Friday, December 07, 2007

And How Do We Feel About Science Fiction?

Why Don't We Love Science Fiction? in the TimesOnLine is a great article on the status of science fiction. It also describes how science fiction and science influence each other.

Though the article pertains particularly to the situation in Britain, I don't think things are much different here or much different in kidlit. My impression is that while fantasy reigns supreme in children's literature, hardcore, traditional science fiction is far rarer.

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14 Comments:

Blogger Kelly said...

I'll bite. And, I'll admit it. I don't like Science Fiction. I've never liked it. The only real reasons I can think of are:

a) A lot of it is terrible;
b) I dislike thinking about space, generally speaking;
c) I'm scared of space;
d) So much of scifi is spent on technology

I don't like scifi in movies or on tv either. I've never seen a Star Trek, for example, 'cause I've never been able to sit through one :)

9:08 PM  
Blogger gail said...

Why Don't We Love Science Fiction actually addresses your first point. The author says:

"The literary snobs will say it’s badly written, which most of it is. So is most “literary” fiction. Badly written literary fiction is, however, wholly unnecessary. There’s a lot of badly written SF that is driven by an urgent journalistic desire to communicate. That is necessary."

I think it's true that there's a lot of badly written fiction of all kinds. You have to read a lot to find the good stuff. I wouldn't agree that badly written SF is any more necessary than badly written literary fiction, though.

I am not an authority on science fiction by any means. I started reading it because family members read it, and I usually only read one or two sci fi books a year, if that. That being said, I would suggest that there is science fiction that isn't set in space. I believe dystopian futuristic novels are considered sci fi (I think Sheila and I had a dystopian discussion during last year's Cybils, and she found an actual definition that included it.) Invasion novels aren't set in space. Alternative history is considered sci fi and that isn't set in space.

The technology point is interesting. When I like science fiction, it's not because of the technology. (I find books set on spaceships or space stations claustrophobic, for instance.) There's usually a storyline I like, or a situation or characters. The setting just happens to be one considered science fiction. For instance, Neuromancer was too techie for me but Virutal Light has aspects of a policie procedural, and I understand police procedurals, so I liked it better.

The Other theme is one I like, also, and it appears a lot in science fiction.

3:11 PM  
Blogger gail said...

That's Virtual Light and police procedural.

3:12 PM  
Anonymous CFD said...

??CFD??????

12:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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1:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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10:55 AM  
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11:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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1:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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3:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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2:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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7:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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10:02 AM  

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