Reading – Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction* was a remarkable find for me. Last month, while walking through one of the Half-Price Books stores in Austin, I came across this hardcover for only $3. The title grabbed me, and after a few moments flipping through the book and studying the entries I knew I had to take it home.

Over 300-Pages of Spectacular Inspiration

I’d like you to do something for me. I’d like you to take a moment and pretend that you’re an ordinary person with one, inescapable, unusual desire that you’ve never before shared with anyone: You want to write science fiction stories. For as long as you can remember you’ve wanted to sit down and work until you have crafted story after story, works that you’re proud of and want to share with others.

Still with me? Good, because Brave New Words* can help. The book presents hundreds of sci-fi terms, defines them, and then takes a massive leap and gives us uses of each word in science fiction stories, starting with the earliest use and working up through the modern era of sci-fi. And every single word can inspire, from “slower-than-light” — first used in 1953 by F. Brown Light and last used in 2005 by the Onion — to “needle gun” (five uses from the 40s through the 80s) to “generation ship” there are ideas on every page. In fact, you could probably use the book as an exercise in creative writing:

Select five random words from the dictionary and write a 1,000 word story that uses all five words.

Over 300-Pages of Reading Ideas

And since every word in the book includes uses in fiction, every single word includes with it a short reading list that’s as likely to inspire as entertain. I could easily see a book club getting together and choosing just one word to guide their next book selections. “Hyperdrive,” as one example, gives us six entries ranging from 1949 to 1997. The book really is a gold mine, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to discover it.

Closing Thoughts

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction* isn’t your usual sort of book; this is a reference book, a tool, but even as a tool it’s far more useful and entertaining than many books already on my shelves.

The book isn’t one that you read from start to finish, but it’s also exactly the sort of thing that if you don’t watch yourself you’ll spend hours reading random entries and, soon, start tracking down old sci-fi stories. And overall it’s fun and a fantastic resource and a book that I’ll keep shelved nearby. Especially if I ever do take a serious stab at writing fiction of my own.