Eeeehhh, I don't quite think so. Impressive SF is when you predict not just the auto but the traffic jam. Good science fiction is an SF story that you enjoyed.
I would recommend Octavia Butler then (Xenogenesis trilogy), she touches on so many thoughts and events we are still dealing with now; she is definitely high on my list of great 20th century Sci Fi authors!
She basically wrote the book on a dare, too. It was part of a contest of sorts among her friend group. It's remarkable that a 19 year old girl in 1800's England could be capable of writing one of the most imaginative, prescient, and beautifully composed novels ever made. But it's not so surprising when you consider that her mother was essentially the founder of the women's lib movement, her father was the creator of anarchism as a philosophy, her family friends included the most brilliant writers of the time such as Lord Byron, and her husband was Percy Bysshe Shelley. I believe one of her uncles was also the inventor of one of the earliest prototypes for the computer. She was surrounded by brilliant rule-breakers her entire life, and that enabled her to create something of rule-breaking brilliance. It says a lot about opportunity and privilege, and the conditions for greatness in a child's development.
@ Mr. Rize AG Mary Shelley had an interesting life but not necessarily a happy one. Even when she wrote Frankenstein she had gone through years of turmoil after an extramarital affair with her future husband - then married to another woman - that resulted in a pregnancy, the death of her prematurely-born daughter, social ostracism, and constant debt. Within a few more years she lost two more children (one survived), lost her husband, and suffered from lifelong depression before dying of a tumor in her 50s. But she also wrote for decades, as well as editing her husband’s poetry, and her works other than Frankenstein have been reassessed and praised in recent years after being out of print for most of the 20th century.
I've been wondering this myself because I want some of them. Definitely not Threadless (maybe for some?). Goblin sir, do you plan to start a t-shirt business? Because I'll gladly buy in, especially with some unique sci-fi/fantasy goblin artwork!
To the people commenting “HOW COULD YOU NOT MENTION ____!” There are literally hundreds of sci-fi authors worth note. Unless you want a video of me saying names for 20 minutes, I can’t get to them all. Calm down weirdos. I do plan a part 2 to this video where I will cover the development of themes in Science Fiction, as well as covering the importance of short stories. Enjoy the history overview! That badass cyberpunk backdrop was provided to me by: instagram.com/yoichi.art/
Ik what you're saying... Also As An Indian & A Good Subscriber I'm gonna correct you (you're welcome)... You said "Ramayana" --> But you can say "Raa- Maa-Yun"...
And speaking of short stories, pls pls pls read Ted Chiang's short story collections. They are magnificent modern sci-fi and since you mention Arrival in your video you're probably gonna enjoy his works.
you should mention the difference (if ther's a clear one) between fantasy in space and sci-fi. I've seen loads of people who consider Star Wars and Dune fantasy
Hoping you read some Alfred Bester especially the FIRST Hugo award winner - The Demolished Man! I also loved The Stars My Destination (which is a sci-fi take on Count of Monte Cristo). It's a fascinating sci-fi book (the bits of telepathic poetry play is fascinating from a writer's perspective).
Fan Fact:I am from Greece and last year, we had to translate to modern Greek (from ancient greek) a scifi story. It was written by Lucian(in Greek:Λουκιανός) (he was born 120 years BC) and it was about a ship that traveled to the moon. The sailors encountered weird looking beeings on the moon.
I just listened to an audiobook translation of that one! (or perhaps it was a different ancient sci-fi story, I've forgotten..., but it sounds similar!). I'd love to translate that since I'm learning Ancient Greek, but first I'll translate Platon!
It is beautiful but don't you think victor repeating his thoughts over and over and over though beautiful quite tiring. I love reading about character thoughts, motivations, and feelings. But I need some progression in the plot. I actually wanted more exploration of the monster's thoughts instead of Victor's. Still loved it though, especially whenever we were reading written letters.
@@jamesmalik3355 I feel context gives us that at creation the monster was very childlike, observing Victor, mimicing the panic and fleeing while Victor flees, the rest we know from the monster, from when he meets Victor's little brother and later on Victor himself.
