When did you become a SciFi fan?
Posted November 10, 2011
on:For me, it all started with a love for Astronomy, I just didn’t realize it until later. (and Star Wars, but that’s a different story. Or maybe not. . .)
I loved Astronomy as a child. My Mom would take me to our local science museum on nights they let people look at the Moon or Mars through their telescope. To me, it seemed a special treat to stay up late at night and go to the science museum after hours to look through a telescope. Thinking back, I was usually wearing a coat and mittens to these telescope viewing parties, so it was probably in the winter at about 9pm. Not very late after all.
English class in elementary school often involved writing short stories and poems. Write a story about what you did over the weekend, or what you did over summer vacation, or try to make up an adventure, or something. They wanted to make sure we could tell a story that had a coherent beginning, middle, and end, and that our non-run-on sentences were grammatically correct along with having the requisite subjects and verbs. No dangling participles, and no sentences that started with “and” or “because”. My stories usually had something to do with astronomy, or weather, or animals.
For no reason at all, the other day this memory popped into my head. It was some story assignment. And mine, of course, was about Astronomy. Or at least, a nine year old’s version of astronomy. Those of you involved in NaNoWriMo might get a kick out of this.
The story went something like this:
My nine year old self is standing in the front yard of our house, and I notice that the sky is changing in very strange ways, mostly getting very dark in the middle of the day. I call to my Mom, and she comes outside to watch with me. In order, the planets go shooting by – Mars, then Jupiter, then Saturn, and so forth all the way to Pluto*. Earth was being sucked out of the solar system! Who, or what, was sucking the Earth out of the solar system? What did they want with us? Would my kittens survive**?
As it turns out, it was very friendly aliens***. The Earth was the first “abnormal” planet they had discovered in the Universe and they wanted to study us and ask us what it was like to live on an abnormal planet.
Wait, abnormal? How is the Earth abnormal??
Their planet was donut shaped (“normal”), as were all the other planets in their solar system, so they thought for a planet to support life it had to be donut shaped. And then they discovered Earth which was abnormally not donut shaped, and yet contained abundant life. How did we do it? Wasn’t it strange to look up into the night sky and not see the rest of the planet? How did we send airplanes around? And what are these kitten things?
After some conversations that I’m sure made perfect sense to a nine year old, the aliens send Earth back to it’s proper place in the galaxy. The end.
To me it was a story about science, about astronomy. Years later I came to realize that that was the moment that I fell in love with the idea of science fiction. Although I was too busy reading Judy Blume and Babysitter’s Club books to even think about science fictional stories, most of the non-fiction I got from the library had something to do with Astronomy. Especially the ones with the Greek myths about the constellations.
Astronomy/outer space + stories = science fiction. . . right?
So, when and how did you first become a Science Fiction fan?
BTW, my grown up self’s commentary on my memory of the story I wrote:
* dammit, Pluto is a planet! there’s a reason the mnemonic is My Very Educated Mother Just Serves Us Nine Pizzas.
** I really wanted a kitten, I guess. Obviously way more important than worrying about the mechanics of ignoring gravity and wondering how we’d survive away from the Sun for a prolonged period of time.
*** I’m sure they were Star Trek the original series aliens: looked just like us and spoke English, but had green skin and awesome hair dos.
52 Responses to "When did you become a SciFi fan?"
It was either Star Wars, or watching the 4th Doctor on DOCTOR WHO on PBS as a kid. Either way I was hooked.
Oh, and sidenote Red, check out the blog for info on a “Tennant Years” Complete DVD set they are releasing later this month, $169.99 for four seasons…it’s pretty amazingly priced, and I think I recall you mentioning that you wanted to get ahold of the DVD’s.
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Too fun! I think for me it was something similar. I grew up living outside of town where the night sky wasn’t muted by city lights and the stars and Milky Way were this incredible thing to gaze at. After that it gets a bit muddled. I became aware of this concept of science fiction watching Star Trek reruns, but it was the release of Star Wars, when I was 8, almost 9, years old that made the words “science fiction” and “sci-fi” become a part of my vocabulary.
Prior to Star Wars I don’t recall reading any books that would be consider science fiction. I do recall this rather amazing book a kid brought to school that he had checked out from the local library that had fantastic art in it showing all these made up planets and space ships. It inspired days of writing our own comic strips, drawing planets and space ships. Whenever I think about that I lament the fact that I have no idea whatsoever what book that might have been. I would love to have a copy of it now.
Once Star Wars came out I became aware of my uncle Dean’s science fiction collection. He was very generous with letting me borrow things and I started by reading the first two Han Solo novels written by Brian Daley and the Star Wars novel that Alan Dean Foster had written, Splinter in the Minds Eye. Over the next few years the bulk of my “sci-fi” reading consisted of multiple re-reads of those books as well as the novelizations of the Star Wars films. A little later I discovered Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat books and Larry Niven and I was hopelessly hooked. And reruns of Star Wars and Dr. Who with Tom Baker just added fuel to that fire, a fire that has never died out.
Your story is great. Made me laugh to read the part about the kittens, especially as it brought to mind the first story in Cordwainer Smith’s Space Lords collection, Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons.
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I’m such a wannabe. I WANT to read hard sci-fi, but it’s always been tough for me. Although, since reading Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series, and Sara Creasey books, I’m very much open to trying more!
