Aquatic Uncle

1.  The gap between land animal and fish serves as a very literal and evident generational gap, but serves the purpose of a figurative one as well. Uncle N’ba N’ga is a product of another time, even genetically speaking, and this underscores the differences between the ages. This is used within the structure of the story to convey many concepts regarding change, prejudices, and reactions in relation to the evolution of a society.

2.     It was easy to connect with the scenario of being in relation to one whose lifestyle or opinions have fallen out of popular favor in a rapidly changing setting. N’ba N’gas vexed tirades on the newer generations and their alternative lifestyles would be perfectly at home amongst Baby Boomer frustrations towards Millenials. In addition, Lll’s interest in N’ba N’ga’s ways and subsequent reactionary dismissive response towards contemporary trends is a familiar pattern amongst youth today.

3.     Were I to adapt The Aquatic Uncle to a graphic novella, I would condense the spoken exposition as the visual elements might allow the difference in species to be more easily readable.

Lilith's Brood

Octavia E. Butler's Lilith's Brood continues the trend introduced by previous sci-fi readings: approaching societal issues typically deemed impolite to discuss through fictional foils. Lilith's Brood touches on a number of topics, taking complex, fluid stances on race, sexuality, and gender that allow for more exploration than more dismissive mainstream approaches. Lilith's interaction with the Oankali, mankind's captors and saviors, is nuanced by the many facets of the relationship between the two species. Xenophoboia, reluctant desire, and the drive to survive and reproduce all play a role in the link between the remains of mankind and the alien species they have been abducted by. The events that take place could also serve as an allegorical method of discussing the state of and feelings experienced by displaced ethnic groups and how racially charged environments affect desire and survival.

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness is not only a famous and popular sci staple, but a perfect example of early sci fi used as an exploration of topics that would have at the time been considered taboo. The ambisexual Gethenians, and protagonist Genly Ai's struggle to understand them, allows the novel to explore complex topics regarding culture vs. sex, sexuality, and sexual expression, providing Ai as a relatable protagonist to the mainstream American of the late 60's so that readers might build an understanding through him in a somewhat vicarious manner.

Anansi Boys

Like Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or even Joyce's Ulysses, Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys is a contemporary reimagining of existing mythic characters and tales in a very literal sense. Mr. Nancy, the father of Charlie, is the literal incarnation of the trickster god Anansi, and Charlie's twin brother (ultimately revealed to be half of him) controls spider trickster powers as well. The mythical elements on this story are not only made more contemporary through their actual appearance in, and interaction with, the modern world, but also through Gaiman's transplanting of African cosmology into a Western setting, refreshing the format of both Western and African mythological interaction at once.