Get to Know the Sci-Fi Reader Tag 🛸 | Sci-Fi Month 2020

A few months ago, I posted my take on the Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag and, a few days ago, I saw the sci-fi version of this tag on the YouTube channel BooksWithEmilyFox. I thought it would be a nice tag for Sci-Fi Month so… here we are! 😀

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1. What is the first science fiction you read? 🪐

I have always been an avid reader of fantasy but I was a bit intimidated by science-fiction for some reasons so, I read my first SF when I was in my teens. I read and loved The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins when I was 14 or 15 years old and after that (like many), I devoured a ton of YA dystopian books.

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My first adult science fiction book was Starfish by Peter Watts. I stumbled upon a copy of this book in my library and the cover looked cool so, I decided to give it a try and I loved it. I read the entire series in one summer!

2. If you could be the hero/heroine in a sci-fi novel, who would be the author and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story? 🚀

I would love to be a Shuos in Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate universe. I have a thing for spy/assassin stories in science fiction settings and two of my favorite characters ever Mikodez and Jedao are Shuos.

3. What is a sci-fi you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read? 🌙

I finished Luna: Moon Rising by Ian MacDonald a few days ago and I loved it! It’s the conclusion of the Luna trilogy, a series that follows the descendants of the Dragons, powerful corporations on the Moon that have a huge influence on Earth. The Dragons are in constantly fighting with each other to earn more power and influence in an unending cycle of violence and vengeance. It’s a bloody story and most of the characters are assholes but, once you start reading, you can’t stop. Moon Rising was a great conclusion to the trilogy, I think it might be my favorite installment in the series.

4. What is your favorite sci-fi subgenre? What subgenre have you not read much from? 👽

My favorite subgenres are science fiction stories that have a strong focus on politics and political manoeuvering such as Too Like the Lightning, A Memory Called Empire and Luna: New Moon and spy stories set in the future or in an alternate reality like Europe in Autumn or Summerland.

I don’t read a lot of first contact stories or science fiction romances.

5. Who is one of your auto-buy sci-fi authors? 🖖

Why choose one when I can just list my faves? 😀

Yoon Ha Lee, Ada Palmer, Kameron Hurley, Derek Künsken, Nnedi Okorafor, Ann Leckie, Tade Thompson, Dave Hutchinson, Lavie Tidhar.

6. How do you typically find sci-fi recommendations? 👩‍🚀

I usually find sci-fi recommendations on blogs, on Twitter and on booktube channels. I use to have a relatively small TBR but, since I started this blog, well… I think I could stop buying books for 10 years and still have things to read! 😇

7. What is an upcoming sci-fi release you’re excited for? ​🌟​

I’m pretty sure all my most anticipated sci-fi released in 2020 already came out (which doesn’t mean I have managed to read them but this are not “upcoming” anymore). However, I have a ton of 2021 releases on my radar and those ones are the ones I’m very, very excited about:

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8. What is one misconception about sci-fi you would like to lay to rest? 💫

That science-fiction is a hard genre to get into and that you can only enjoy it if you’re a science genius. It’s completely false. I’m a biology nerd but I suck at physics and math and I still love science-fiction!

Also, science-fiction is a broad genre and it’s impossible not to find something to your taste: from tie-in novels, military SF, hard science, space operas, sci-fi political intrigues, dystopian stories, sci-fi romances… you have to find something for you!

9.. If someone had never read a sci-fi before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books that come to mind as places to start, what would those recommendations be? ✨

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• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I think it’s a great introduction to dystopian books, it’s fast-paced and well-written and the characters are complex and interesting! It’s YA but I’m sure a lot of adults would enjoy it as well.

• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

I have not read all the books in the series yet but, I think it’s a great place to start with space operas, especially for people who already love sci-fi movies and TV shows like Star Wars and Star Trek!

• The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian is amazing, it’s a hard science story about a man stranded on Mars but it still manages to be a very fun read!

10. Who is the most recent sci-fi reading content creator you came across that you’d like to shoutout? 🌍

Angela from Literature Science Alliance. She has a Booktube channel focused on SFF and I love her content. She reads a lot of books, both new releases and backlist titles, and her enthusiasm is contagious! Her videos make me so happy because she is always excited about books and she has great recommendations! 😀

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If you want to do this tag as well, consider yourself tagged! 👽👽

Artwork by Tithi Luadthong from 123RF.com