It’s a slightly click-baity title, but as we’re still generating more content for our magazines, this one included, why not?
My Sci-fi unpopular opinion is that 2001: A Space Odyssey is nothing but pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. I’ve tried watching it multiple times and each time I have absolutely no patience for the pointless little scenes which contain little to no depth or meaningful plot, all coalescing towards that 15 minute “journey” through space and series of hallucinations or whatever that are supposed to be deep, shake you to your foundations, and make you re-think the whole human condition.
But it doesn’t. Because it’s just pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. Planet of the Apes was released in the same year and is, on every level, a better Sci-fi movie. It offers mystery, a consistent and engaging plot, relatable characters you actually care about, and asks a lot more questions about the world and our place in it.
Seconding Three Body Problem for interesting setting/plot/actual fictional science.
It will subvert your expectations more often than not if you’ve gotten tired of modern scifi tropes. It takes a lot of time to chew on what the ramifications of certain events would be to society, and it manages to include one of my favorite mystery plots in all of literature.
Some people dislike the really hypothetical scifi elements but imho they serve an important and interesting narrative role. They’re responsible for creating the unique technological climate in the books.
It’s not for everyone, but if that sounds good then by all means I recommend it. It’s a totally unique setting and style compared to western scifi that asks and tries to answer some very compelling questions.