Cli-Fi: A Millenials' Genre

Mason Neil is a junior International Communications major at Walla Walla University, and has many interests. He  commonly writes about literature, fashion, travel, environmental issues, and his personal life.

"I hope you enjoy what I have to share, and I’d love to hear back from you!" he writes on his blog :

 http://masonneil.com/2015/08/14/cli-fi-the-millennials-genre/


The other day he posted a brilliant blog post titled

Cli-Fi A New Genre for Millenials

or

Cli-Fi: A Millenials' Genre


He wrote:

A recent poll showed that 50% of Republican voters felt that our environment should be a priority in the US Government. We all know liberals have felt that way for a while, but this is no longer an issue of the hippies. Those who choose not to believe in climate change are now the crazies. (See this chart.)

With that, I do a lot of reading on the topic of climate change. Several times I have written about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, but as far as climate change in our modern environment goes, there are much more advanced reads that I would eagerly suggest to anyone who has a minute.

I’ll admit that I do enjoy a very nerdy read. Books filled with facts, numbers, and research do not intimidate me. Probably one reason I find no hesitation in reading these titles is because I spent so much of my childhood and high school years reading only nonfiction.

Now there is a new genre that appeals to those who don’t jump towards the nerdy content, but still enjoy a good adventure. Cli-fi combines the current issues of climate change with the imagination of the science fiction and fantasy realm. Most of the titles in this genre are set in the future – a sort of post-apocalyptic fixation on what’s going to happen if we continue living like the consumers we are.

In Divergent, the environment around Chicago is severely damaged.

I am beyond thrilled with this trend. And millennials are picking up on it, too. Of the few YA books I’ve read recently, many take place in the future, and feature both political and environmental meltdowns.

I do have qualms with those who wish to say this is a new field, however.

A recent article published my The Atlantic praised H. G. Wells, among others, for first exploring this sort of fiction.

Yet I was disappointed that there was no mention of Ray Bradbury.

In my opinion, he has published more on this topic than almost any other author. (This is not a competition, but I feel he deserves a shoutout.)


If you’re interested in getting into this genre, I highly suggest reading The Water Knife, a newer addition to the genre that is receiving a lot of positive attention.