As someone who has never been able to get onto full on scifi and will happily sit at the border into scifi, I love this kind of video where you can just nerd out on something you really enjoy. More of these please
I would take his Octavia Butler recommendations to heart, I read a few of her works and I must say she definitely deserves a seat at the table of great 20th century Sci Fi authors with Asimov and Herbert; she is just so underrated it makes me cry!
Merry shell: I will make Frankenstein such a horrible abomination, people will fear it for the centuries to come Daniel Greene: This is a beautiful boy (Kisses Frankenstein)
Please tell me we're going to get a fantasy version of this...Don't forget a Connecticut Yankee of king Aurthers Court. I hold this is one of the first modern fantasy novels (we're going to ignore ancient epics like gilgamesh and whatever).
Why ignore Gilgamesh?... it is at the center of why people are so drawn to fantasy. Survival and the desire to transcend is at the core of every fantasy story ever written, from Gilgamesh to Voldemort.
Gilgamesh is the earliest known story with the "giant fantasy sword" trope. It's described as weighing 150 pounds. So, Buster Swords are mythologically accurate.
Fantasy is much more common than science fiction in the pre-industrial age. It was so common that it wasn’t really a genre, since the distinctions between history, legend, religious stories, and fantasy were quite blurry. In the 19th century, however, most fantasy was relegated to the nursery, including stories by the Brothers Grimm which were originally told by and collected for adults. There were exceptions, particularly around tales of King Arthur by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Mark Twain, but even Twain wrote his tale to make fun of romanticism and very likely of Lord Tennyson, but also of lesser American writers who idolized the Age of Chivalry. Pulp fiction in the early 20th century revived the genre of adult fantasy, but in a sensationalist, not-quite-respectable way involving lots of brute violence and racy women. Respectable writers still wrote fantasy for children, as Tolkien himself did in The Hobbit. But when writing his sequel to The Hobbit, Tolkien could not help turning it into something more epic and adult, and when the paperback version became wildly popular with American hippies and college students in the late 1960s, fantasy for adults became a whole new genre, to the point where it edged out a lot of historical fiction.
That is one of the best sci-fi works of all time that I've read, and it was recommended to me by a colleague. Hope you're enjoying the hit-you-like-a-train that is Dark Forest, and the throw-everything-out-the-window that is Death's End.
Recommendations for Russian satirical science fiction: Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Fatal Eggs and A Dog’s Heart. These books are so funny and show again how science fiction can be a vector for satire and political criticism. Bulgakov is also a tragic author and his satirical historical fantasy The Master and Margarita is a classic and an interesting look at the life of Jesus.
Russian make has good sci fi and fantasy. I wish non western european writer wrote more fiction and where more well known. it could bring new prespective
Daniel am a hindu from india. I've been a huge fan of your channel for a long time. Ramayana is not just an epic. It is actually believed to be true by many Hindu devotees. We worship King Ram as a god. I just wanted to tell you this.(also it's pronounced as Raa-maa-ya-naa 😂😂😂)
I was wondering if - especially back then - the flying discs would even have been interpreted as "possible mankind technology" or more just "devine power" or "magick", but I suppose I can see the argument that it's speculative. Course, some people, including the ancient aliens crowd, think it's just documents of an old, forgotten technology, and even interpret nuclear weapons in there. I'm interested if the really faithful from that culture see it either of those ways.
@@MagusMarquillin This is not an easy question to answer. I....am not entirely sure. If u look at hindu mythology, there are thousands of gods. But I believe in the three main gods in the Hindu religion- Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Lord Ram is considered to be an avatar of lord Vishnu. I rely more on the point that in the ancient days, especially during the Ramayana period, it was a technological advanced world( like the age of legends in the wheel of time). There isn't a proper documentation of how the chariot flys(some pics show the chariot with wings, I don't believe that). The best explanation that a person can give is that the chariot had to work with some form of energy. But also at the same time, there are many fantasy related things that happened in Ramayana. For example,(the story is about how Lord Ram rescues his wife from the king of Sri Lanka, Ravana) when Lord Ram had to travel from the south of India to Sri Lanka, which is very near to India, he had no boat(u have to read Ramayana to understand why). So Lord Ram's followers wrote Lord Ram's name on big stones. Some holy prayers were chanted. Then, the stones started to float on water(U can even see the remains of that bridge today in india, even though am not entirely sure it's floating or not). So I think it was an age filled with the blend of technology and divine power.
