Best selling science fiction novel

 

Best selling science fiction novel

There are science fiction novels and there are best selling science fiction novels. And there are #scifi readers; and there are readers who either want to focus on the science part in the fiction or the fiction part in the science. But whatever the case might be, science fiction is a genre that appeals to all because it carries both elements that make a reading experience worthwhile i.e. science and fiction as well. 

However, it is very rare that a person comes across a science fiction that is a perfect fusion of both these elements. And it is these #scifi novels that always make it to the preeminent list of the best selling #sciencefiction novels. 

But there is no guarantee that a best selling science fiction novel will be the one that you would find interesting as a scifi reader. Because there is every chance that a scifi bestseller may not be in accordance with your reading taste and style. It is in these moments that one always prefers to satisfy his/her need to read a scifi novel of his/her taste, by referring to the grand masters of scifi novel writing. 

And when it comes to this, the circle of grand masters of scifi novel writing is limited; and almost every scifi enthusiast happens to like one of these grand masters of scifi writing, if not all of them. And my all time favourite would be:

Ms. Mary Shelley and her #scifi masterpiece titled Frankenstein. When it comes to this #scifibooks, it is more about human psychology and human emotions, that she dissects with an insurmountable precision and detailing, via Frankenstein’s Monster. It is very unique when it comes to fusing science with fiction, and artistically layering it with emotions that are actually theoretical as far as the context of the story is concerned, but in a broader sense they are applicable to humans in all societies. Because there are many societies where many humans are treated like Frankenstein’s Monster. And she seemed to know this, and maybe it was this knowledge that forced her to write this #scifi masterpiece, and indirectly point out the social evils. While avoiding being persecuted for violating strong social dogmas. And that is where her true genius lies. She said something that nobody had dared to express, and she did it by disguising the social evil in the science fiction novel that became one of the best sellers in the 18th century.

Let me come to this topic a little later, right now let me list a few more best selling science fiction novels.

• iRobot by Isaac Asimov

• Dune by Frank Herbert

• The Martian by Andy Weir

• The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Now, it is not the final list of the best scifi novels, but it is the best list in one sense, and that is for certain. Because you might have read one of the scifi novels written by these authors. And that is where they stand out and that is why I call them the rightful posterity of the science fiction genre, irrespective of time or generational limitations. 

For one reason, these authors belong more to the future and less to the past, and always to the present. They somehow appear to have mastered the art of fusing fiction with the science that would exist 1000 years ahead. Yet, they clearly identify the scientific possibilities by removing the fictional side from it. They are very gifted in this regard because they focus less on fusing fiction with fictional science, their main focus is to fuse fiction with realistic science that might exist 1000 years ahead. This is where their finesse as #scifi writers lies. 

But, on what basis am I making such a tall claim in favour of these authors? Who according to me happen to be the authors, whose scifi novels are not just well plotted scifi stories, but they happen to be the best selling science fiction novels. Because they carry a message that appeals to the global scientific community. 

These best selling #scifibooks deal with complex social subjects that humanity will have to deal with in the future. So, for right reasons these scifi writers can be called the social prophets, who somehow develop a foreboding sense, and via this unique social and scientific foresight they warn us about the future. In a few cases they even go a little further by becoming our intermediary source that connects our present with the future, offering us a realistic vision that is futuristic as well. 

You might be thinking that I am being too profligate when it comes to bestowing these grand masters of best selling scifi novels, with praise that easily surmounts all peaks of flattery. Well, let me be honest, then it does not mean these scifi authors are less worthy of their status as most credible scifi writers, it only means I need to find better words to express myself when it comes to highlighting their extensive contributions made to the genre of scifi, and via their best selling #scifi novels, to the future human society and future human generations as well.

They are the true evangelists of social change that with advancements in science becomes inevitable. And they possess the intellect to foresee it, but then they also possess the magnanimity and the right imagination to share it with the rest of the world without being too reserved about it. And this is what makes them my favourite scifi novel writers.

If you want to know more about my list of best science fiction novels of all time, please refer to one of my older blog posts:

Best science fiction novels of all time

Now, let me come to the main point. What makes these scifi authors so special and so exceptional in the scifi genre? That they achieve a  sort of transcendence which influences all of us, because the future matters to all of us. Wondering why?

Because, every today shall be a yesterday, tomorrow. That is why! And these #scifi authors can predict today what tomorrow will look like. Now, you and I too can do this. But not like they do it! Not like the Frankenstein’s Monster did it. Can we? I do not think so.

By being so candid and so positively biased towards them, I have vilified my own reputation. But being a fan of these amazing #scifibooks writers, I have learned to wear the writer’s skin, that more than often ought to display toughness, similar to that of the hyde of a rhino. So, I am willing to take positive and negative criticism as a note of attention, that shall not be subdued by my thinking mind, but entertained by it with all my heart.

So, why am I positively biased towards them?

