Yes, but I think there's resistance to anything new. As science supersedes religion, science fiction will take it's rightful place alongside all of the great genres. Now fantasy? Science Fiction is defined, more or less, as fiction that explores the impact of science on societies. What's special about fantasy? I'll admit I'm not generally a fan. Except for the setting, it seems no different from any other sort of fiction, and the differences in setting are sociologically irrelevant. I see it all as the fan fiction of myth and fable, and derivative of Tolkien.
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Anonymous2009-06-30 5:47
>>1
Because more often than not these books are really fucking bad. Not because of what they are about, but how awfully written they are and how horribly bland their characters are.
They appeal to children with underdeveloped tastes because they are captivatingly fantastic (in their eyes). If those books were free from fantastic imagery (often delivered really badly, too), nobody would've even published them.
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Anonymous2009-06-30 6:39
>>6 and how horribly bland their characters are.
How can you speak so badly of the genre that brought us Ponter Boddit, Lenie Clarke (mermaid of the apocalypse), Bren Cameron, and Apollo Papadopulos?
>>4
Oh, fine. I think this genre is considered by many to just be “weird stuff”. Like it or not, but most people aren't looking to learn a whole new world every time they crack open a book from a series they haven't read before. Maybe you get excited when you read something that makes absolutely no sense (when you're sure it will become clear in the future/with more thought), but I think the average person is just irritated. Consider how often this happens to you (in a good book), then consider how often it's going to happen to a person who isn't familiar with genre conventions. It would be like mixing up Gravity's Rainbow, A Clockwork Orange, and a few electronic circuit schematics, then asking a person to figure it out as they went along. By its very nature, it's limited to people who like to work their brains.
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Anonymous2009-06-30 7:16
>>7 Consider how often this happens to you (in a good book), then consider how often it's going to happen to a person who isn't familiar with genre conventions.
Oh, and consider that good books are generally more bewildering, so you've got people either being underwhelmed by the nerd equivalent of a romance novel (e.g. Nor Crystal Tears), or you're just losing them with dead women transforming into schools of fish or something.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 15:13
>>5 As science supersedes religion, science fiction will take it's rightful place alongside all of the great genres.
You are a very stupid person.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 15:21
there are like three or four science fiction authors and about as many fantasy authors that are legitimately good
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Anonymous2009-07-01 17:02
>>10 I know nothing about science fiction.
Fixed that for you.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 17:12
>>7 Ponter Boddit, Lenie Clarke (mermaid of the apocalypse), Bren Cameron, and Apollo Papadopulos
Who?.. I bet if I read prose involving them I'll find them horrible. I bet you're one of the people who like really bad shit simply because it's pretty obscure. But probably they are fucking awesome, who knows? Chances are slim, but they might exist. So, what are these characters from and is it, in your opinion, worth reading?
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Anonymous2009-07-01 17:24
>>11
well let's see, there's H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Stanislaw Lem.. am I missing anyone important?? George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut don't really count, anyone else is probably worth ignoring/only appeals to boring nerds.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 17:47
Yes there is. Rightfully so, too. There's a lot of sci-fi/fantasy out there that's absolute shit, and it deserves to be scalded like harlequin romances. But on the other hand there's stuff like "Fahrenheit 451" which gets stuck in science fiction when it's good enough to be considered literature, alongside "1984." Even Ray Bradbury's non science-fiction stuff like "Dandelion Wine" get crammed in science fiction.
Seriously though, the day I find Harry Potter and Terry Pratchett and shit like that in literature isles of bookstores is the day I start pulling my hair out.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 17:48
>>13
The works of Jules Verne, Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, and Arthur C. Clarke are widely recognized, have had a huge impact on society, and have been made into dozens of films. I could go on, but I want to give a special shout out, out there, to Mr. Gene Rodenberry!
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Anonymous2009-07-01 18:30
>>15
cool, other good science fiction authors : JK Rowling
>>12
Ponter Boddit is from Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax trilogy. He's kind of a big deal, and you should be familiar with it. I read the first one or two, and they were pretty good. Not a bad character at all.
Lenie Clarke is from Peter Watts's Rifters trilogy. Slightly obscure. Shit rocked so hard.
Bren Cameron is from C.J. Cherryh's ever-growing Foriegner series. I don't think I need to say any more.
Apollo Papadopulos is from Paul Melko's Singularity's Ring. He's a fairly new author, but definitely someone to watch.
>>23
Yeah, everyone who doesn't matter in the world of actual literature. You're deluding yourself if you think I'm trolling. Science fiction is crap, man.
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Anonymous2009-07-01 21:25
I'm actually writing a paper on it now!
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Anonymous2009-07-01 21:53
>>24
You're deluding yourself. It's not possible to be smart and dislike science fiction. Therefore you are wrong.
>>27
Just like every other science fiction author except four or so.
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Anonymous2009-07-02 13:12
The Sci-fi genre has some great writers, Philip K. Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, Roger Zelazny, Frederik Pohl, J.G. Ballard, Brian W. Aldiss, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Stanislev Lem, Poul Anderson, William Gibson... I could go on. Some of these authors have written some of the most thought provoking fiction ever put to paper. I don't think there is prejudice against Sci-Fi, although those awful book covers do not help, whereas I do think Fantasy has enourmous prejudice against it. While not a big fan (most of it seems like D&D shite for kids, which is a prejudiced opinion in itself) I have read a couple of good Fantasy novels and I quite enjoyed some of David Gemmel's Drenai books. And in some defence of Fantasy, Tolkien was not the be all and end all of Fantasy, The Lord Dunsany and E.R. Eddison were writing Tolkien style Fantasy long before he was, and much better I might add.
Maybe, but it's inconsequential; like prejudice against particular genres of music. Only the people who read enough to bother forming an opinion are the ones who make these distinctions. The diversity of genres are tantamount to the fact that everybody likes their own flavor of ice cream.
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Anonymous2009-07-02 16:39
>>29
The only thing Dunsany had in common with Tolkien is the overall escapist thing. Otherwise they were as different as could be. And as a prosaic DUnsany was even worse than Tolkien.
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Anonymous2009-07-02 21:15
>>1
The ignorant see only the cover, while the wise actually read the book. People deride it because they only see a fantasy, while most enjoy it, as the fantasy is only a backdrop.
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Anonymous2009-07-02 22:10
>>29
yeah man, a good 80% of that science fiction list of yours isn't all that interesting, sorry to say.
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Anonymous2009-07-03 5:14
>>35
Like you'd know “interesting” if it bit you on the nose then exhibited a startling new scientific ability.
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Anonymous2009-07-03 5:57
>>34
You're very wrong. It's actually the opposite: people enjoy it for the fantasy, while those who are used to seeing beyond the cover actaully witness horrendous storytelling.
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Anonymous2009-07-03 21:15
i wonder if i'll get trolled if i bring up the fact that i really enjoy Heinlein.
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Anonymous2009-07-04 0:12
>>38
Of course you will, 'cause all of the naysayers are trolls.
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Anonymous2009-07-11 5:06
I don't think it's science fiction that gets looked down on so much as it's 'genre-fiction' that gets looked down. Anything that happens to involve romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. is assumed to be 'not serious literature'.
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Anonymous2009-07-11 6:08
>>40
Which is totally justified. On the other hand, there are exceptions; and "serious fiction" is more often than not just as shitty as any poorly written as any SPAEC FUTUR MARS COLONY BIG BREAST BLONDE AND ALIENS novel.