I grew up with science fiction, but if I’m being honest it was mostly through televisions shows where my passion for the genre grew. I love seeing how characters react in these unreal situations, and imagining how I myself would react.
My mum and I would would Stargate together and it the first show I remember that introduced me to sci fi. I found it so exciting to watch them explore different worlds after finding this gate, not made from magic but technology, and see all of the interesting species they’d meet.
This show definitely spurned a life long love of sci fi stories and shows, the next natural step was watching the Star Trek series. Despite them being super old I still love watching a number of the series on Netflix. My favourites are Voyager (love me some Captain Janeway), Picard and Deep Space 9. I also watched the new series, and while it was good I still think the earlier ones were the best.
I never got into Star Wars.
I have no specific reason for it but its never been something I had the slight interest in. No idea why. I don’t have anything against the films and I really don’t know much about the storyline. I know there are lightsabers and darkvader, a creature called Yoda who speaks backwards and a really furry walking dog? But I am not familiar with the actual storyline.
If I had to put my finger on an obscure reasons it could be that I always saw it as a series that was aimed at men and I know lots of men think its one of the best series ever. I think because I heard it as being so amazing from these men and the media (with a focus on male viewers) that I didn’t feel like it was for me. I guess that’s the problem of something become so incredibly popular for a particular group, that sometimes people who don’t fit in that group write it off before giving it a chance. Also I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, something being a super great fit for a particular type of people, and I think a lot of girls probably like it too.
That’s not to say I don’t respect the franchise or think its not worth watching for people. It’s obviously one of the greats but its just personally not something that I’ve felt drawn to.
Book wise, I remember reading my first science fiction novels while visiting my aunt on the holidays. I remember she would let me choose a book and I would love reading about adventures that brought science fiction to earth. Like the one which had a group of scientists find an alien ship under the sea.
While I love full on sci fi stories about people exploring space, I think there’s so much to be said for things that happen on our doorstep. Things that are only just outside of the grasp of our current reality and beliefs. I mean, its far less far-fetched that we find an alien spaceship under the sea than there’s a galactic federation out there. Both require a belief in the possibility we’re alone in the universe but one is much more of a possibility than the other.
This genre that I’ve since come to know as magical realism has really dominated a lot of my viewing and reading experiences as I went through my teens and 20’s. From stories about a girl getting killed by a toilet seat and becoming a grim reaper (Dead like me), to shows like the OA, time loops, or really anything where a normal teen gets a super power that messes with their lives, these stories have inspired me to look for the magic in every day life.
In my teens I also started becoming obsessed with dystopian and horror stories and shows. I believe I was 15 when I first stumbled upon a proper zombie apocolypse movie – 28 days later. I had nightmares for months, but I LOVED the premise of a virus starting out of nowhere and turning humans in zombies. I actually am not big on the violent scenes in this genre but love the initial reactions when the virus first breaks out, and the way the survivors change and try to survive in such an impossible and terrifying situation. I love the classic wake up in hospital to find the world as you know it over premise.
I definitely want to write a zombie novel in the future, even if the genre isn’t as popular as it used to be. Even if it just sold two copies – ie: to my mother and I – because that would just be the ultimate for me, having my own zombie novel. I think its so hard to find a good premise though, or to find an interesting enough way to tell the story as its been done so often before. I’d love to still follow the classic formula, but try to make the characters interesting enough to make it feel like a unique story.
Anyway, that’s why I love Sci Fi.