The 5 Best Pop Culture Fiction
Get overdosed in pop culture references!
Pop Culture Fiction is a genre of fiction where stories are intentionally filled with many references from popular pre-existing established works. Not just one, or two, or even three references. They don't even just reference one medium. Instead, these stories reference many works from across different media like they have been written solely to contain pop culture references. Some would even go on to have world-building made up of pop culture, and many have even become well-known and iconic because of their references.
Creators of pop culture fiction tend to be really geeky, and they often reference a myriad of their favorite geeky media like films, comics, video games, and anime. Hence why pop culture fiction overlaps with other genres like gamelit and superhero fiction. Other genres that it overlaps with include postmodernism, satire and parody. But unlike the latter two, pop culture fiction tends to be more serious, with themes ranging from metahumor and immaturity, to the follies of geek culture and commentaries on story-telling.
In this list, we will discuss about five of the greatest pop culture fiction in literary history.
Gideon the Ninth
Memes are a recent phenomenon consisting of complicated but humorous pieces of internet art. Memes aren’t taken that much seriously in the realm of artistry but when used at the right moment, they can make for amazing pop culture references. Gideon the Ninth by Tansyn Muir is a great example. At first glance, it looks like your typical sci-fi Dune-esque story about a feudal lord and his knight in a futuristic monarchy-ruled world. But then the first meme hits you, then followed by the next.
The story is about a cavalier named Gideon, and her lady Harrow, who were invited by the Emperor to his court. Their space journey is wrought with all sorts of danger, both man and monster. In order to survive, they attempt to coexist and work together — a no easy feat knowing the not-do-cordial cultural relationship between a master and a slave. While serious in tone, author Muir did well to infuse modern meme humor and pop culture references in the story to elicit some weirdness and laughter. It’s a very weird and fun book, both portraying the best of modern literature but also satirizing it.
Dark Lord Bert
Dark Lord Bert by Chris Fox is the story of a little goblin named Bert living a meek existence in a high fantasy world. What the small creature don’t know is that he is actually an NPC living inside a tabletop board game that is being played by a group of friends. Things take a sudden turn when, for reasons unknown, Bert acquires a mystical item that turns him into the most powerful being in this world. Now it is up to the players to find this anomalous goblin, and the latter to fight back when the more sociopathic ones start wreaking havoc in an effort to track him down.
Although beginning as a simple GameLit-slash-parody inspired by Ready Player One, the story later evolves into a tale of power, discrimination, loneliness, and the theme of always looking out for the little guy. Although it’s a independent book, it is well-written and is considered by many to be one of the best of its genre. As a GameLit, it is filled with many references from tabletop games, video games, and the fantasy genre as a whole, such as Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter, and Skyrim.
Ready Player One
You know it as that Steven Spielberg smash hit, but Ready Player One first began as a novel written by power geek Ernest Cline. It tells the story of orphan Wade Watts, who lives in a downtrodden near future with his abusive aunt. He escapes from his painful life through his love of nostalgic 80s media, and by visiting an MMORPG augmented reality world known as the OASIS, a place where he can live a fantasy life fighting kobolds and dragons. When the creator of OASIS died, he left a will stating that whoever can win this intricate contest that he has created can become the new owner of said MMORPG.
Ernest Cline did amazingly to create a story where an underdog attempts to win over this Willy Wonka-inspired contest, all the while solving Indiana Jones-like puzzles that were built upon and inspired by long forgotten pop culture references, and combatting a monopolistic mega corporation (seemingly similar to Electronic Arts) who is hell-bent on using its vast money and resources to win. It is the most well-known example of pop culture literature. And while it’s not a perfect book due to its weird, arrogant, and sometimes creepy protagonist, it has influenced many gamelit, litrpg, and pop culture fiction books today. It’s even gained popularity when it got adapted into film by none other than Steven Spielberg in 2018.
Anno Dracula
In order to understand Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, one must travel to the 90s, the decade where it was first published. It was an era where the abundance of mass-produced media created stagnation for many creators. A few began to look for inspiration from various stories released in the previous century. What they got was a high dose of history about the evolution of fiction. Soon, the term known as mythopeia was born, and stories such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Planetary were published. Anno Dracula is one of this stories.
The book takes place in an alternate history where Count Dracula killed Dr. Van Helsing, went overseas to marry Queen Victoria, and became the ruler of England. This created a chain of events that changed world history. While beginning as a simple alternate history taking place in Victorian England, Newman began dabbling with modern pop culture, adding well-established characters like Spider-Man and Scooby Doo, creating probably the most unique fictional world in literary history where all of fiction literary co-exists. And surprisingly, Newman did it all without making it too complicated or confusing. If fantasy has Lord of the Rings and science fiction has Star Wars, then pop culture fiction has Anno Dracula.
Otaku Girl
Imagine a world where you can gain the powers of your favorite fictional characters, from your favorite movie, comics, television show, anime, and video games, and use them to go on adventures and fight other people. This is the premise of the book Otaku Girl, a pop culture fiction created by author Louis Bulaong. The book tells the story of a group of geeks who got trapped inside this virtual reality world, and now had to fend themselves when it began to further morph and malfunction. At first glance, it seems no different from other gamelits like Ready Player One and Dark Lord Bert. But Otaku Girl proves to be so much more. It’s a book that garnered cult hit status, from online fanfictions to even art from Premium Vector.
The book, and its predecessor Escapist Dream, was conceived to be both a tribute to contemporary geek culture, and a deep look at issues that surrounded many kids today, like bullying, isolation, pressure, depression and suicide. It’s a philosophical book that borders on heavy drama, and a story about geeks trapped inside a corrupted fantasy world mirrored teenagers today and the inescapable torment of social relationships, education, and preparation for the difficulties of their future adult life. Like in the book, kids can still make the best out of it. But sometimes the stress can become heavier, hence the need of help from others. Otaku Girl is not just a pop culture fiction book. It’s a damn well-written postmodern masterpiece with a geeky flavor.
So this is the list of the best pop culture fiction books out there. Has any of them manage to bring out your inner geek? Go on and enjoy reading!