February 2009

World in the Satin Bag

Aliens and Spaceships Do Not a Science Fiction Make

/

Recently in my South African Literature course my professor, in talking about Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People, mentioned that the story, while not based on any sort of reality that we understand to exist, is also not a science fiction story because it doesn’t contain aliens or spaceships or anything like that. I, obviously, disagreed, but didn’t say so in class primarily because I didn’t want to have an argument over something that largely wasn’t relevant to our discussion at the time. This sort of misconception of science fiction seems to be rampant in the “literary” world and I’m not quite clear as to why. While it is certainly true that much of what makes up science fiction literature, film, art, etc. revolve around the tropes (spaceships, aliens, etc.), there is also an enormous body of science fiction that is completely devoid of these elements. But they aren’t seen as science fiction. Why? Is it because the “literary” world refuses to acknowledge that science fiction is about far more than just aliens and spaceships, that it’s a genre of speculations about what may be under the umbrella question “what if?” Authors such as Margaret Atwood have made it clear they dislike being labeled as science fiction, and, of course, you have to wonder why. After all, quite a lot of people read science fiction, and if you could act as a gateway into other literary forms that those SF readers might not have encountered before, isn’t that a good thing? And it works the other way too. What’s wrong with reading science fiction? Should we enjoy the reading process and isn’t the fact that people actually read at all a good thing? When starting this post I immediately thought of such works as Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and McCarthy’s The Road, among others. Both are science fiction stories, but written for a “literary” audience. Perhaps this is a trend now; we put the works that lack the most flamboyant of SF tropes in the “literary” category as a way of marketing them to an audience that may not have been receptive with the SF name flashing on a metaphorical billboard. I simply would like to see the “literary” world acknowledge that science fiction isn’t limited to aliens and spaceships, but is a genre that encompasses politics, sociology, biology, and much more. Being marked as a “science fiction tale” is not a debasement, but, perhaps, an honor. If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.

World in the Satin Bag

New Scientist: Transporters Are Real?

/

Recently New Scientist had an article about scientists who had managed to transport ions across a room. They didn’t put it in a box and walk it over. No. They actually transported it. As in: Poof, it’s there! Pretty incredible if you ask me. Maybe we’ll do two ions this time. And then a goldfish! Who knows! If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.

World in the Satin Bag

Readers, Authors, and GRRM: Angry Over Waiting (for the next book)?

/

Apparently the blogosphere is alive with discussion of fan reactions to George R. R. Martin’s rather long writing periods between installments of the A Song of Fire and Ice series. Some folks agree and are either dropping GRRM from their libraries or simply bitching about it; others are defending GRRM and bitching about everyone else. My opinion on this matter probably won’t make anyone happy. In fact, it might just tick off some folks who read this blog or know me. Now, I haven’t read GRRM, obviously, but I’ve read plenty of other series, some of which have had relatively long wait times. The Harry Potter series took forever to finally be finished, but fortunately for that series, I didn’t start reading all the books until the sixth one was about to be released; my wait was short. But there are other series that weren’t so fortunate to have snatched me up late in the game. What happens to the authors of these series? I drop them. Now hold on, hear me out. I don’t drop them because they are bad authors/writers, nor because I’m pissed off that I have to wait. I drop them because I just don’t care anymore. I’ve lost interest. I’ve moved on to other things. The thing is, waiting two or three or five years for the next book in a series is too much for me. I’ve stopped reading the Eragon books for this very reason; by the time Brisingr came out, I had lost interest. I like being able to stay connected to a series as it is being written, but those two plus year lulls contribute to my forgetfulness, and unfortunately there are few, if any, series I’m willing to read over and over to gain back the details I’ll need to fully understand what is happening in the new installment. And I read too much as it is (for school, mostly) to dedicate an entire section of my brain to every minute detail of one series. This, however, does not mean I think we should boycott authors or throw a fit when one takes too long. GRRM likely has damn good reasons for taking a hell of a long time to produce a book. I don’t know. But if you’re so upset with the author that it makes you red in the face, then maybe you should find someone else to read. GRRM doesn’t need the stress from you haggling him ever ten seconds to hurry up with the next book and it’s probably not healthy for someone to get ticked off every minute just because a book hasn’t come out that you want. Give him some slack or drop him and find someone. Don’t email him about it either. That’s just rude. And that is all. Any thoughts?

