Books literary fiction 10 Literary Books That Made Me a Better Science Fiction Writer Ten brilliant works that will stick in your mind and make you see the world—and the way we tell stories—differently. By Charlie Jane Anders | Published on September 18, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share I love literary fiction, whether it’s grand postmodern experiments or totally grounded personal stories about one family. I’ve been reading literary writing my whole life—I was an English major for two years before I jumped ship to Asian Studies in college. And I’ve learned a ton from writing literary fiction, contributing stories to places like Tin House, Conjunctions, ZYZZYVA, F(r)iction and the recent novel-in-stories Fourteen Days. As I wrote a while back, the appearance of literary merit means people will give your work more of a chance in spite of weird experiments, but it also means the reader might pay a bit more attention to the nuts and bolts of the story (at least sometimes). In a good literary story, this relationship with the ideal reader leads to more attention to detail: in the sentence-level prose, but also the small details of people’s lives and inner states. I love a good literary novel for the same reason I loved Challengers, which I just finally watched: the main “widget” in the story is tennis, but the real driver of the narrative is the small stuff like Zendaya’s microaggressions and the endless homoeroticism between the two male leads. Some years ago, author Curtis Chen was on a panel at an event I attended, and Curtis said that everyone who writes science fiction and fantasy should read romance novels. Romance novels teach you a lot about writing relationships and emotion, but also about building characters that people want to invest in for a whole story. I co-sign this recommendation, and especially recommend recent romances by Jasmine Guillory and Alyssa Cole. But I also feel the same way about literary fiction—it’s made me a better speculative fiction writer, and I highly recommend that aspiring SFF writers read some. So here are ten literary books that made me a better science fiction author. (Note: This list doesn’t include my favorite lit fic with heavy science fiction or fantasy elements, which is a whole other list that I might post one of these days.) Middlemarch by George Eliot This is a novel I keep coming back to again and again. It’s the story of a small town facing the rise of industrialism, the brilliant young woman who thinks she’s married a serious scholar, the young doctor whose vain wife wrecks his dreams of making a difference in the world. I haven’t re-read Middlemarch in a decade, but what sticks in my mind is the strong sense of place, and the awareness of social upheaval. As Jo Walton wrote years ago, George Eliot saw the world transformed by the railroad, and Middlemarch is about a town that’s on the edge of a massive transformation with the passage of the democratizing Reform Act of 1832. Middlemarch’s characters struggle with how to use their privilege to do good, even as the nature of privilege is being somewhat revised. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison This is another book I haven’t re-read in too long—it’s true of several books on this list, alas—but it sticks in my mind. Like Middlemarch, Invisible Man is a novel about social upheaval—it ends with a vividly described protest—but instead of focusing on people in privileged positions who try to do good, it focuses on a nameless person living on the margins, whose experiences with both assimilation and radical politics regularly end in disaster. The protagonist tells his story from a hiding place underground, where he’s stolen electricity and is living out of sight, hence “invisible.” This remains a jarring metaphor for the ways that marginalized people are literally erased from the narrative. The Quiet American by Graham Greene My biggest dilemma with this list was which Graham Greene novel to include, because Brighton Rock, Our Man in Havana, Travels With My Aunt, and A Burnt-Out Case also occupy a central place in my personal canon. A former spy for MI-6, Greene was incredible at writing about the utter cluenessness of Englishmen (and Americans) abroad, and the chaos that happens when we try to meddle in other countries’ affairs. His wry sensibility and crisp prose left an indelible impression on me. But I feel like The Quiet American had the biggest impact, in part because Greene does such a wonderful job of capturing the arrogance and selfishness of Americans living in Asia, something I’ve also witnessed up close. The American of the book’s title is a young CIA agent in 1950s Vietnam, who believes it’ll be easy for the USA to effect regime change there—but a lot of the action of the book involves a young Vietnamese woman who hooks up with him and falls prey to the power dynamics inherent in their situation. This book was also made into a fantastic movie that had the misfortune to be made around the time of 9/11. China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston I read this book when I was living in China, so its portrayals of Chinese immigrants surviving in the USA hit home in an unusual way for me. But Kingston’s writing hits home regardless, with a grittiness that sticks in your mind. (Literally, for years when I ate dumplings I thought about the bit in this book where a character says that when you eat dumplings, you’re eating the dirt from the fingernails of the women who kneaded the dough endlessly.) This book has some fantastical parts, including an opening fairy tale about a man who discovers the land of women (which reads a bit essentialist nowadays) and later tales about ghosts and goddesses—so