Alternate histories and speculative literature have the potential, by subverting popularly-accepted records and historical expectations, to reveal those elements we want, value or despise in our society.
By measuring the distance from simulacra to the bastardized real (the delta owing to cognitive dissonance) of any particular SF novel, we can detect the author's critique or message. While I am sure there is a yearly deluge of SF books that use the genre to tell banal stories in an unfamiliar time or place, I know a great deal of stories are using their alternate elements to elucidate qualities about our standing realities.
So far as the authors and readers in this group are concerned, I am chiefly interested in the kinds of alternate history you are attracted to, and whether or not political/social commentary plays a large part in that draw. Which novels in particular accomplish this (e.g. Man on the High Castle), and what conventions are musts for prospective authors?
Alternate histories and speculative literature have the potential, by subverting popularly-accepted records and historical expectations, to reveal those elements we want, value or despise in our society.
By measuring the distance from simulacra to the bastardized real (the delta owing to cognitive dissonance) of any particular SF novel, we can detect the author's critique or message. While I am sure there is a yearly deluge of SF books that use the genre to tell banal stories in an unfamiliar time or place, I know a great deal of stories are using their alternate elements to elucidate qualities about our standing realities.
So far as the authors and readers in this group are concerned, I am chiefly interested in the kinds of alternate history you are attracted to, and whether or not political/social commentary plays a large part in that draw. Which novels in particular accomplish this (e.g. Man on the High Castle), and what conventions are musts for prospective authors?
Take care.