World in the Satin Bag

Science Fiction/Fantasy Awards: The Hugos and Other Things

/

Recently the blogosphere has been somewhat up in arms about the whole SF/F awards thing, particularly the Hugos. After reading some of what Adam Roberts had to say and what some others said in response, I decided that I should give my two cents on the issue. Apparently there are two primary items that folks are discussing: the Hugo Awards aren’t getting enough votes (apparently a horrendously dismal amount); and whether or not awards like the Hugo, Nebula, etc. are worthless. My personal opinion on the voting problem for the Hugo Awards is that the folks that run it are simply outdated. Back in the day (assuming that they’ve run the Hugos relatively the same since when it first started out) there weren’t a lot of ways for folks to communicate about their favorite books. There was no Internet, telephoning people you didn’t know was pretty much impossible (or creepy), and basically the only way to really connect was either to go to one of those new-fangled conventions or hang around with a local SF/F group. In those days it made a lot of sense to have an award that was voted on by attendees of a convention. There weren’t a lot of books to read back then (so the big ones tended to shine through) and the folks who were likely to vote were already going to be at Worldcon. But with the invention of the Internet, the Hugo Awards are a bit outdated these days. The problem is that folks who can’t attend the convention aren’t likely to spend $50 to be able to vote on a favorite book, and those at the convention either aren’t voting because they don’t care, or aren’t voting for the same books (or something of that nature). The thing is, the Hugo Awards are a fan-based award (primarily speaking). Why is it that most fans can’t vote? Now, granted, $50 isn’t a lot, but if you can’t go to Worldcon, it’s kind of a lot of money just to be able to cast a vote. And with the economy in crummy condition, do you honestly expect anyone to fork out $50 to get to vote for an award that largely means nothing to them? My suggestion on how to fix the Hugo Awards to make them more appealing is to change the entire structure to allow for folks who haven’t paid to vote. Sure, that might tick people off, but at the very least you could make it so the votes of Worldcon members are worth more than non-Worldcon members (like Locus). This would get more people involved who don’t have the money to become a member. We have to remember that one of the largest audiences of SF/F is not a bunch of old guys with steady jobs; it’s teenagers and college kids. We’re the ones consuming these books in large quantities (especially fantasy). How many teenagers do you know that are willing to fork out $50 to vote? I don’t know any. I wouldn’t have. I’d rather have spent that $50 on movies and crap that I didn’t need. The Hugo Awards, in my opinion, forget about these folks precisely because they are outdated. This needs to change so that the Hugos do more than be remembered as “some award,” but become something more fans actually care about. And that’s where my thoughts on the whole “awards are rubbish” thing come in: To me, none of the awards really matter at all. While I think they are wonderful for the authors and probably have a good impact on sales, I don’t necessarily care. A book with “Hugo Award Winner” on the cover is not likely to make me jump with joy to read it. I simply don’t buy or read books that way. I think of these awards along the same lines as the Oscars. They’re more symbolic than anything else. But that’s me and I am in no way the only opinion. There are those who think the awards are garbage and worth nothing. I disagree. I think many do pay attention to the awards when buying books (or at least notice them in a good way). I think the awards need to exist to congratulate good authors for good genre writing. But I get the point. For folks who really don’t care, who hate the politics behind it, etc. awards really are valueless. That’s just the way it is. I also understand Adam Roberts’ point about SF/F awards having too much focus on the fanbase. I think there need to be more significant awards that don’t take fan-voting into account, but judging. This might sound screwed up, ignoring the opinions of fans, but fans tend to latch onto the same kinds of books and don’t always move outside of that comfort zone. The awards aren’t really about that; they’re about the best works in the genre. That has to be emphasized more. The Hugo is great for being a fan-voted award, but we need more judge-voted awards out there to make sure that none of the greats that folks might not have read or ignored for some reason slip through the cracks. What do you think about all this? If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, etc.

Scroll to Top