it’s a bit of a departure from the focus on realist fiction in this list. But the stuff I remember from it is just the small details of Chinese people—mostly men, as the title suggests—trying to make sense of life in the bewildering alien land of America. The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing Lessing’s best-known work is the introspective, kaleidoscopic The Golden Notebook, which did indeed blow my tiny mind when I first read it. Lessing also wrote some science fiction, and blended SF with realism in a way that I’ve never seen anyone else do. But her biggest influence on me is this lesser-known novel about a young woman who winds up living in a house full of radical activists who want to bomb something but are just too clueless to pull it off. Lessing was heavily involved in radical Communist politics for years her Martha Quest novels capture brilliantly the disillusionment of young Communists who slowly realize that Stalin is not the hero they thought he was—and here she writes a small-scale novel about idealists who are led astray by their desperate need to make a mark on the world. The protagonist, Alice, is the quiet person who cooks and cleans and basically keeps everyone else going without any credit. Possession by A.S. Byatt I re-read this book just a few months ago, because my upcoming novel Lessons in Magic and Disaster has a similar literary detective story at its heart. And when I think about the current vogue for Dark Academia stories, Possession feels like a foundational text to me. The story of two young scholars who stumble upon a long-lost letter that hints at a secret affair between two Victorian poets, Possession fairly burns with the joy of discovery and textual analysis. That’s the thing that I really discovered when I re-read this book: the poetry of Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte is vitally important to the story and to their love affair, and the “clues” in the story are as much about the beauty of their writing and metaphors as any love letters. I’ll probably be writing more about Possession as the release date of Lessons in Magic and Disaster grows closer, so stay tuned. Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim Here’s a book that teases science fictional stuff, but is ultimately pure realism. A young man named Brian believes he was abducted by aliens, but his former classmate Neil helps him confront the truth—which is more mundane but also more horrifying. As an examination of abuse and the trauma it leaves behind, this book pulls absolutely no punches, but Heim also creates two vivid characters in Brian and Neil. This book was a huge influence on my early writing, because it’s unapologetically queer and handles its self-destructive, damaged characters with immense tenderness. I’ve seen Mysterious Skin adapted as a stage play, and it was also turned into a brilliant film, and it’s fascinating to see how different people approach this book’s challenging structure and the reveal of what really happened to Brian and Neil. Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea In a small town in Mexico, all the men have gone north to the United States to find work—so a young woman named Nayeli and her friends decide to go looking for seven dudes to protect their town from bandits. (Basically inspired by Seven Samurai, by way of The Magnificent Seven.) This was my introduction to Urrea’s writing, and his humor and sharp characterization blew me away. Urrea writes about Mexican migrant workers with a sensitivity and lightness of touch that feels especially needed right now, and shows how migration affects people in Mexico as well as the United States. Nayeli and her friends journeying to the US reminds me a lot of the final season of Reservation Dogs, to the point where I kept wondering if this book might have been as much an influence on that show as it was on me. Useful Phrases for Immigrants by May-lee Chai And now, a short story collection! As the name suggests, these are stories about immigrants, mostly but not entirely Chinese people living in the United States, and it pairs well with Kingston’s China Men. But some of my favorite stories in this book actually involve immigrants from one part of China to another, like the boy from the countryside who works in a scuzzy fish restaurant in the big city. Chai also has a very keen sense of the slow heartbreak of broken families, and the clash between traditional values and the challenges of 21st-century life. The title of this collection probably gives you a pretty good idea of how sarcastic and wistful Chai’s writing is, too. It’s a show-stopping performance. The Archer by Shruti Swamy Swamy also wrote one of my favorite short story collections of recent years, A House Is a Body, which contains a decent amount of fantastical stuff. (There’s a story about a woman who has a relationship with the god Krishna, for example.) The Archer, meanwhile, is an entirely realist novel about a young woman from a poor family who studies dance and goes to university in 1960s and 1970s Mumbai. Vidya ultimately has to choose between the woman she loves and a man who offers stability, with her ability to keep performing the challenging Kathak dance also hanging in the balance. Like a lot of these novels, The Archer is about the sacrifices we make, but also the mistakes. Without giving anything away, there’s a POV shift fairly early on in the book that utterly wrecked me, and I’m still in awe of Swamy’s ability to pull it off. [end-mark] This article was originally published at Happy Dancing, Charlie Jane Anders’ newsletter, available on Buttondown. The post 10 Literary Books That Made Me a Better Science Fiction Writer appeared first on Reactor.

