On Reading Diversely

I was planning on having this be a post on the new SFF releases for second quarter, but then I started writing and, well. I got to thinking about science fiction recommendations and a recent thing that happened to me.

Was there a little push behind this post?

Why, funny you should ask, but yes.

I was at an after work party with my wife (her work, not mine), and as always when it gets on the subject of books, one of the dudes was like, “Oh, I also love science fiction!”

Me, spidey senses tingling but willing to see where this is going to go: “What books do you like?”

He’s a fan of Red Rising, The Expanse, and the fantasy Wheel of Time series.

He asked me if I had heard of them, and when I said, yes, of course, he asked if I had read them. I said yes, I had, however I tapped out after book 3 or 4 in each because I just wasn’t interested.

Immediately I could tell that my “expertise” in science fiction had dropped in this dude’s eyes.

Let’s just say that I was real annoyed, and that annoyance did not ease up. He did not ask what books I enjoyed (another dude asked, mostly I think to rile up the first guy). My irritation spiked further when first dude outright dismissed the authors I mentioned (particularly the even better than Red Red comp that is First Sister—he had never heard of First Sister) or said he’d never heard of them in a tone that meant if he hadn’t heard of them they couldn’t be any good, and then said he likes hard science fiction after saying he didn’t like Murderbot.

Um. Murderbot is hard sci fi. It just happens to be fun hard science fiction.

He also told me that there’s a lot of amazing science fiction being published right now, and my dude, was partially correct. Science fiction is going through a fucking renaissance and revolution right now, and it is not being led by white cis het men, sorry.

I think a lot of my frustration with this interaction was that I’ve experienced so much gatekeeping in science fiction from guys just like this.

I was annoyed and insulted by being “tested” on my knowledge of a genre I have been reading for over 25 years, from a man who admitted he had starting reading SFF 2-3 years ago. Particularly when the test is in the form of three of the most popular series in the genre. I am also a librarian and a science fiction author, and this man knew both of those not-so-little details, which is why this was doubly insulting.

I want to be clear: there is nothing wrong with liking these three series—they are good and they are popular for a reason, but they also…do not have the best track record with how they depict women, BIPOC and LGBTQ folks (the Expanse does a better job than the other two).

I also want to be clear that I am not dismissing this guy’s reading habits. He’s reading what he likes. I’m not gatekeeping his reading habits, or saying that someone needs to have read X authors to be well versed within science fiction. Hell, I don’t think you need to have read the “Classics” (Heinlein, Asimov, Clark, Bradbury…Le Guin if you’re spicy) to be considered a science fiction fan.

If you read and enjoy science fiction, you are a fan. Period.

My issue is with his supreme confidence that his little bubble encompasses the best within the vastness of a breathtakingly diverse genre, along with his dismissal of me as a science fiction reader when I said I had not finished the series of the books he loved because they didn’t interest me. Hell, I’ve been reading adult science fiction nearly as long as this dude has been alive, and I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert on the subject.

However, I am a big advocate of both reading whatever the hell you want, and reading diversely.

I personally love Red Rising and The Expanse and Wheel of Time, for the same reason I love Sarah J Maas: these books get readers excited about reading fantasy and science fiction. They are gateways into the genre! But unfortunately, they are often gateways into a tunneled reading experience that tend to center straight white authors.

We all have reading bubbles we sit comfortably in, even if we don’t think so. Mine is not reading enough indie or translated works, and rejecting a lot of sci fi written by white dudes I haven’t already read and enjoyed. And I’m certain there are other edges to my bubble I haven’t found yet.

Read outside your bubble.

If you don’t like it, that’s okay!

But try it. Keep trying. It’s like hating vegetables when you’ve only eaten vegetables that were boiled without seasoning. Add some salt. Sprinkle some pepper. Then go hog-wild with the paprika and turmeric and five-spice blends. Keep exploring.

I love the online bookish community so much, because before I jumped onto bookish social media (first with Goodreads, then Insta, now here), I was surrounded by dudes like this one, and my reading and mental health suffered for it. I felt like I was in the wrong or weird because I just didn’t like these books that all my peers (at the time, Marines: mostly white, mostly dudes, mostly not readers—100% like this guy in my story) were reading, and finding a space that celebrates and shares and cherishes science fiction is so amazing.

And if you’re a bookish community person frustrated that you’re only seeing the same five books being recommended: follow other people. The diverse book recs are out there. There’s a whole a whole community talking about them. Trust me.

If you’re still reading this: thank you for sticking around so long.

I will have a list of new releases I’m excited about next week, and there might even be some white dudes sprinkled in to add some flair!

Also, I’m happy to give recs for folks who want stuff like the series mentioned above.