In a surprising turn of events, I’ve been tagged in a blogging game. Thanks to Snapdragon Alcove for thinking of me. Here’s my ‘Get to Know’ section:

1- What is your sci-fi origin story? (How you came to read your first sci-fi novel)

I grew up reading my brother’s Star Wars books, and have a vivid recollection of reading an abridged and illustrated The War of the Worlds as a youngster. In school I definitely read Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines as part of a book club when I was around 10. It was probably around the same time that I bought my first science fiction books with my own money, which were Pirates of the Asteroids and Foundation, by Isaac Asimov, and Space Viking by H. Beam Piper. I mainlined fantasy for a very long time, and the first sci-fi to slip into my life was probably Dauntless, by Jack Campbell.

2- If you could be the hero in a sci-fi novel, who would be the author, and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story?

Assuming I can escape the New Morality, Ben Bova’s Grand Tour novels would be a good place to live. A fairly peaceful life, not too many dangers, and I could settle down with an academic career quite nicely. Most of my favourite tropes tend to be quite dangerous for main characters, so I think I’d choose an animal companion.

3- What is a sci-fi you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read?

Edmond Hamilton’s Starwolf. It’s pulpy as all get-out, but super fun and a quick read. It also gets bonus points for spreading the good word about Welsh culture. Pulp sci-fi in general gets overlooked, so consider this a stand-in for that entire corner of the genre.

4- What is your favourite sci-fi subgenre? What subgenre have you not read much from?

I am a sucker for a good space opera. Just throw the whole kitchen sink in, and I’ll be a happy man. However, this enthusiasm does mean I end up reading a lot of subpar space opera. If you want something I more reliably enjoy, you’d probably be after military SF or hard SF.

5- Who is one of your auto-buy sci-fi authors?

There are a couple, but since most of them are no longer alive, I’ve actually already bought all their books. One living author who has jumped up in the rankings lately is Stephen Baxter. He is by far the best author of hard SF I’ve come across, and writes the sort of epic, idea-driven SF that doesn’t get much attention these days.

6- How do you typically find sci-fi recommendations?

There are a few friends I trust to give me good suggestions, but most of my book finds are impulse purchases when I see them on a used bookstore. I will go absolutely feral over a one pound paperback. It leads to some disappointments, but there’s no feeling quite like stumbling across a new favourite book.

7- What is one upcoming sci-fi release you’re looking forward to?

I will go for a fairly obscure one and say Noah van Nguyen’s Elemental Council. It’s a Warhammer 40,000 novel about the T’au, who haven’t had a lot lot of attention in recent years, so I’m looking forward to seeing what a new author can bring to the xenos faction.

8- What is one sci-fi misconception you’d like to lay to rest?

Frankenstein is not the first SF novel. Personally, I think the first true science fiction novel could not have been written before the term science fiction existed, and that wasn’t until a hundred years after Mary Shelley’s time. On the flipside, if we’re open to science fiction existing before the label, we have to look back even further. John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Thomas Moore’s Utopia and Margaret Cavendish’s The Burning World all have science fictional elements and predate Frankenstein by a long, long time.

9- If someone had never read a sci-fi book before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books that came to mind as places to start, what would your recommendations be?

I try and tailor my recommendations to the reader, because a die-hard romance fan is probably after something different to a true crime buff. That being said, if I’m just going to shout out three random, accessible SF novels, I’d go with:

1-Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

2-Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi

3-Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

10- Who is the most recent sci-fi reading content creator you’ve come across that you’d like to shoutout?

I have an intense dislike of the term content creator, so first of all I avoid anyone who refers to themselves as such. I think the most recent bloggers I’ve started following are:

Reading Freely

Pages and Procrastination

I really am a terrible blogger who doesn’t follow many others, but they can both consider themselves tagged.