@@saishiva6299 No worries - I like mythology details, and India's is vast and mysterious to me, I usually only get second or third-hand stories with little sense of the overall narrative. I'd love to read the RamaYana, if I could find an English translation that is both pleasant in it's prose and accurate. I just found a copy of the "Bhagavad Gita as it is" and am hoping it'll be my cup of tea. I am rather keen to believe in a forgotten age of Legends like Atlantis, and characters like Vishnu, Osiris and Zeus may be how we remember that time. However their transports worked, to paraphrase Arthur C Clarke: any sufficiently advanced tech would seem to the people without it as magic/divinity - who then create millennias worth of artistic depictions. I don't think we can call it science fiction though unless they were speculation on science that they were working with, or theorizing about themselves, and if they did actually witness this far out stuff, then it's just history - slightly embellished history :).
@@MagusMarquillin Ah Bhagavad Gita is not a novel( just in case you think it is). It is more about what the humans should and should not follow. It was told by Lord Krishna (another avatar of Lord Vishnu) to Arjuna in battlefield. This is a chapter(a long one) from Mahabharata, which is another epic, so much more complex and longer than Ramayana. It is a tale about how Pandavas(five brothers) and Gauravas(100 brothers and cousins to Pandavas) fight for the throne.Lord Krishna helped Pandavas in the final battle bcz of their righteousness. In the beginning of the battle Arjuna (a Pandava) didnt want to fight his cousin brothers. And that is when Lord Krishna explained to Arjuna that the Pandavas followed Dharma(righteousness) and Dharma should always win. This is Bhagavad Gita. The Gita contains many verses. It also rightly predicts that thousands of years later( which is precisely now), the humans would become like animals, killing each other for foolish purposes and many won't believe in God. If u want to read an insight of values of human kind read Bhagavad Gita. but if u want an epic tale read Mahabharata.
Having a lot of respect for Philip K Dick and having only read Ubik (and absolutely loving it, that's one of the only books that had me actively flipping out to the point where I had to talk to other people about it just to process it), his works are, while fantastic and hugely influential, also very far to the edge of sci-fi as a whole and he was kind of doing his own thing while other authors were also pushing sci-fi into new territory around the same time in a more easily identifiable way. Like we wouldn't have sci-fi as we have it now without PKD, but we also wouldn't have it without the contemporaneous New Wave SF authors, either.
Thank you Daniel for sticking up for the industry i work in (games) :) Mass effect 2 is one of the best games ever made, and the series is one of the greatest sci fi stories to immerse yourself in
Gene Wolfe, Samuel R Delaney, William Gibson, Lois McMaster Bujold have all been writing sci fi well into the 21st century. So they are old heads still working today. So they could be considered modern with a classic slant to their current work.
Gene Wolfe is unfortunately dead though. Also, arguably more of a fantasy writer (and a great one). As for Gibson, yeah, cyberpunk is an important enough movement to cover in a video like this. I don't know if I'd consider it that current at this point though.
@@robertdullnig3625 Gibson's current peripheral trilogy is next level stuff. But yeah, I could have named some more niche writers dedicated solely to sci fi.
Wait someone else knows who Bujold is!!!!? Wow you’re the first person I’ve ever met! I know she’s supposedly popular but again, I bring her up often and only ever get blank stares in return.
@@hitandruncommentor Yes. I am indeed cultured swine. Jk lol Yeah, Shes definitely more well-known amongst circles of hard sci fi purists. Folks dedicated to fantasy but read some sci fi on the side tend to be unfamiliar with the more niche, acclaimed sci fi authors, like Lois, Connie Willis, Kim Stanley Robinson, Greg Egan, etc. Good stuff
*hugs Daniel* Thank you for inspiring me to read again. You've pretty much got me to sit my ass down to finally start finishing The Wheel of Time, which was a huge series that helped me out during my high school days. I appreciate you, my dude.
