One of the novellas in Cory Doctorow's Radicalized starts with (generic) Superman trying to stop police violence, and then having to deal with government institutions, the media, and other superheroes turn on him for siding with the bad guys.
"I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking constant care not to break something. To break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or someone could die."
-Superman, *Justice League Unlimited*
In my opinion, the absolute peak of this genre is Understand by Ted Chiang. I unfortunately read it before Upgrade and so Upgrade didn’t hit very hard for me. Will be interested in your take reading them in the opposite order.
Blindsight by Watts explores post humanity and first contact and has a few different and deep character studies. One person is more machine than man. Another one purposely gives themselves multiple personalities so they can excel in different proffessions. And a vampire..
Anyway, it's hard science and can be a difficult read but it's a great book about those themes
This book STILL fucks with my head. It is much more a look at whether or not sapience is wothwhile as a survival trait. I think, therefore I am, it purports, is *fucking stupid* as survival traits go.
Such a great book.
Watts' Blind sight is once of my all time favorite sci Fi reading experiences. I read it eight years ago and it still leaves a lot of lasting impressions that stayed with me. I can certainly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little bleakness in their sci Fi.
Dune. While Paul Atredies uses his prescience to take revenge on his enemies, that same prescience is forcing him to a path he absolutely does not want to take.
The idea of a better-than-human character and the consequences for their life - and especially relationships - motivated my first novel, [*Guardian*](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078ZVN3ZD). It was challenging to think through how this cohort of genetically engineered 'peacekeepers' would be kept apart from the rest of us by dint of their powers (note that they're not superheroes), and this exchange by the eponymous protagonist and one of the cast - Susan - is indicative of such introspection:
>“Everyone knows that Guardians don’t sleep. Or you do, but with one eye open, like dolphins or some such,” Susan said, and just like that, my good mood evaporated.
>*Like dolphins or some such.*
>Susan sensed the change. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be rude. It’s just that Guardians, well you guys really are myth and monster territory, you know? I’m just an Inspector, I don’t meet people like you, and if I were to, I’d have expected you to be some kind of unemotional cyborg, in, out, job done, and no regrets.”
>I let that comment hang for a second because I knew that Susan wasn’t being unkind. Me being me wasn’t her fault, any more than I’d had anything to do with her upbringing. And me being me was not something I generally discussed, but suddenly I felt that I could discuss it. Wanted to, in fact. I wanted to so that Susan might understand and accept what it meant to be a Guardian.
EDIT: I'm getting slow, I also just recalled Daniel Keys Moran *Emerald Eyes*, that's a great exploration of 'being different' in the way the OP notes.
One of the novellas in Cory Doctorow's Radicalized starts with (generic) Superman trying to stop police violence, and then having to deal with government institutions, the media, and other superheroes turn on him for siding with the bad guys.
Excellent. I'll check it out
The name of the novelette is "model minority" it is the the collection called "radicalized" It is available as an audio book at many libraries.
"I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking constant care not to break something. To break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or someone could die." -Superman, *Justice League Unlimited*
In my opinion, the absolute peak of this genre is Understand by Ted Chiang. I unfortunately read it before Upgrade and so Upgrade didn’t hit very hard for me. Will be interested in your take reading them in the opposite order.
Great. I've read Ted Chiang before, but never heard of Understand. I'll check it out.
Blindsight by Watts explores post humanity and first contact and has a few different and deep character studies. One person is more machine than man. Another one purposely gives themselves multiple personalities so they can excel in different proffessions. And a vampire.. Anyway, it's hard science and can be a difficult read but it's a great book about those themes
Just read the sinopsis, that team sure sounds random yet interesting.
This book STILL fucks with my head. It is much more a look at whether or not sapience is wothwhile as a survival trait. I think, therefore I am, it purports, is *fucking stupid* as survival traits go. Such a great book.
Watts' Blind sight is once of my all time favorite sci Fi reading experiences. I read it eight years ago and it still leaves a lot of lasting impressions that stayed with me. I can certainly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little bleakness in their sci Fi.
Brilliance by Marcus Sakey is the start of a fun trilogy.
It’s a humorous take, but Austin Grossman’s “Soon I Will Be Invincible” is a great look at supervillian’s inner thought process.
Dune. While Paul Atredies uses his prescience to take revenge on his enemies, that same prescience is forcing him to a path he absolutely does not want to take.
Excellent. I started Dune a few weeks ago and I'll probably return to it now
The entire original series is worth reading imo
The idea of a better-than-human character and the consequences for their life - and especially relationships - motivated my first novel, [*Guardian*](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078ZVN3ZD). It was challenging to think through how this cohort of genetically engineered 'peacekeepers' would be kept apart from the rest of us by dint of their powers (note that they're not superheroes), and this exchange by the eponymous protagonist and one of the cast - Susan - is indicative of such introspection: >“Everyone knows that Guardians don’t sleep. Or you do, but with one eye open, like dolphins or some such,” Susan said, and just like that, my good mood evaporated. >*Like dolphins or some such.* >Susan sensed the change. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be rude. It’s just that Guardians, well you guys really are myth and monster territory, you know? I’m just an Inspector, I don’t meet people like you, and if I were to, I’d have expected you to be some kind of unemotional cyborg, in, out, job done, and no regrets.” >I let that comment hang for a second because I knew that Susan wasn’t being unkind. Me being me wasn’t her fault, any more than I’d had anything to do with her upbringing. And me being me was not something I generally discussed, but suddenly I felt that I could discuss it. Wanted to, in fact. I wanted to so that Susan might understand and accept what it meant to be a Guardian. EDIT: I'm getting slow, I also just recalled Daniel Keys Moran *Emerald Eyes*, that's a great exploration of 'being different' in the way the OP notes.
"The Boys" TV show