Science Fiction Readers' Advisory

Doing Science Fiction (SF) RA can be intimidating, as can RA in any genre you don't read. SF is filled with concepts unique to the genre, but the place to start is to remember that SF is literature.  Therefore, a lot of the basic RA questions apply – especially those pertaining to emotion and style.

• Mood – humor, drama, etc.
• Length – long, short, series.
• Storyline - Character-driven vs. plot-driven, complexity of the plot.
• Pacing – fast-paced, steady, leisurely.
• Writing Style – minimalist, lush, extensive description, etc.
• Characters – strong female, children, pets, etc.

However, some of the questions and many of the answers are unique to SF:

• Storyline - Character-driven vs plot-driven vs idea-driven.  An idea-driven story is one where the story and plot are generated by an idea - generally a thought experiment the author wants to explore.
• Setting - Past, present/near future, future, all of the above, space, alien planet, alternate universe.
• Characters – alien, robot, artificial intelligence.

The point of the next several posts in this blog, which talk about SF tropes, is to give you the vocabulary and understanding to be able to ask those questions, and be able to come up with a meaninful answer for your patron when they ask "What SF book should I read next?"