Ramayana is my favourite epic. And although it's much older than 4th - 5th century BC, I'm glad to see someone in SF-Fantasy talk of it. Very cool Daniel
This style of video is my favorite that you do. I love the deep dive into ideas/concepts and the green screen is fun LOL. I’m not saying this just because I’m biased about sci-fi I swear
Ramayana was really a good Sci-fi/mythological story and it has a anime movie too for those who want to enjoy it and don't want to read those 100s of pages of the original book and music in the movie was just
I agree, all of Ghost in The Shell is just *magnific!* It impresses me how Daniel *completely ignored* sci-fi from anime/manga, that's such a shame, but anyway🤷♂️🤷♂️I kinda was expecting that.
I'm 52 and when I saw your videos pop up I assumed I didn't have anything to learn from someone so young. I recently started getting into both and modern and classic sci fi. I find myself gravitating towards classic sci fi and your videos have helped me to understand why. Just finished Childhoods End. Amazing!
What about John Carter of Mars from Edgar Rice Burroughs? That was in the early 1920s if I’m not mistaken. Great breakdown though. Love the shoutout for Starship Troopers. I love both the book and the movie for completely separate reasons.
I'm so excited for the part 2 of this video! I started this year off reading Skyward and Starsight which has led me to even more sci-fi and I've had an epiphany where sci-fi is easily my favorite genre 😍 I am SO excited to see what the future holds for sci-fi!!
Thank you for mentioning Octavia Butler, I read the Xenogenesis trilogy a couple decades ago and was amazed. She is definitely one of the 20th century Sci Fi greats in my book, up there with Herbert, I'm still surprised at how underrated she is.
Some of my favorite hard sci-fi: The Space Odyssey series and the film Arrival Blade Runner Ex Machina Annihilation (definitely want to read the book and the rest of The Southern Reach trilogy. Honestly everything from Jeff Vandermeer seems awesome!) Foundation series The Last Question The Last Night of the Earth Fahrenheit 451 The Ender quartet Star Trek The Martian Ready Player One Alien Calculating God eXistenZ Etc. Some of my favorite soft sci-fi: Star Wars Back to the Future The Wandering Earth The X-Files The Matrix Etc. The Ones I'm not sure whether they're more hard or soft: The Terminator series Predator Stargate Fringe Ones I still want to watch/read: +Umm. Alot lol
I would highly recommend Stanisław Lem, a polish sci-fi author, very versatile in his topics- diving in futuristic ideas, dealing with social issues and dilemmas. Both hard and hyper soft when more abstract. A lot of styles to explore
@Daniel Greene I just want to point out that radio adaptations of scifi stories brought a lot of visibility to the genre. Source: my dad's old and listened to the radio. This is also one of the best videos you've made. Really polished and your insight and humour is most welcome! One of the shortest 17 minutes of my life.
I really enjoy and appreciate how much effort you put into your videos. They're super informative yet still funny and entertaining so I always end up binging them when I have the time. I think you might have just simplified this more, but I was taught that hard science fiction centers around the hard sciences/engineering (physics, math) while soft sci-fi centers around the soft sciences (sociology, anthropology, psychology, sexuality). Three Body would definitely be hard because of all the physics, and Dune would be soft because it explores things like gender and different societies and cultures.
Who’s the mad scientist in the Tempest? Do you mean Prospero? He’s not a mad scientist, he’s a straight up wizard bro. Uses magic wands, binds spirits and demons to his will, uses magic circles, etc. No science really.
@@tahlialysse Maybe in the medieval sense. Alchemy and magic were considered to be in the same category, and you could certainly call him a natural philosopher of sorts. I still don't think the moniker "mad scientist" is very accurate though, and the tempest is by no means sci-fi.
@@supremeleadersmeagol6345 not even medieval sense; science and "magic" weren't seen as distinct categories until the enlightenment. People studied books and then could do wonderous things. Kinda the "study man go brrrrr" of most of human history.
Damn, I expected to hear some familiar names and remember the good old classics but this was an education. Great deep dive, Daniel. Btw, from a Hindu Indian, it's pronounced rAA-mAA- yaN ( now that I've written that I realise it probably didn't help much oops)
A bunch of old english plays, poems and stories about alchemists are super influential in the history of sci-fi. For example, the mad scientist archetype originated from them. I had an literature class where we dove into all of this stuff and it was awesome! The publication of Newton's Principia was also hugely influential in popularizing science as a legitimate human endeavor, leading to the research that ultimately inspired my personal hero: Mary Shelley.
thank you for the nod to video games. i am currently reading "the long way to a small angry planet " while also playing a lot of stellaris. this makes for an amazing combined experience. also i really like the way your videos develop and deepen your personal video style.
