Literature of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction

  Margaret Atwood created this totalitarian childless world that skillfully hides the actual historical events used to shape the novel. While reading the novel I noted that none of the characters are pure evil. Everyone is affected by the Gilead. There are memories showing the happy times of the pre-Gilead period and it always contrasts with the present Gileadean nightmare. The handmaids are affected the most in this new system as their sole role was to bear children for the Commanders whose wives could not. Even their names were formed by “of” plus the name of their commander, as Offred once said “everyone’s on the take” (Atwood). There is huge tension throughout the novel created by almost all the characters. As Gilead has intense power over everyone resistance is unavoidable. Even the Commander, having all the privilege, being a wealthy man, powerful and having a contribution in designing the Gilead performs small scaled rebellions. One of his rebellions is when he calls Offred ...

  Beloved tells a story about poor, black people who used to be slaves. Sethe was a slave before and even after being free she was trapped in her own house being unwelcome from the community and haunted by all the memories of her past. She does not know what happened to her husband and the only thing she has is her children. Sethe loves her children so much that when white people come she kills her daughter to keep her “safe” from slavery comparing that kind of life with death. Cincinnati’s black community plays a crucial role in Morrison’s Beloved.  Communities are complicated, it is not just a group of people living in one place. They help, accept and belong to each other. It is the community that betrayed the 124 and failed to warn them about the Schoolteacher approaching. Sethe, unable to hide, acts radically and kills her daughter. However, it is the same community that helped them to ban Beloved and prevent Sethe from making another mistake by killing Mr. Bodwin. Before ...

  It is hard to say I had a positive reaction to the Bloodchild. It was weird and confusing as it was lacking exposition and I was trying to figure out which world I am at. I was asking myself if T’gatoi was human or not even after the phrase “T’Gatoi used four of her limbs” until maybe the talk about stinging which still did not clarify what exactly T’Gatoi is.. The talk about eggs in the beginning seemed normal and I thought they were just talking about nutritions until I realized what eggs they are talking about exactly. Having a bright imagination did not help me here as some of the scenes were very disgusting. The story ended almost the same way as it started, abruptly. It is hard to say that I enjoyed the story but in my opinion it was a good piece of this genre.  Of course the humans being aliens in this world and being used by centipedes as hosts for their offsprings is a metaphor to black community feeling outsiders in this world. Gan being promised to T’Gatoi also re...

  Babel-17 was an interesting short novel and I would say revolutionary for its time. Samuel R. Delany choses a strong female protagonist which is rare for 1960s science fiction works. Rydra’s crew is unique as well, there is a huge ethnic and cultural variety which adds more interest to the story. However, they serve as a collective and only Rydra’s and Butcher’s characters stand out to be remembered from this novel. The character designs are very weird and did not make much sense to the point that it became too random for me and I was not interested in them. Rydra Wong is a famous poet and linguist that has to solve the language/code called Babel-17. I am amazed by the amount of dialogue the novel has. The goal of the characters is very clear  right from the beginning. In my opinion it helps to explain the situation, help the reader understand the underlying science and even aids worldbuilding even though there is not much. The language Babel-17 is used as a weapon that may ...

  I honestly enjoyed reading The Martian. Part of it is because I like science fiction and all the exploration, explanation and how I learn more about science through these books. Another reason why this was a good read for me is that there was not that much romance in it that distracts from the plot. And finally, the character development. I grew fond of Mark Watney because Andy Weir makes the reader spend days with Mark on Mars and walks through every step. Right before I thought the meticulous attention to the detail will make the book boring Mark’s sense of humor and introduction to his personality changed that thought. Mark is the main protagonist and focus of the book, although there are other characters but they almost blur in the crowd as Mark takes most of the “screen time”.  The only person left behind on Mars is a botanist, and I think that if any other member of the crew was left behind they could not survive. First, there is an impression that Mark will survive on...