What I read in 2020
2020 was the year that rekindled my love for science fiction after a long hiatus.
Beginning is everything
First off, I started the year with two fantastic books — QualityLand and Exhalation.
QualityLand
QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling (originally written in German) is part satire, part speculative fiction, where the future evokes an eery feeling of being just a step away from our present reality.
On one hand, the book paints a future that is grim, reminiscent of "Black Mirror" themes. A dating service that not just matches you with a partner based on your social rating and an algorithmically determined compatibility score, but even “upgrades” your partner and arranges for secret dates when a new, “more desirable” partner becomes available. There are drones that deliver you items that you hadn't realised you wanted (Ronny Chieng's wishes coming true?). A humanoid robot is in the running for president while his opposition regales the public with "alternative facts". And of course, internet trolling is now a full-time profession.
On the other hand, the book also refuses to take itself too seriously, rooting its plot in a pink dolphin vibrator. This single delivery by the nearly omniscient drone delivery service is pivotal to our initially purposeless protagonist who feels absolutely certain there has been a mistake, while the company insists otherwise.
This combination of an almost-too-near, too uncomfortable-because-plausible future with humour that's serious and silly at the same time (especially highlighted by the multiple adverts from the future the book is lined by) makes the book a potent mix whether you're looking for a dose of existential crisis with your morning coffee or a way to start a conversation over dinner without coming across as preachy.
Exhalation
Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a short story collection — one that reads more like a series of thought experiments written exquisitely and thoroughly grounded in humanity, even when the story itself is set in a universe that's as alien as imaginable:
In ancient Baghdad, a fabric seller tries to grapple with past mistakes as he comes across a portal that might allow him second chances at his past.
An alien scientist in a faraway world dissects his own brain to understand what makes him, him.
What happens when there is no free will? Would life lose all meaning?
What are the ramifications for the society of becoming literate? What happens when you lose this skill?
“Science Fiction offers a way to talk about things, issues that are relevant to us, metaphorically.”
You can read more about the author's thought process here.
Pandemic hits
Alongside the strong beginning, one other thing happened in 2020 that made me seek refuge in science fiction — the event that shall not be named a.k.a "The Pandemic”a.k.a "COVID-19 crisis" (so much for the not naming).
Given that I spent much of the time (like most people), working from home, through extended lock-down(s) with many combinations of restrictions — science fiction became a refuge through not just mere escapism but also as a portal to new discoveries full of imaginary landscapes.
I have never truly enjoyed space operas — a series of events describing "how a hero saves the world” — as much as stories that make you wonder “what happens if…" , or even better, “assume these conditions to be true, what happens then?".
Asimov's work has been a long time favourite of mine in this regard, while I have had mixed reactions to Clarke's. In 2020, I finally got my first taste of Heinlein with "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" thereby completing my essential reading of the "big three” of science fiction.
My personal "big three", though has to be the trio of Ted Chiang, Liu Cixin, and Ken Liu. While I first got acquainted with all three authors in 2018 (a post for another time, perhaps), 2020 deepened my enjoyment and sense of wonder when reading their works.
Ted Chiang doesn't write much — but when he does, both the ideas and their execution are a thing of beauty. You might also know of the author through the movie “Arrival", which is based on a novella of his ("Story of Your Life"). Liu Cixin is of the "Three Body Problem” fame, with Ken Liu as the translator for the first and third book of the trilogy. However, Ken Liu is also an author in his own right, and I have immensely enjoyed both his own short story collections, as well as the ones he has curated and translated from Chinese.
“I don’t get a lot of ideas that interest me enough to write about them. Writing is hard for me and I have to be really interested in something in order to put myself through it.”
And with that, I'm wrapping up my first proper post on this blog here. My full reading list from 2020 follows:
The 2020 Reading List
Format: title by author - rating - month read
HBR Guide to Delivering Feedback - 3/5 - Jan
QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling - 5/5 - Jan
Exhalation by Ted Chiang - 5/5 - Jan
Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin - 3/5 - Mar
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin - 3/5 - May
The Martian by Andy Weir - 3/5 - May
Broken Stars by Ken Liu - 4/5 - Jun
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu - 4/5 - Jul
Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Liu Cixin- 3/5 - Jul
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein - 4/5 - Jul
Recursion by Blake Crouch - 3/5 - Jul
Factfulness by Hans Rosling - 3/5 - Jul
Slender Man - 2/5 - Aug
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer - 3/5 - Aug
The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin - 4/5 - Aug
Avatar (series) - 3/5 - Aug
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - 3/5 - Sep
Into the Woods by John Yorke - 3/5 - Sep
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - 4/5 - Oct
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 3/5 - Oct
The Peripheral by William Gibson - 4/5 - Nov
Hyperion by Dan Simmons - 4/5 - Dec