Phenomenally astute essay on a new sub-genre of Speculative Fiction

Plot Device · May 16, 2008

It's a VERY long, rather heady, but enjoyable read. It's an analysis of a new sub-genre of speculative fiction called "post-oil dystopian." The essayist, Frank Kamisnki, cites only four novels so far that he knows of which qualify for this genre, and a few other works (two or three) which are not true post-oil dystopias, but are somewhat in the neighborhood of it. (And one that was self-published.)

http://energybulletin.net/44031.html

I've been ravenously reading about the non-fiction assertions of post-oil for the past month, and have been simultaneously crafting my own post-oil dystopia out of sheer habit (I usually digest non-fiction information in any area of life through a "fiction filter" in my mind -- I guess it's one possible mark of a true writer). So I might be joining this genre soon.

Here's just the first three paragraphs of that essay. IF you want to dive in and read the whole thing, be forewarned that it's VERY long.

The post-oil novel: a celebration!

by Frank Kaminski

Published on 11 May 2008 by Seattle Peak Oil Awareness (SPOA).
Archived on 12 May 2008

Novels that deal with the collapse of our oil-based civilization undoubtedly belong under the heading of speculative fiction—and some even qualify as outright science fiction.1 But even so, there’s an inescapable irony to their being categorized as such. This is because, by and large, speculative fiction is an optimistic genre. It celebrates technological progress and often tacitly assumes a near-endless supply of both energy and human ingenuity. Peak oil, in contrast, casts a ruthlessly critical eye on technological progress, human ingenuity, and alternative energy sources. Indeed, it considers the entire technological age to be nothing more than a charade, enabled by the reckless over-consumption of nonrenewable energy resources.

Given how alien the assumptions of peak oil are to some of the most cherished ideals of speculative fiction, it is perhaps unsurprising that only four novels published thus far (at least, by major mass market publishers) have endeavored to tackle the subject head on. Similarly unsurprising is the fact that, out of this small handful of books, only one was written by an author previously known for writing speculative fiction—the German writer Andreas Eschbach, whose post-oil thriller Ausgebrannt (2007) wound up hitting the German bestseller list.

The other three books—the late John Seymour’s Retrieved from the Future (1996), Alex Scarrow’s Last Light (2007), and James Howard Kunstler’s World Made by Hand (2008)—are all the work of first-time speculative fiction writers inadvertently turning the genre on its head.

Shweta · May 16, 2008

Wow, I didn't realize that people still consider spec fic to be mostly optimistic.

Ruv Draba · May 16, 2008

Shweta said:
Wow, I didn't realize that people still consider spec fic to be mostly optimistic.

Oh heck. It so is though, Shweta. Horror aside for a moment, by volume the bulk of FSF is still mainly toys for the boys and romantic wish-fulfillment. As an experiment, go to your local bookstore, shut your eyes and pull three volumes off any FSF shelf. Almost guaranteed you'll have one bildungsroman/coming of age story, at least two romance subplots and some idealistic paean to individualism and human destiny.

Unless you grabbed a couple of Miévilles or a Phillip K Dick by accident :tongue

(I'll admit - it's a bit different in short stories.)

Shweta · May 16, 2008

Ruv Draba said:
Unless you grabbed a couple of Miévilles or a Phillip K Dick by accident

(I'll admit - it's a bit different in short stories.)

It's pretty different in all the spec fic I read, and with most of the spec fic authors I've talked to. Which might just mean I'm hugely out of touch with the genre norms. I'll admit happily that most of my favourite authors are midlisters, and many of them are people I don't even expect your average sf/f fan to have heard of. (Though contra that, I do like Cory Doctorow, and his Little Brother made the NYT bestseller list! :hooray:

)

Annnyway, while I know there's a lot of wish fulfillment, I hadn't realized people still thought of the genre as fundamentally that way. Well, people other than the old-skool-SF-crowd, who I thought were a minority. It's not that I disagree with the essay! I don't. It's just, I didn't realize that still needed saying. It sounds... anachronistic to me, like if people said "...And you know, they have wimmins in SF now" to me.

Guess I need to recalibrate.

Pthom · May 16, 2008

I like Doctorow too. Very much. Just bought two of his: Overclocked and Little Brother. The bookstore owner raised her 64-year-old eyebrows when she read that Little Brother was classified as YA...to which I replied with a shrug and, "But, it's by Cory."

Back to topic: I think the bulk of SF/F written in the past, oh, 40 years has had the predominant theme of It's all going to be better now that we're in the future. Even the alien invasions, the post apocolypse (survival) stories, horrible space battles, and what you might think should be a real downer: cyber punk ala Gibson--all have an overlying aura of hope for the better. This is possibly due to the fact that if everything read as Albert Gore's prognostications for the future of our planet, no one would read any spec fic at all.

ETA: And, if there really isn't any oil anymore, will old, scratched teflon pans become a hot commodity?

Ooh, Timmy has a little, mostly empty, can of 3-in-one oil. Grab it!

Shweta · May 16, 2008

Actually I rather think that imagining possible worlds post-oil is pretty optimistic, since it's thinking about the future instead of hiding head in sand.

It's the "We'll all go to space and list post-scarcity" starry-eyed visions that I'm mostly thinking of as past. Even Banks' Culture is dark.

