G = Galactic

 “We are the universe watching itself, watching and learning.” ― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Today's bookish topic is galactic... More specifically, our desire to be amongst the stars. 

It's a desire on everybody's mind, more often than we care to admit. It was why Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a feat that seemed too fantastic, so people called it a hoax. It's why when we imagine the apocalypse, be it zombies or global warming, we imagine a space station or alien planet capable of supporting life after earth. It's why private space companies emerged after NASA, with billionaire entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson building their own spacecrafts, one of which looked comically like a male body part. And it's absolutely why the concepts of space-tourism and privatized space flight are so popular, even if the 'common people' probably won't be able to afford it.

And although this is a book blog, I would be remiss if I didn't point out all the space themed television shows and movies that have captivated us over the years, like StarTrek and all of its spin-offs, Star Wars and its spin-offs, and Battlestar Galactica. 

And then there's our fascination with aliens, the idea that life already exists among the stars. I read a book in 2024 called The Unidentified by Colin Dickey that said (and I'm not sure if I'm quoting or paraphrasing so I'm going to use quotations regardless) that "Big Foot is the idea of where we came from, while aliens are where we want to be," or something to that effect. It doesn't mean we want to have big eyed, giant fore-headed noggins, or that we desire slime and tentacles, but that we desire a perfection: a technologically and intellectually advanced civilization that can move amongst worlds freely.

All I'm going to say on that matter is this: though the idea of traveling through the galaxies is quite freeing, in reality you'd be hard pressed to get me on a plane, never mind a rocket ship. But I do enjoy a good science fiction novel detailing peoples who are living their best life sailing across galaxies like in The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez, Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey, To Sleep Among the Stars by Chris Paolini, and Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey.

Would you go adventuring across the universe if you had the opportunity? Do you have a favorite book in this genre?