As 2025 draws to a close, we look to writers of fantasy and science fiction, not for stories of bug-eyed monsters, dazzling special effects or predictions of the future, but for alternative visions of how our world might be–for better or worse. These stories are sometimes called speculative fiction, or even parables, because they raise thought-provoking moral questions. Both authors are women in a field formerly dominated by men. Ursula Le Guin is probably the best known of the New Wave of speculative fiction authors who came to prominence in the 1970s and ‘80s, and N. K. Jemison is a widely honored contemporary author whose work is often discussed in connection with Afrofuturism.

Suggested Reading:
Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (1973)
N. K. Jemisin, “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” (2018)
Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them” (1983)
N. K. Jemisin, “Valedictorian” (2012)