BREAKING: Walkie-Talkies Explode in Hezbollah Strongholds in Second Wave; UPDATE: Nine Dead, 100+ Injured

Gallup: Trump Is More Popular Than Harris Now

We knew all that chest beating was just overcompensating for something.

In 1972, a pregnant woman's blood confused scientists. Fifty years later, we have an answer.

It is not difficult to see the pipeline from being mentally unstable to becoming a histrionic leftist. Some studies indicatea correlation between identifying as liberal and having a diagnosed mental disorder. But at some point, we let our most bitter members of society take control of our media, institutions and pop culture, which devolved into the idolatry of insanity. Instead of trying to cure mental illnesses and communication disorders, we’ve made it cool to have one. Being meshuggeneh now makes you hip and morally superior. In my latest episode of “Woke of the Weak,” I discuss how the “self-love” movement has contributed to a culture of insanity and professional victimhood. Watch the video below.

Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino took JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to task for pushing radical and discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.  In a New York Post article headlined, “Jamie Dimon may not see it, but JP Morgan has a glaring ‘woke blind spot,’” Gasparino blasted the banking executive for his pro-DEI remarks at the Council of Institutional Investors. “Jamie Dimon is a great CEO and JPMorgan is very profitable. But allowing his bank to play footsie with the political left sullies this image,” Gasparino wrote on Sept. 14, exposing the discriminatory nature of the Dimon-endorsed DEI policies. ESG-obsessed Bloomberg News reported a day earlier that Dimon had ridiculously claimed that he was “not ‘woke’ at all,” despite also endorsing  DEI as “good for business” and “morally right." Dimon added, “[W]e’re quite good at it; we’re successful."  ICYMI! Gasparino: ‘The American Consumer Has Rejected Wokeness’ Gasparino who recently published a book titled Go Woke Go Broke; The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America quickly tore Dimon’s distinction to shreds. The Fox Business correspondent referenced Dimon’s apparent support of the violent and destructive Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. Gaspairno also brought up JP Morgan’s $30 billion commitment to a “Racial Equity Commitment fund.” This included explicitly racially discriminatory provisions such as $2 billion in “small-business loans to borrowers with businesses in neighborhoods where the majority of the population is nonwhite," according to The New York Times. In his Post article, Gasparino demonstrated that Dimon has continued to embrace woke ideas like DEI racial discrimination in hiring, writing, “In its celebration of DEI, JPMorgan‘s website advertises that ‘58 percent of new US hires are racially or ethnically diverse.’” More on DEI: Racial Discrimination and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Agenda  Gasparino also noted that Dimon’s company is a “platinum partner” with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a radical leftist pressure group that pushes companies to embrace policies such as allowing men in women’s restrooms and “healthcare coverage for medically necessary transition-related care.” Gasparino didn’t stop there calling Dimon out for presiding over a pro-ESG shift when he was chair of the Business Roundtable. “It was under Dimon’s leadership that the powerful Business Roundtable adopted the ‘stakeholder capitalism’ model of corporate governance, opening the door for groups like the aforementioned Human Rights Campaign (aka HRC) to having a say in corporate decision making,” Gasparino wrote.  Notably, the HRC immediately made use of Dimon’s pro-DEI remarks, celebrating the Bloomberg article in a post on X. “Fortune 500 executives agree: Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s good for business. Thank you!” the radical organization wrote, before using the article to pressure companies that had cut ties with them. Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on the dangers of leftist DEI ideology infecting corporate America.

