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Thursday, July 8, 2010

Patriotic Books Part 2: The SF and FSY Edition

On Monday, I began a discussion here about what books represent America to you. Some people have shared their thoughts, but no genre fiction really came out of the discussion.

I was feeling bad about this until I saw that over on his science fiction and fantasy books news and reviews blog, Grasping for the Wind, John Ottinger III shared his thoughts on this topic in a July 4th essay entitled, 12 Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels and Stories of Americana:
"Today is the Fourth of July, and in the United States, we celebrate our Independence Day with fireworks, tributes to our men and women in uniform, and a hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. It is a day to be happy that, even with its faults, we live in one of the freest countries on Earth. In commemoration of that fact, I’d like to give you a non-comprehensive list of X science fiction and fantasy books and stories that are distinctly American in flavor or content. "
The list that follows ranges from Brit Neil Gaiman's American Gods (one of my all-time favs) to Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, and even Jim Butcher.

Not only was this an interesting essay as it pertained to the discussion I was hosting, but it also serves as a nice intro to "American" science fiction and fantasy.

1 comment:

John Ottinger III (Grasping for the Wind) said...

Thanks so much for pointing out my post. It took a while to put together. I would also suggest readers look at the syndicated io9 version of the same post which has a lot of great suggestions from lots of readers.

http://io9.com/5579855/12-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-and-stories-that-are-uniquely-american