I'm surprised that you didn't cover the "New Wave" of SF (the 60s and 70s... Ellison, Moorcock, etc) ... It was a direct reaction against the "Golden Age", and it also caused the meteoric rise of the "Softer" SF of the late 70s and 80s because people were getting tired of the doom and gloom. The New Wave of SF seems right up your ally. Maybe you'll cover it in Part 2.
RE: 2001 A Space Odyssey My issue with the film (and actually with Kubrick in general) is that it's... fine. All the pieces are okay, all the imagery is compelling, and in the bits where we have characters, those characters pull us right in. If you take a magnifying glass to the film (or even to almost anything Kubrick directed), it's impossible to see flaws. But the moment you step away from those individual bits, the whole thing starts fraying at the edges. He's an average to above average director who is good at *almost* being amazing. And if you know enough about filmmaking, it's really easy to plaster over those edges in your mind and see what 2001 *almost* was. 2001 is a seminal work because it combines masterwork quality with intro to film quality in an honestly baffling way. People who can laser focus into those stellar moments or who can plaster over the issues in their mind will generally love and rave about the film. Folks who can't or don't, won't. The frustrating part to me is that there's very very little discussion about all this since people are generally polarized because of it.
Extremely interesting video. I don't write Sci-Fi, but I am a major fan of the genre. This vid is a true gem with content I've never heard of on the internet!
Great video man. I loved the part when you gave videogames the credit they deserve. It made me very happy because If I am now interested in this genre in literature is thanks to all those incredible stories that I lived in games (yes, I'm talking to you, Mass Effect)
I know you love Earthsea, but was sad not to see LeGuin mentioned directly in this video. She really paved the way for more science fiction driven by social issues, as well as in a more literary style. Glad to see Octavia Butler though. Also, have you read any of the Culture series by Iain M Banks? Great social science fiction, particularly after the first book (which you should skip). Player of Games, Use of Weapons, and Excession are all top notch.
Great video on the history of this wonderful, strange, and very fun genre! I remember seeing 2001: a space odyssey back when I was 14 and it totally blew me away. I had never seen a film like it before, and now, at 25, it’s still one of my favorite films. I also saw Fritz Lang’s Metropolis around the same time and I love that film as well. I get that not everyone likes those films, as they weren’t really made for mass consumption. They are slow moving for most peoples’ tastes, so many think they’re boring, but I don’t think that at all. I think they’re both total masterpieces, and definitely very influential in the realm of Science Fiction films.
Hey Daniel, thanks for the continuous and thorough work you're doing, you always provide a great deal of insight on the genre! It's really appreciable :)
Heinlein's works always straddled the balance between character driven and all about the science. Especially his young adult books. The protagonist was often fully science driven and the empty slate for you, but they are often surrounded with so many great characters who drive the story. 'Have spacesuit will travel' is one of my alltime favourites.