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Kristin, I think a lot of people are like you. They find what are termed “gateway” books, books that are accessible that help readers see that not all science fiction has to be difficult and that much of it is actually a great deal of fun.
At the risk of offending science fiction fans, there is nothing particularly special about “hard” science fiction. And by that I mean that a person is not any less of a science fiction fan if they choose not to partake or, or don’t particularly like, “hard” science fiction.
That being said, I have no doubt that there are many wonderful hard science fiction books, just as there are many wonderful adventure/space opera/etc. science fiction novels. You should read what you like.
Of the few hard science fiction novels I have read, I would recommend A World Out of Time by Larry Niven. It is an older book and has a few, but not many, issues with things sounding dated, but it is a great mix of action and adventure and hard science that is, in my opinion, very accessible. I’m sure hard sf fans could give you more and better examples.
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I definitely first became a sci-fi fan through film – loved the Star Wars trilogy (back when it WAS a trilogy). I think the first sci-fi I ever read must have been something by Jane Yolen, which I picked up thinking was fantasy (dragons!) and then realized was all about science. It was a gentle introduction, and a good one. I wasn’t very young – maybe 12, 13?
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I was raised on Star Wars myself and all my brothers.I cannot remember a time that we were not watching this great space opera growing up..:) I am still getting into reading sci fi books. Between Star Wars and Star Trek..I was hooked through TV.
I am with the Andrea as well. I have loved Astronomy growing up. My dad and I would go outside and look at the constellations. I still do this every so often and think back to much simpler times..:)
Great post Andrea!!!
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I was always sci-fi leaning. My dad took me to see Star Wars when I was 7, we watched Buck Rogers together, and I watched saturday morning cartoons that featured Anime Robots or Superheroes.
I can blame my parents for becoming a real hard core sci-fi fan. When I was 11, I received a HUGE box in the mail a few weeks before my birthday. My parents presented it to me with pride.
I was mesmerized when I opened it. It was filled with 15 HUGE hardcover books, all science fiction. They weren’t big readers, but I was (although I didn’t really have a preference…I just devoured whatever I got my hands on in the house) and they had signed me up for the old Science Fiction Book club (back in the days when it was REALLY a good deal).
Since then, I’ve been a reader and a sci-fi fan.
Thanks mom and dad. I can only hope to do the same in a few years with my own little girl.
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Those are some great parents, Frank. And I’m thrilled to hear that you will try to inspire a love of reading in your own child.
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Did your story pre-date Larry Niven’s Ringworld? And if so, can I have 10% of your winnings for suggesting the lawsuit?
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I loved astronomy as a child, too. I always wanted to be an astronomer, but once I got to university I went in an entirely different direction… It’s why I read sci-fi, though.
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My first SF book was one that caught my eye in the Scholastic Book order form in elementary school. It was “The Runaway Robot” by Lester Del Rey. I read it the day it was delivered. A friend of mine and I found out that one of our English teachers had a small library in her room. It was never cataloged or organized. We offered to do it during recess. As we worked through it we discovered a complete collection of the Winston Juvenile SF series. That series, along with the Tom Swift Jr. books, hooked me for life.
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I finally got to read your recent comments and others about how they came to be sci/fi fans. You left out one thing. I know you don’t remember your grandfather much as he died when you were six years old. Sci/fi is in your DNA, my dear. Your grandfather was a completely avid sci/fi reader. When I ( your mother) was a little girl, his subscription to the Sci/fi fantasy and facts magazine were always around the house. The pictures scared me so much. Your grandpa was never without a sci/fi book. Mostly he bought paperbacks and because we lived in a small apartment in New York City, we really couldn’t save them, so they were donated to the locat Veterans Hospital. Who knows how many of those wounded soldiers became addicted to sci/fi because they read these books, too.
You and your co-bloggers are right about many childrens book being the entry to sci/fi.
Oh, and thank you for remembering going to the science museum. Parents are never sure what children get out of so called educational experiences they expose their children to during their childhood.
your mom
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[…] Redhead, at Little Red Reviewer has recently posted an entertaining short science fiction story she wrote as a child, exemplifying delightful creativity applied to geology, astronomy, and interstellar planetary travel. In her post she asks, “When and how did you first become a Science Fiction fan?“ […]
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1 | Tyson
November 10, 2011 at 10:28 am
I suppose for me it was all due to my mom. She’s a huge sci-fi fan and I can remember growing up with all her books lying around the house….I think she had just about everything ever written by Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, etc….she’d let us stay up late if a sci-fi movie was on TV, we’d watch the original Star Trek series together….but mostly it was probably the Heinlein Juvenile books….like Have Spacesuit will travel and citizen of the galaxy…she’d read those to my older brother and I…which lead to a lifelong love of the genre…. I now read some of Terry Pratchett’s juvenile stories to my kids…..and thus the next generation of sci-fi/fantasy lovers is born 🙂
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Redhead
November 11, 2011 at 9:47 am
Your Mom rocks!!!
My grandfather was a huge SF fan, but we didn’t have much of his stuff in the house growing up, or maybe it was packed away.
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Tyson
November 14, 2011 at 2:21 pm
she certainly does 🙂 thanks 🙂
I was lucky enough once to exchange a few emails with John Varley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Varley_%28author%29) and he said pretty much the same thing, which made my mom pretty happy!
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