Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Solaris

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Stanislaw LemWhat do you think about movie remakes? (I don’t suppose anyone has tried to rewrite a book, so I can’t really ask about that. Unless someone has done so, in which case, please let me know! The fairy & folk tales I won’t count, mind, since they’re rather perpetually in flux. Neither do adaptations. How does one go about rewriting a book without it becoming a spinoff?) Personally, I haven’t watched too many remakes, but I did just watch two versions of Solaris within a week or so of each other, and the remake wasn’t terrible, which from what I understand is just short of a miracle.* (To really complete the post, I feel like I’d have to have read the original novel by Stanislaw Lem as well. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten around to that just yet, but if anyone has, please let us know how you feel/felt about it!)

*I did also watch the remake of It, based on the behemoth of a novel by Stephen King. I  haven’t watched the original, but I did enjoy the 2017 edition (even as I found it a little preachy during that one scene – was this influenced by the times, or is this also found in the original?).

Back to the main topic. The premise of Solaris is something like this: A psychologist, Kris Kelvin, is sent to the space station where a crew of scientists are studying the planet Solaris, in order to find out what’s happening there. The ocean covering Solaris has been conjuring “visitors” that come from the crew’s minds – it’s not apparent in the movies whether they represent the scientists’ greatest regrets or if they are simply taken from their minds, because one of the scientists implies his visitor is from his imagination rather than from his memory – and they are almost perfect replicas of their originals. Even more disconcerting: they cannot be killed, and if you remove them from the ship, another will take its place that is exactly as the first, which in turn was exactly like (in form) the original memory. What is Solaris trying to do? Is it possible to understand some other form of consciousness so beyond human understanding of consciousness? Do we even understand ourselves, and is it possible for us to extend our understanding to non-human consciousness (if it is indeed a consciousness) if we do not?

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Adult Summer Reads: Fantastic Worlds

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Take a break from reality by delving into these unique, magical, out-of-this-world reads.

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Reading fantasy novels is often seen as a way to escape real life—and that’s definitely a big draw. There’s always some current event happening that makes us want to stick our heads in the sand and ignore it all. But sometimes fantasy can be used as a way to explore real issues, just using a different, carefully-controlled lens. I tend to read a lot of fantasy written by women, because I find that female fantasy authors use their writers’ magic to create worlds where female characters are given all the agency they wouldn’t have in, say, a realistic historical novel. So naturally, when I put together our Fantastic Worlds reading list, the ones I was personally drawn to all made me analyze their different representations of female characters.

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Stranger Reads

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What to Read Now

So you’ve binge-watched Netflix’s Stranger Things, and now there’s an eerie, 80s, Demogorgon-shaped hole in your heart. You’re somehow going to have to survive the year-long gap between seasons, and it’s looking rough. What to do? Well, just in time for Halloween, we’ve compiled a reading list to tide you over! Check out these reads at your local branch.

STRANGER READS

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The Girl with All the Gifts – M.R. Carey

Melanie is a young girl who, for reasons unknown to her, is detained by the military and a Dr. Caldwell, who calls her “our little genius.” She’s escorted to and from school in a wheelchair, with guns trained on her the whole time. Melanie just wants to be a regular girl, but when it’s up to her to save the world, she realizes just how special she is. Picture Eleven in a dystopian future.

 

 

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend’s Exorcism – Grady Hendrix

Hendrix’s story is saturated with 80s goodness (the music, the movies, the roller-skating) and the book is decorated like a high school yearbook, with cheeky messages written inside the covers. Best friends Abby and Gretchen are starting their first year of high school when suddenly Gretchen starts acting strange. She’s moody and difficult, and weird things keep happening around her. Is she possessed by a demon? Abby decides to investigate with the purpose of saving her best friend. But can their friendship survive the devil? A nostalgic coming of age tale, but with Satan!

The Boys of Summer: A Novel by Richard Cox

The Boys of Summer: A Novel by Richard Cox

The Boys of Summer – Richard Cox

In 1979, Todd was knocked into a coma by a tornado ripping through his hometown of Wichita Falls. In 1983 Todd wakes up, 13 and with a new, uneasy grasp on reality. Together with five friends, Todd spends that summer coming of age with first loves, deep betrayals, and a terrible secret. 25 years later, the friends reunite. Embarking on a search for the truth of that summer, the men come head to head with the past, changing the way they see each other and the very world itself. Reviewed by Barnes & Noble as a “darker, edgier Stranger Things.”

 

Paper Girls volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

Paper Girls volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

Paper Girls, Vol. 1 – Brian K. Vaughan

It’s 1988, the early hours of November 1st. While some teens are still out celebrating Halloween, four 12 year old girls are up to delivery their paper routes. But their jobs are interrupted when they stumble across some mysterious figures in robes and they, of course, decide to investigate. A series about “nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood” (with a good dose of sci-fi thrown in), Volume 1 collects issues 1-5. The colouring of this series is gorgeous; the aesthetic is ultra-80s in the best way. Fans of Vaughan will definitely love this one.

If none of these do it for you, you can always check out NoveList from the VPL website. This database allows you to search for “read alikes” of your favourite books. Do you like the creepiness of Stranger Things? The sci-fi element? Stories of friends facing danger together? NoveList can find those titles for you!