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[lollardfish]

Ok sci-fi fans, what are your favorite science-fiction utopias? I'm thinking about teaching a class on utopias next year, and want to use some reasonably contemporary fiction (as well as Plato, More, Bellamy, Lost Horizon, SimCity, and other stuff).

Comments

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Not exactly Utopias, but definitely somewhat-idealized worlds:

Diane Duane's Doors books (The Door Into Fire, The Door Into Shadow, The Door Into Sunset). This is Utopia-under-attack, and the plot is about how the heros beat back said attacks. Warning: strong sexual themes, including homosexuality* and rape; nothing really graphic, but not glossed over either.

The Neandertal world in Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids trilogy. Again, not a perfect Utopia, and one of the problems with it is clearly delineated in the third book, but the notion of the Alibi Archives might be a good one for discussion. Warning: one major plot hook is the rape of the female protagonist, and the (IMO very realistic) descriptions of her PTSD-type reactions to it; also, the Neandertal society is organized around universal bisexuality.

* Actually, homosexuality and heterosexuality per se don't really exist in Duane's universe; you love who you love, and no labels are attached to it. This is part of the reason I see it as a Utopia, but people who can't accept that worldview are going to have a problem with it.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I don't know either, but I'll check them out over the summer.