The U.S. Secret Service admitted this week to failing to search the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, just before President Donald Trump hit the links on Sunday. When pressed on why the Secret Service failed to spot a Democratic donor — known to the FBI — who apparently had camped out at the course for 12 hours with an SKS-style 7.62x39 caliber rifle, acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe blamed the intended target, telling reporters that Trump "wasn't supposed to have gone there in the first place." While the USSS is facing criticism over its latest bungling of Trump's security, its parent agency also appears to have dropped the ball. Just the News reported that Trump critic Alejandro Mayorkas' Department of Homeland Security was prompted to investigate suspected would-be assassin Ryan Routh upon his return home from Ukraine last year after U.S. border officials flagged him as suspect, but the agency didn't bother to act. 'Simply get all military gear and money.' U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly interviewed Routh at the Honolulu airport in June 2023. Officials knew of his travels to Poland, specifically to Warsaw near the Ukrainian border, as well as to Istanbul, Turkey. They were also aware of his efforts to recruit mercenaries from Taiwan, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and Moldova to fight in Ukraine against the Russians. Blaze News previously noted that Routh ran a website called "Fight for Ukraine," which details various ways — including unlawful ways — people could supposedly go to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine. "Simply get all military gear and money and fly to Krakow[, Poland]. Take an intercity train or bus to Przemyśl. Take a local train or bus to Medyka. Make your way to the border with Ukraine," wrote Routh. While Routh was keen on having civilians from across the globe put their lives on the line in Ukraine, he never fought himself, reported the New York Times, whose reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff first heard of Routh through a former Afghan special operations soldier in Iran. Routh hatched a grand scheme to get militants fleeing the Taliban to go fight for Kiev. His X feed was littered with failed pleas to Western defense officials and organizations to allow such Afghan mercenaries into Ukraine. Extra to attempting to recruit mercenaries, while in Ukraine, Routh also demonstrated in support of the Azov Brigade, an outfit associated with neo-Nazis since its inception. The brigade said in a statement this week it "has no connection" to Routh and that rumors to the contrary are "playing along with Russian propaganda." According the records reviewed by Just the News, Routh gave the border officials interviewing him a card stating that he was the director of a group called the "International Volunteer Center." USA Today indicated Monday it tried calling a number associated with Routh and was greeted by a voicemail message identifying the number's owner as "Ryan in Hawaii," working with the "National Volunteer Center, sending soldiers to Ukraine, as well as Taiwan." The International Volunteer Center in Ukraine made clear it hasn't worked with Routh, telling the New York Post, "We have been officially registered as an organization in Ukraine since October 2023. Prior to the recent developments, none of us had any knowledge of Mr. Routh or any other entity named the International Volunteer Center, aside from our own registered organization." 'There's one person you guys need to keep an eye on, because he's a ticking time bomb.' Ukraine's foreign legion — which Routh frequently contacted — has characterized the suspected would-be assassin as a charlatan and denied his involvement in the unit. According to CBP's memo pertaining to Routh's interview, "Subject is a USC who had traveled to Kiev, Ukraine for 3 months to help recruit Soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan, to fight in the Ukrainian war against Russia." "Subject stated that he does not get paid for his recruiting efforts and all his work for the Ukrainian government is strictly volunteer work Subject provided his recruiting business card (cards have been uploaded into the event) which list his recruiting partners that he speaks with to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Romanian, Pakistan, Syria, and Israel," continues the memo reviewed by Just the News. "Subject stated that he obtains money from his wife to help fund his trips to Ukraine." The memo further stated that Routh was referred to the DHS' Homeland Security Investigations but that HSI declined to look into the matter. "HSI was contacted and refused the case," said the memo. When pressed for comment, the DHS referred Just the News to the FBI, which is overseeing the investigation into the assassination attempt. The DHS also apparently failed to take action in response to another concerning report submitted by Chelsea Walsh, a nurse from West Palm Beach who encountered Routh in Kiev in 2022. Walsh was so worried about Routh's volatile nature and threats of violence that she reported him to a CBP officer at Washington's Dulles airport in June 2022 after returning from Ukraine. Walsh told WPTV-TV, "As a nurse, we are trained to detect when people are a threat to themselves or others, and I was beginning to realize more and more that Ryan was a threat to others." At the airport, “[the agent] said that he represented Homeland Security and he was only interested in homeland security threats," said Walsh. "I told him, 'Then there's one person you guys need to keep an eye on, because he's a ticking time bomb. His name is Ryan Routh, and