Ruv Draba · May 16, 2008

Shweta said:
It's pretty different in all the spec fic I read, and with most of the spec fic authors I've talked to. Which might just mean I'm hugely out of touch with the genre norms. I'll admit happily that most of my favourite authors are midlisters, and many of them are people I don't even expect your average sf/f fan to have heard of.

Most of the spec fic books I want to read, I have to order. Aussie shelves tend to just be FSF bestsellers. (And that means escapist wish fulfillment. Right, kids?)

Annnyway, while I know there's a lot of wish fulfillment, I hadn't realized people still thought of the genre as fundamentally that way. Well, people other than the old-skool-SF-crowd, who I thought were a minority.

Oop! That might be me. :Huh:

But seriously, I think that FSF had more bite maybe 30 years go. These days when I want bite, I tend not to shop FSF, but in the more 'literary' categories. Then again: midlist browsing is almost impossible here, so I could be all skewed. Or... just... old skool.

Shweta · May 16, 2008

I think in your case it's more that the selection is skewed.

(Though if you PM me a short list of people you like, I bet I can get you a short list of people to order

)

CDarklock · May 16, 2008

Shweta said:
Wow, I didn't realize that people still consider spec fic to be mostly optimistic.

One of the problems I've noted in amateur fantasy writing is the general desire for the fantasy world to be an idyllic place threatened by this one nasty thing that can be eliminated, and then it's all utopian and happy and tra lala lala.

I find it much more interesting when the fantasy world is a horrid place, full of dirt and grime and intolerance and racism and sexism and state-sponsored religion and slavery and poverty. So I write stuff like that, and people are just horrified.

But worlds like that are a hero smorgasbord. Pick something! Anything! There's a grave injustice there, just waiting to be corrected! I mean, the story almost writes itself.

SPMiller · May 16, 2008

I've found that when I post works "from the heart" in SYW--or give them to IRL betas--I almost invariably receive responses along the lines of:

"It's well-written ... but what's the point?"

Like they want a happy ending or a moral or something. It makes me want to tear my hair out. I want to say: Don't you understand? I'm telling the truth!

So yes, I intentionally change my stories so that they're more optimistic.

Shweta · May 16, 2008

There's more to a point than happy endings or morals, though.
It might just be that the driving emotional force is clear to you but not to the reader?

SPMiller · May 16, 2008

Shweta said:
There's more to a point than happy endings or morals, though.
It might just be that the driving emotional force is clear to you but not to the reader?

Possibly. But after such changes--making the story "happier", for want of a better description--these stories tend to be received with a much more positive response.

Of course, that could also be my fault, and in my revision I'm inadvertently making the story clearer.

Shweta · May 16, 2008

Might be interesting to try making the story clearer and darker, and see what people say

Dawnstorm · May 18, 2008

Mad Max (Roadwarrior) anyone? (linky)

And didn't William Burrough's Naked Lunch have the theme running in the background ("Whatcha gonna do when the oil runs dry?/Gonna sit right by and watch those Arabs die." From memory; not verbatim)

That's not to say the trend's not there, but it's just that - a trend. And the "scarce-resource post apocalyptic setting" is hardly new - and a genre cliché, rather than an innovation. Heck, I'd be more surprised to see an optimistic novel hit the shelves, about alternate fuel resources.

Karen Duvall · May 18, 2008

It's ironic about the whole post oil dystopia thing coming up. It's interesting, though. The post oil/no oil fascinates me when thinking of alternate fuel sources. I learned just the other day that the invention of the gasoline combustion engine ran practically neck and neck with nuclear fueled engines. When you think of how history could have been changed by that one invention, it bogels the mind.

I'm currently doing research for a steampunk urban fantasy I'm writing and have been reading up on steam engines and the industrial age. Wow. Did you know the Doble steam car (1906) used a steam condenser that enabled the water supply (24 gallons) to last for as much as 1500 miles? And the car could go from 0 to 60 mph in 15 seconds! I want one of those. Anyway, my story is set in the 21st century when technology is stuck in the industrial age. Very fun. But I'm not delving too heavily in the science arena. The fantasy element has a lot to do with the world's stunted progress.

Higgins · May 21, 2008

CDarklock said:
But worlds like that are a hero smorgasbord. Pick something! Anything! There's a grave injustice there, just waiting to be corrected! I mean, the story almost writes itself.

Hero smorgasbord? Wouldn't that be more like...in the evil world the bad people line up to have choice slices of various generously-cooked heros?

mscelina · May 21, 2008

You know, I'm always trying to take fantasy archetypes and break them in my work. My worlds are creepy places--with lots of politics; gotta have that!--and my people are not always brilliant, not always 'nice', not always willing to do what I make them do.

Your run of the mill escapist fantasy novel will still have a place on the spec fic shelves of the world because they are such a staple of the genre. Escapism at its highest. But, I can escape with a good dark fantasy just as easily.

*grin*

Smiling Ted · May 21, 2008

I'd just like to stick up for escapism.
Just a little bit.
Those Harry Potter books were a big help when I was laid out for a month with painkillers and a ruptured disc.

Phenomenally astute essay on a new sub-genre of Speculative Fiction

Plot Device

A woman said to write like a man.

Shweta

gone

Ruv Draba

Shweta

gone

Pthom

Word butcher

Shweta

gone

Ruv Draba

Shweta

gone

CDarklock

Yes!

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged

Shweta

gone

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged

Shweta

gone

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here

Karen Duvall

Chalice the Hatchet Knight

Higgins

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

Smiling Ted

Ah-HA!