A focus on some of the epic new age space opera writers would be welcome like Alastair Reynolds, Peter f Hamilton and the missed Ian M Banks, Jack McDevitt. Then hitting older ones like David Brin, Herbert, Dan Simmons, Niven, Haldeman Orson Scott card then further back like Doc Smith, Norton, Heinlein, so much content that would extend readers choice and would love a Goblin's take on. Then you for Red Rising was a great pointer from your best of
Some Sci-Fi anime I think you might like: Ghost in the Shell Akira Dr. Stone Psycho-Pass Serial Experiments Lain Ergo Proxy Cowboy Bebop Stenis;Gate Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
Hey Daniel! Thanks for the video, I strongly enjoy your fantasy content but usually I'm mostly into sci fi so it's nice to see you talking about it. Unfortunately I don't know if that's been translated but if you want to broaden your horizons, as a French I would recommend books by Pierre Bordage, he does both sci fi and alternate history although I know him mostly for the former, it's generally very grim stuff, and also one of our classic sci fi writers (classic as in, the kind of stuff we may read in school) is Rene Barjavel, he wrote interesting time travel and post apocalyptic stories back during the 1940s. I heard a few times that he was the one to coin the grandfather's paradox although I don't know how true it is. In France we're also very much into hard cover comics (bande dessinee / BD), and my favorite is Universal War 1 or UW1 by Denis Bajram. Apparently according to Wikipedia this was translated and published by Marvel in English version so if you have the opportunity I recommend it to you. And while I'm at it, regarding fantasy I recommend Alain Damasio, although once again I'm not sure if it's been translated (we're pretty insular regarding our culture, sadly), he's done strange and interesting fantasy-ish short stories but mostly he's known for La Horde du Contrevent, a beautiful story about a troop that goes on a quest to find the origin of the wind. Just a few ideas if one day you're out of reading material (which I doubt you'll ever be ^^) Keep up the good work, cheers
Me: “I’m getting really curious about sci-fi...I wonder where I should start?” Daniel Greene: “hey, don’t worry, I got you.” 🥰 also: how is this he first time I’ve heard someone refer to William Shakespeare as “Willie Shakes”? That’s perfect
I've recently gotten back into reading novels in general, not for academic purposes, thanks to you Daniel! 🙏 Thank you for reminding me how fun and healthy casual reading is. I'm feeling 10 times better! I'm currently reading "Use of Weapons" by Iain M. Banks. His "Culture" Novels are really wonderful sci-fi books!
I really love this video, it showed great details. But one thing i found to be missing that influenced the history as well, that is, even if you don't believe it as much, anime. It evolved sci-fi greatly and added a lot of elements to it.
When Daniel does the ‘split’ move you can’t help but think it’s the sci fi equivalent of one of Elvis’ scandalous hip wiggles... we weren’t ready for that move, phew!
Nice overview. I am in my 60s - and was a serious fan back in the day; I heard Asimov speak at conventions. Fun fact at one point amongst serious science fiction fans - "sci-fi" was not considered the politically correct abbreviation; SF was, and it could also stand for speculative fiction. A brief google seems to have been redefined over the years.
I'm really impressed by how fast and often you put out videos. I also have a recommendation. It's called Tales of a New World by P.C Cast. It is a futuristic fantasy series set in our world but with no modern technology. The first book is called Moon Chosen and is followed by Sun Warrior. There are 3 books in total but the series is not completed. I highly reccommend!!!
There's a brazillian fairy tale about a guy going to the sky to the land of the 'star people' and marrying the star princess. There's also a native american story (forget which group) about a hermit who's wife died, so he carved a wooden replica that came to life (pretty much a wooden robot)
My favourite Science Fiction book and the book that introduced me to the genre was The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven. It is an AWESOME Sci-fi and I would highly recommend reading it! My dad recommended it to me as something to break away from Fantasy with and I didn't regret it one bit. The sequel is just as good.
07:26 WHOAH! Too soon man!! ... All those people’s hopeful cheers... Hearing them is much too painful, even now... Btw. As always: Fantastic video. Keep it up m8!
What an awesome video! I loved your acknowledgement of it's intersectional diversity. I really hope you finish and review the Broken Earth trilogy. I just read and loved it
There’s a Russian book “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin that depicts a “utopian” society. Written in 1920, it’s a great sci-fi critique of the then new Communist regime. And as a modern dystopian, I thought it deserves a mention. Great video.
@Daniel Greene thank you for making me feel better... Every inch of delight helps during these destructive hardships we all face. I wasn't sure you would include Dune, and you did so with hype! I know how you feel about it, also knowing you didn't have to. Well, just know that I appreciate you. I mean it. I'm glad I discovered you just over a year ago. You truly are a Flame amidst the Void, shining bright and offering warmth...
In terms of media, I think you should give some credit to Radio. In the 50s there was a lot of the major Sci-Fi players writing radio dramas. Shows like Dimension X, X-minus , or the Space Patrol, all pushed the sci-fi envelop and expose a wide audience to the themes and motifs of the genre. The Twilight Zone was certainly building on the work of Dimension x (and its contemporaries).
If you're looking for more Chinese scifi, I highly recommend The Reincarnated Giant: An Anthology of 21st Century Chinese Science Fiction. It's phenomenal, with a lot of setups and ideas that aren't common in western scifi.