he lives in Hawaii. He's coming back from Ukraine eventually, and someone needs to follow up with him.'" Walsh said the DHS never followed up with her. The FBI — whose agent in charge of the Miami field office, Jeffrey Veltri, was reportedly compelled to scrub his social media history because of his anti-Trump rhetoric — also appears to have let Routh slip off its radar. Blaze News previously reported that the FBI received a complaint in 2019 that Routh had a firearm. Owing to Routh's felonious record, including a 2002 conviction on a possession of a weapon of mass destruction charge, the complaint would ostensibly have been grounds for an interview at the very least. Veltri said at a press conference Monday, "When following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify providing the initial information. The FBI passed that information on to local law enforcement in Honolulu." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Relatives of the famous John Two Guns White Calf are calling for the NFL to bring back the Washington Redskins' logo that bears their ancestor's likeness.The NFL team from Washington, D.C., was named the Redskins from 1937 to 2019 until the owners decided to remove the nickname and logo because they found it offensive. Despite fan outcry, the team has consistently said it would not return."The fans want him back and we want him back," said Thomas White Calf, the great nephew of Two Guns.White Calf met with Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mt.), who is working with the family to have their story told.'Our ancestor was the most famous and most photographed native in history.'Speaking to Fox News, White Calf was joined by his mother, Delphine White Calf, who is a niece of the former Blackfeet chief. The two told the outlet that they "want a seat at the table" when it comes to the Washington football organization, now called the Commanders.The Blackfeet members made the argument that having the logo is actually a point of pride for their tribe."Our ancestor was the most famous and most photographed native in history," said White Calf. He continued, "Two Guns was also the face on the Indian Head nickel. I'm proud of him. The Blackfeet are proud of him."Sen. Daines labeled the issue as "righting a wrong" and said the logo represents Native history in the country. He added that Two Guns' story should be "enthusiastically celebrated" across the nation.The Washington Commanders responded to the comments and said the team planned on working with the Republican to honor the legacy of the team's heritage."At the senator's suggestion, we have developed a positive relationship with Ryan Wetzel, the grandson of Walter 'Blackie' Wetzel, who designed the logo. We look forward to honoring that legacy," a Commanders spokesperson said.Wetzel, a deceased Blackfeet chief, reportedly created the portrait of Two Guns White Calf in 1971, which allegedly received widespread support. The NFL team adopted the image as its logo in 1972. However, the Wetzel family claimed the football organization has ignored them for decades.Redskins legend Mark Rypien recently made statements that the team needed to remember its roots and get back to playing like the Redskins. At the same time, he said the team's name change needs to be accepted."It's just this day and age now that we have to deal with. ... We are going to support these guys because that's the era we are in."He continued, "I want to support these guys, this team, and get this Commanders football team back to playing the type of football the Redskins played back in our era."During a 2024 preseason press conference, Commanders owner Josh Harris said that the Redskins name "can't come back.""We've been very clear, we can't, for obvious reasons, the old name can't come back," Harris explained, per Audacy.The team also told Fox News that it had no plans to bring back the old logo.Two Guns was born in Montana in 1872 and fought to preserve Native culture.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Clearly Bill Gates is still butt-hurt over the fact that so many people pushed back against the COVID vaccine that he funded and therefore profits from. And now he wants retribution. “Bill Gates wants your free speech to be stifled if you criticize his vaccines,” says Liz Wheeler. “I swear to you that is an accurate summary of what Bill Gates said.” And she’s right. In a clip, Gates boldly admits the following: “We should have free speech, but if you're inciting violence, if you're causing people not to take vaccines, you know, where are those boundaries?” he stated, adding that “the U.S. should have rules” and suggesting some kind of “AI that encodes those rules.” - YouTube youtu.be “He is an absolute diabolical creep,” says Liz. “So he profits from vaccines, but he wants us to have our free speech restricted, he wants us to be punished if we criticize his vaccines, if we stand in the way of someone taking a vaccine. He wants the government to tell us we're not allowed to do that or say that.” “And what’s worse is that he wants AI to do this.” Among the many problems AI poses is the fact that it’s “not neutral.” “It’s not this autonomous thing. AI is programmed by people like Bill Gates who want the government to crack down on us if we criticize vaccines or prevent someone from taking a vaccine at Bill Gates’ profit,” Liz condemns, calling the billionaire an “absolute villain.” To hear more news the state-run media is squashing, such as RFK Jr.’s former running mate Nicole Shanahan’s clever MAGA ad and Melania Trump’s touching video about having her home raided by the FBI, watch the clip above. Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.