Re: ot. does science fiction offer hope?

Science fiction, like other forms of literature, tends to mirror the
attitudes of the time ot it's production. Early science fiction in the
40's and 50's was almost uniformly optimistic and filled with can-do
spirit. Later science fiction, beginning with Harlan Ellison's new
wave in the late 1960s and early 1970s, became more cynical and filled
with dystopias instead of utopias. The cyberpunk movement of the 80's
and 90's also probed the dark sides of technology, especially
computers. Although great things are happening in the world right now,
there are troubling things happening too. This can't help but be
reflected in the creative arts.

Another thing that has changed in science fiction is that the quality
of the writing has improved dramatically. Plot and characterization
have greatly improved. The stories are less black and white. They
examine nuances and alternative points of view. They deal with
consequences. An interesting idea or gadget is no longer sufficient to
propel a science fiction story.

There has also been a schism within science fiction. There is hard SF-
best represented in the pages of Analog magazine and a more humanistic
brand, seen in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Azimov's
Science Fiction. Each type has it's pros and cons.

Although Jim's synopsis of Stephen Baxter's Xeelee sequence is
accurate, it is perhaps a bit over-simplified. The human race
struggles, strives, succeeds and finally declines. This is no
different that the life cycle of any culture (or person for that
matter). I wouldn't call this pessimistic, per se. Jim does have
about 5 years of SF reading seniority on me. I vividly remember
reading my first SF book, in 3rd grade.

A good way to survey current SF, if you are interested, would be to
read a recent copy of Gardner Dozois' "Year's Best Science Fiction."
I think that the 22nd is the current edition. Another good recent
anthology is "The Hard Science Fiction Renaissance." I don't remember
the authors. IMHO, the best living SF author right now is Gene Wolfe.
The book of the New Sun (a trilogy in five volumes, as the author has
famously noted). Is vivid, deep and engaging. Wolfe's work always
does make me a bit sad, though. I would also strongly recommend
William Gibson for cyberpunk (Count Zero, Neuromancer and Mona Lisa
Overdrive). I agree with Jim on Alastair Reynolds and Iain Banks.

I went through a period of maybe 10 years where I was reading less
science fiction, but I have been reading it intensively again over the
past year or two, with great pleasure.

Hope this helps.

Joel

.

Relevant Pages

  • August Philadelphia Fantastic- Victoria Mcmanus and Tom Purdom
    ... The Philadelphia Fantastic Authors and Editors Series invite you to join us ... She has published a media tie-in story as well as science fiction. ... She will be reading from a work with an adult theme, ... Tom Purdom's fiction spans a career which started with" Grieve for the Man", ...
    (rec.arts.sf.announce)
  • =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20July=20Philadelphia=20Fantastic-=A0=A0Tom=20?=
    ... author will immediately follow the reading. ... Asimov's, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy, Amazi= ... Tom edited one anthology, "Adventures in Discovery" which was a collection o= ... Philadelphia Inquirer. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.announce)
  • Re: Terry Pratchett -EOS Alzheimers
    ... And you're not reading what I'm writing, ... Well, yeah, I know that, but I was getting tired of writing the word ... Farscape and Stargate and Star Wars and the space adventure comics ... reading some good science fiction, and it's not easy for people to be ...
    (uk.people.support.depression)
  • Re: New Blood: Preferences and Directions
    ... there's nothing much happening with YA science fiction. ... >up, I remember reading a lot of O'Dell, ... >I think that with kids, you want to get them hooked on reading. ... Nancy Lebovitz http://www.nancybuttons.com ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Dated books
    ... One of the things that, for me, adds an element of interest to reading older ... novels is the internal evidence of when they were written: ... I think that any late 40's to early 60's Science Fiction is a prime ... flying cars, but who would have guessed 50 years ago that most people ...
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