Margaret Atwood and Ursula Le Guin have been friends for many years, and it makes us wonder which came first: their friendship, or their remarkably similar views on feminism, life, and science fiction?

Atwood, like Le Guin, also takes offence when her novels are labeled as science fiction, because she feels like that doesn't accurately portray what she does. Instead, she prefers the term "speculative fiction":

Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen. (Atwood, 2003)

In her press tour for her widely acclaimed Oryx and Crake (go read it, it's awesome), she got prickly (like another author we know…) about its designation within the sci-fi genre:

Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. It contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians. (Atwood, 2003)

Sound familiar?

The two authors also share a feminist worldview, even though Atwood is less accepting of the label than Le Guin. But call her a "humanist," and you've got yourself a deal.