s style inimitable. 

As for Time Machine and The Martian, what shall I say? 

They fascinated me when I read them. They fascinate me today. They will continue to fascinate me even when humans have settled on far off planets. Because the possibility to travel in time and bend it at will, is a feeling like none other. And the thrill to live on Mars and do something for the first time, that no one has ever done before. Shall fascinate any reader even in the dreams. Because it is human tendency to create God of whatever they do not understand. And as of now we do not know much about time travel and traveling to Mars, and this assigns to them God Like attributes, in the sense that they are extremely fascinating and thrill offering.

But when the reader questions these brave possibilities, and refers to the knowledge derived from scriptures and other manuscripts, time travel is defined as an achievable scientific quest. And when the reader’s mind subconsciously summons these thoughts, he/she is forced to read further, with a dual purpose: to satisfy the how part of his/her curiosity and then to know how the story evolves and fits with his/her knowledge on these topics.

But there is a little twist here. These science fiction novels do not work like a bicycle, They are more like a see-saw. A thought in your mind arises and lifts you up, and then at some unidentified, but certain point, the author addresses a part of your curiosity and the see-saw now goes down on the other end. And it carries on like this. 

As is in case with the bicycle pattern reading experience, you like the smooth balance. But in the case of these novels you like the rhythmic disruptions of balance. Where the see-saw never hangs in balance, because if that happens, then monotony of thought will set in and invade either the reader; or the concept that the book is propagating. 

But, Time Machine and the Martian manage to exert varying stress on both ends of the see-saw, where the reader occupies the one end and the science fiction novel rests on the other edge. 

It reminded me of my kindergarten days, where I liked being on the see-saw with my friends, except for one of my good friends, who happened to be twice my weight. I never enjoyed staying air lifted and unable to do anything, while he did not enjoy staying glued to the ground with longing to be lifted up and see the aerial view, which he assumed I enjoyed , and to me he enjoyed the safety of the ground, with no chance to fall. That is what a master science fiction writer is able to foresee. He/she always makes sure that the weight of the storyline and its plot is balanced with the readers’ taste and sensitivities, so that the see-saw keeps going up and coming down. 

PS. At that age our knowledge of see-saw principle was nil.

And thus what you SEE from your end of the see-saw, the person on the other end could say “I already SAW!” A perfect See-Saw!

Here is a science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, which offers both bicycle like and see-saw patterned reading experiences. Because it deals with many futuristic ideas and at the same time it has a storyline that epitomises romance. And imagine the height of romance in 2075, when humans will be surrounded by self aware machines that look and behave like humans. Maybe these self aware machines will even compete with humans, when it comes to wooing someone  liked by both the self aware machine and a real human being. Wow, that will be quite a love triangle to deal with from an emotional and technological angle. This is what makes the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, so fascinating and interesting.

If you are a romantic at heart and you love human emotions and value human feelings over synthetic feelings generated by self aware machines, then, They Loved in 2075, is the science fiction novel written specifically for you.

Ah! Now you must be thinking that I am manipulating your mind just like the master writers’ do. Not at all! Because I am still growing as a writer and attaining that perfection shall demand more time. 

Nevertheless, there are many reasons that shall inspire you to read this science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. It will take you on a smooth bicycle ride and also let you experience see-saw like highs and lows, with a balance that you shall be able to define. 

Now wouldn't this be amazing?

This was my truth about science fiction novels that are timeless. And I shall not be held guilty if my list of timeless science fiction novels contradicts with your list. Because as an individual, I shall respect your list and as an individual, my list of timeless science fiction novels ought to be respected too. 

 

As for everything else let me add this, “Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it maybe outraged by silence.” So, let us choose to speak up and we shall be heard. I just tried and chose not to remain silent!