Friday, October 01, 2010

Best and worst childbirth scenes in sci-fi & fantasy

At io9, Charlie Jane Anders and Kelly Faircloth developed a list of the best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy.

One novel--from a collection that includes mostly television shows and movies--among the best scenes:
Dune by Frank Herbert:

The birth of Alia Atreides is awesomely aware, because her mother drinks the Water Of Life while pregnant. As a result, she's born a fully fledged Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother — in spite of some people who want to get rid of her before she's born. She's already as intelligent as an adult, which makes her trip ex utero strange and unique and totally mystical.
Read about another novel on the list.

Dune is also on John Mullan's list of ten of the best deserts in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue