Geek 501 Science Fiction / Fantasy

There was a great article on iO9 talking about entry level science fiction and fantasy books. They got a lot of people to give their ideas for great books to introduce someone to science fiction and / or fantasy. I felt bad because there were a lot of books that I had actually never read. At the same time there were a good number that I had read. It was definitely an interesting list of a wide variety of books. The ideas came from authors, publishers, and more, but here are a few books that I think are a great introduction to science fiction and fantasy.

Some of the idea is that science fiction and fantasy can sometimes be so epic and many of the books are such small parts of a larger whole it can be difficult to want to enter in to a potentially large commitment. The books that I think would work well either are single stories or stand on their own enough that they do not further books to get the whole story.

Science Fiction Today – Geek Culture and Consumerism

I had been trying to figure out how to talk about a question that had been bugging me lately. The question: Is geek culture just a culture of consumerism?

Then I saw this video, as Felicia Day introduces Geek and Sundry season 2. And she helped frame it a bit.

We are more than what we consume, more than what is advertised to us, more than physical things made. But we do still consume culture… so I suppose a couple of things.

• What is consumerism?

• What does geek culture consume?

• What might this consumption look like in the future?

• What are some pitfalls that this future has?

So, let’s take this idea, and take it into the future: Geek Culture and Consumerism!