I am not sure if you have read the scifi novel, the Invisible Man or if you have read the scifi novel, Frankenstein.

Here are two important parallels, both in terms of the authors and the main characters in these novels.

Invisible man is written by a male author.

And

Frankenstein is written by a female author, who happened to be the wife of a highly renowned English poet, Mr. P. B. Shelley.

Let us move a little further than gender, as such these days the world is too engrossed in topics related to gender and nothing else. Whereas there are bigger and better problems the world should be tackling right now.

In the #scifi novel The Invisible Man. The scientist conducts an experiment on his own self to become invisible. But eventually due to social needs and personal needs as well, he covers his face and hands in rolls of bandage. He had managed to turn himself invisible but he was not able to reverse it.

Whereas in Frankenstein the man who has no soul is very much visible and wants to be a part of human society. And he too has to deal with social pressure, but one unlike that faced by the Invisible Man.

If you close your eyes for a moment and run both stories in your mind, you will get what I call intellectual goosebumps. And in extreme cases your eyes will flow with tears, because these two tragedies are juxtaposed in such a way that even if you try to separate them you cannot. Both main characters, in both scifi novels, are victims of their ironies. Not natural or organic ironies, but scientific ironies. Which later progress into becoming their social ironies as well. And this is what makes you sympathise with these characters.

Oh, the emotional depth is so infinite that you feel drawn into it. Until the Frankenstein’s Monster stands right in front of you and the invisible man too stands in front of you. And both of them ask you just one question:

What was our fault that you treated us like Monsters and subjected us to a witch hunt. Why?

And if you are a human being even with the slightest emotion or true human feelings, you will be overcome by an emotional wave that overflows through all your senses, and you begin to feel guilty. Guilty, as a part of human race that subjected these two innocent characters to so much torture, to so much pain. Then perhaps you pause and think.

What is the real boundary of science?

Or

Is it that, there should be a definite boundary for bad science, torturous science? Where beings are treated as specimens in the laboratory and nothing else.  

And this belief that they are nothing more than laboratory specimens seems to give you the right to keep inserting nails and stakes of pain into their body anywhere you please. And then pierce them into their souls as well, wherever you want to and whenever you want to. Because being a patron of bad science you feel it is your right to do so, and to treat the laboratory specimen the way you please.

Whereas on the contrary good science should be boundless and limitless.

Now you might argue that Frankenstein's Monster did not have a soul. And it is an unavoidable reality of his genesis. 

But, we often forget that Frankenstein's Monster had every trait, every feeling and every sense that we humans possess. So, Frankenstein's Monster had a sense; and a region in brain, dedicated to feeling pain. And if feeling pain and having a soul are two different things; then I think, we are dealing with science that has no soul actually.

And it is this science that will lead us to tragedies and calamities, that will be beyond what is expressed in the scifi novel titled: Dune. 

Did you notice how beautifully these best selling #scifibooks raise valid social questions with such subtleness, and without making you feel overwhelmed. But not without making you feel responsible as a part of society i.e. human society no matter when and where for being guilty of treating Frankenstein’s Monster as a loathsome being but treating Frankenstein as a revered scientist. 

And it is via this virtue these #scifi novels belong more to the future, and these scifi writers are the prophets who make scientific prophecies with an unmatched eloquence.

But being prophets they happen to be cursed as well.

As has been the case with religious prophets, they have always been termed as blasphemous in the beginning, and it may very well be the case with the prophets of science as well. Because imagining a concept like Frankenstein's Monster in 1818 and then expecting no social furore is not possible. Many readers might have thought she is either hallucinating or her husband's poetry has invaded her realistic sense of thinking. 

But today, and in 2075, such biology will be possible. And when I am admitting this there will still be a few today, who will be thinking either I am hallucinating now or I am too impressed by the brilliant masterpiece of scifi genre written by Ms. Shelley in the form of Frankenstein's Monster.

We are free to think whatever we may want to, but in the end reality shall always prevail, and those who can predict this reality, definitely become worthy of being called, “Prophets of science!”

And there is one more science fiction novel that is futuristic and deals with social paradigms that will involve future generations of humans. Our future. It is titled: They Loved in 2075, and in this scifi novel, Frankenstein's Monster has assumed a new form with far reaching social consequences that none of us can escape.

But there is a twist in this scifi novel, They Loved in 2075. Although it deals with a subject similar to Frankenstein's Monster, it is a romance #scifi novel. 

Surprised!

Well, that is what might qualify it as the best selling #sciencefiction novel. Please read it and judge for yourself! In the meantime please think, how can one introduce a romantic plot to a #scifi novel where the character is Frankenstein's Monster?

Afterall, imagination is a grand gift that humans have been blessed with. And that is why when animals ruminate it is different from when humans ruminate. And that is where the main difference lies between science with soul and science without soul.

As for all other answers please refer to the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075.