Monthly Roundup: January 2017

Every first Wednesday of the month, I’ll be posting a roundup of the month just gone, including discussing books read that month, challenge progress, and a summary of all posts for the month.

Last month I read a total of fifteen books: The Death Cure (The Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner, The Girls by Emma Cline, The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4) by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3) by J.K. Rowling, Yes Please by Amy Poehler, 1Q84 (1Q84 #3) by Haruki Murakami, The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry, After the Silence (Amsterdam Quartet #1) by Jake Woodhouse, The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2) by J.K. Rowling, Saga Volume 1 (Saga #1) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling, The Dead Men Stood Together by Chris Priestley and Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen by Elizabeth Weir.

January was a month of unemployment, and therefore left me a lot of time for reading… yet still I fell into a bit of a slump. Not so much a general reading slump, as I still managed 15 books, but I lost interest in a lot of the SFF on my shelves and all the books I’d borrowed from the library, and felt like reading something a bit different. I aimed to get through quite a few of my Netgalley books and managed to cross quite a few off the list. I also started re-reading the Harry Potter series (because why not?), and finally read the first volume of the Saga graphic novels, which was excellent. I also re-read Amy Poehler’s autobiography, Yes Please, because I love her. The Girls was a bit of a disappointment after all that hype, and I finally finished the Maze Runner series!

 

Challenge progress:

• Mpauli is not hosting the DC vs. Marvel Challenge this year, instead the Justice League vs. Teen Titans Challenge is being hosted by the wonderful Wayland, who is also the newest moderator of Dragons & Jetpacks. I won’t be keeping track of this on the blog, just on the book group, as I don’t plan on being quite so dedicated this year. Although I felt really proud that I managed to complete the challenge 100% in 2016, it did dictate quite a bit of my reading so I’m going for a more relaxed approach in 2017.
• I have currently read fifteen books towards my Goodreads goal.

 

Currently reading:

How was January for you?

Advertisement

Sci-Fi Month 2015: It’s The End of the World As We Know It

This post is part of Sci-Fi Month 2015, a month long event to celebrate science fiction hosted by myself and Over the Effing Rainbow. You can view the schedule here, follow the event on Twitter via the official @SciFiMonth Twitter account, or the hashtag #RRSciFiMonth.

A common trope of science fiction is to show the Earth greatly transformed, or even completely destroyed, in some way. Our poor planet has been used and abused throughout the history of the genre. Here’s a brief guide to the (post-)apocalypse, or dystopian future, covering books, TV, films and video games.

Aliens

In these titles, Earth is either destroyed or invaded by aliens. In the latter, it is altered to a state where it is unrecognisable: either through the collapse of society and government, or destruction of large portions of the planet. Sometimes the extra-terrestrials are aggressive, sometimes they are just inquisitive, and other times we’re not even aware of them until it is too late.

Mass Effect, The 5th Wave, Defiance, The War of the Worlds (plus the 2005 film version), Independence Day, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos.

Illness/Disease

These titles show an Earth ravaged by illness, disease or plague, including technological viruses and biological warfare. In many of them, the illness transforms humankind into something else, often zombie or vampire-like creatures.

The Passage, Blindness, Oryx and Crake, Partials, Parasite, I Am Legend, The Stand, Children of Men, The Strain.

Humankind

Science fiction frequently shows how humankind causes its own downfall, often through war or revolt. This is a particularly popular theme in current Young Adult dystopian fiction, although it’s not exactly a new trend in the genre. This is one of the more frightening sides of sci-fi: how we become our very own worst enemies. Occasionally, it shows a glimpse into an alternate future or past.

The Hunger Games, Divergent, The 100, The Years of Rice and Salt, Unwind, The Man in the High Castle, How I Live Now, A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Natural Disaster

This could also technically come under ‘Humankind’, because most of the time the natural disasters are caused by people, namely through global warming and climate change. This category includes these as well as other things such as asteroids/meteors, tsunamis, earthquakes etc.

2012, The Day After Tomorrow, The Maze Runner, Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Drowned World.

Brainwashing/Government

Another terrifying thing about science fiction is how government is often portrayed. Often it is shown as being a totalitarian or ‘Big Brother’ society, a term coined from George Orwell’s 1984. Citizens often have very little freedom, or even free will, having been brainwashed into behaving in certain ways.

1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Atlas Shrugged, V for Vendetta.

Machines/Artificial Intelligence

Okay, maybe there’s a lot of scary things about science fiction – another one being the very thought of the Earth being overrun or overtaken by machines or artificial intelligence. Many a sci-fi tale tells of the invention of some fantastic new technology, only for it to become sentient and rise up against mankind.

I, Robot, Robopocalypse, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Love In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Prey, Neuromancer.

Can you think of any other titles that would fit in these categories, or any categories that I have missed?