Thank The Maker: Decade

A new decade, a new lease on science fiction life - This is Girl's Guide to Sci-Fi, saying 'Hello' after an extended sabbatical from reading, living, writing science fiction.

A year of continuous detective novels interspersed with more of the same while satisfying in a safe, doldrums kind of way abruptly stopped when I wandered up to my third-floor bookcase, reached around the towering stacks of Christies and come downstairs with my number one. ChapterHouse: Dune, Frank Herbert's 6th in his Dune series before his death continues to capture my interest whole-heartedly. Oddly, the 6th is not regarded as his best work with many Dune readers unable to hurtle past the behemoth that is God Emperor of Dune. Does a reader need to like the protagonist to enjoy a book? A fair question, especially if you are going to delve into the Dune-Universe, move past Muad'Dib to discover and equally hate the true destroyer/saviour of humanity, his son Leto II.   

But this isn't a discussion of my darling Dune - this is the relaunch of Girl's Guide to Sci-Fi.

I feel reborn having turned the crackly, brittle pages of my 25-year-old copy of Chapterhouse: Dune. By 2018, I had burnt out on sci-fi, especially the American slant that peppers annual bestseller lists and award ceremonies. On the hunt for new perspectives on old tropes, my interest waned as sci-fi became more a chore and less a joy. Combine a return to work after four years of stay-at-home-Mom life, there was little time to write, to research, to read, to be a geek.

Science Fiction ignites my imagination, challenges me to alter my perspective, to expound on life, to be fully present in my reading journey. With 2020, and a small stack of sci-fi books waiting on my bedside table, I feel a return to myself. I am reader, a geeky science fiction nerd who has returned to herself. 

The final question of course is, what book launched this new decade of science fiction reading? Just an epic little poetic love story This Is How You Lose The Time War that has me befuddled with it's beautiful madness.