It’s hard to say good bye to your favorite science fiction. Whether it’s putting down the last book in a long loved series, watching the finale of a favorite show, or watching the end credits of a video game, I get instant nostalgia for the worlds I just experienced and the characters I got to know. Here are a few science fiction series I miss like crazy…
Sirantha Jax
This is a science fiction novel series by Ann Aguirre. Because the Vaginal Fantasy book club at some point mentioned it had a Mass Effect vibe (I’m paraphrasing), I decided to give it a try. Best decision ever. The series revolves around a 30-something woman named Sirantha Jax, who has the ability to essentially map space-time to jump ships great distances. What I like about her is that she’s a great mix of attitude, sarcasm, vulnerability, and open-mindedness. She’s also not an 18-year-old virgin as so many romance heroines are — in fact, she’s getting over the death of her former partner at the beginning of the book.
The series takes you across the galaxy to abandoned stations overrun with people-eating aliens, beautiful planets with foreign cultures Sirantha gets to know, and war zones where she meets an amazing array of characters. Some are human; some are alien. The series even features one of my favorite alien characters ever, a shapeshifting, insect-like alien named Velith who starts out as a bounty hunter but soon becomes one of Sirantha’s closest friends.
The books just don’t care about characters looking or acting pretty. They have a story to tell about realistic people and romance, which I love.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine is my favorite Star Trek series (although I’ll admit I haven’t seen them all), because it takes place on a space station. Sure, its protagonists may work for Starfleet, but this is also a place people call home.
Two things I love most about the show is that it features a memorable cast of characters, including aliens not explored much in the show elsewhere. For instance, Jadzia Dax is a joined Trill; Odo is a Changeling; Kira Nerys is Bajoran. The other thing is the momentum that builds as the series goes on. There’s a war brewing, and the show becomes stronger and more intense in later seasons.
At the end of it, I just wasn’t ready to say good bye to everyone I had come to know so well.
Firefly
Joss Whedon’s Firefly is a sci-fi staple. It’s a TV show that only had one season but deserved many more — though maybe that’s why it remains so hallowed in the minds of fans. It died too young, but that just makes the one season that’s out feel something like perfection.
Headed up by actor Nathan Fillion is Captain Malcolm Reynolds, the crew of the Firefly is diverse, rambunctious, and totally relatable. You can tell that everyone comes from different backgrounds, but their personalities work well together — sometimes by not working well together. Chemistry requires some heat, which you get in spades in this show. Arguments over the dinner table, a pastor making the atheists uncomfortable, a doctor trying to protect his sister who’s on the run, flirtation and crushes… There’s a lot of conflict, but the crew sticks together through it all.
A movie came after the show, called Serenity, which is what I rewatch more than the actual TV show. I recommend it if you want a taste of the world and characters, to see if you could become one of the nostalgic fans who wants it back but knows it can’t be so.
— Ashley
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