World in the Satin Bag

Five Reasons Science Fiction Is Better Than Fantasy

/

To supplement the Five Reasons Fantasy Is Better Than Science Fiction, I’ve decided to create this list of the exact opposite. I am a science fiction nut, after all, and what science fiction nut doesn’t think about his/her favorite things about his/her favorite genre? Enjoy: SpaceshipsSure, science fiction doesn’t have dragons and unicorns, but it does have awesome spaceships. Okay, so not all of the spaceships in SF are all that great, but a lot of them are. I wouldn’t mind owning the Enterprise. I’d throw some awesome parties on that ship! Gadgets and Technology (all forms)Gadgets, of course, are better known as a James Bond thing, but SF has a lot of gadgets too. Everything from all those handheld gizmos in Star Trek to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (don’t panic!). Then there’s all the lovely technology that makes SF so wonderful (nanotech, cyberspace, robots, universal translators, automatic, self-cleaning toilets that also clean your bumb for you, give you a quick shave, and send you on your way to work…). Expansive Interstellar GeographyUnlike fantasy, SF is not limited by location. In a fantasy world, you can theoretically see everything there is to see in a single lifetime (or a couple if you’re one of those reincarnated folks). But SF has many planets with many cultures and geographies. Imagine all the amazing things you could see! Aliens cities and artifacts and even new human ones with new cities. And this is, in theory, limitless, because there are likely trillions of planets in our universe. Unfortunately, I think if you visited them all you’d probably explode. It’s one of those rules in the Bible or something…look it up if you don’t believe me. Fantasy SimulationWell, with the invention of virtual reality (cyberspace, etc.), SF has the luxury of recreating any environment imaginable, but in the safety of one’s own home, or in a corporate complex, which likely isn’t all that safe at all. So, while a fantasy world may be wonderful to live in, isn’t there something to be said about having the best of both worlds all in one package? Well, SF offers you that opportunity, or at least the characters that populate SF stories. The FutureThis particular item is mostly to poke fun at LoopdiLou, who vehemently contested my inclusion of the same thing in my Five Things Every Science Fiction Story Should Have right up until Kim Stanley Robinson put her straight during a Q&A sessions at UC Santa Cruz. I’m quite interested in the future, as you all may well know. It explains why I read quite a lot of science fiction for fun, because the future is fascinating and wondering where we will be in ten, twenty, even a hundred years is ripe with amazing speculations and imagery. What things would you add to this list? What thing would you omit? Let me know in the comments!

World in the Satin Bag

Five Reasons Fantasy Is Better Than Science Fiction

/

It’s been mentioned to me that I don’t talk enough about fantasy around these parts. It’s true, I don’t. In fact, I don’t talk about fantasy very much at all and I think that is a horrible disservice to you, my readers. So, I thought it would be nice to start off my fantasy binge posting with a lovely little list about the reasons why fantasy is better than science fiction (there will, of course, be a second list positing the opposite). Enjoy: MagicProbably the most important aspect of most fantasy stories, magic makes the fantasy world go round. Science fiction, unfortunately, lacks magic. There are no magic baking spells in SF, no glittering fireworks spells or spells to send the evil bad guy to the fiery depths of some imaginary hell. You can’t shoot magic fireballs from your hand in an SF world either, and I think that’s a travesty. Dragons and Other Creatures You Can RideLet’s face it. If you had the opportunity to ride on the back of a real dragon, would you? Unless you’re afraid of flying or heights (or oddly afraid of fantastical critters), or simply crazy, you’d jump on this opportunity in a heartbeat. Throw in some pegasi (plural for pegasus), gryphons, unicorns, etc. and you end up with a laundry list of fantasy-based critters you can ride. Sounds good to me. The Bad Guys Always Lose (a.k.a. Happy Endings)And I mean always. You can probably cite a few good examples to the contrary, but fantasy stories almost exclusively end with the bad guy losing. This doesn’t happen all the time in SF; sometimes you nail one bad guy, but the evil corporation still exists, or another bad guy springs up from the same mold, etc. At least in fantasy you know that there’s a happy ending. Lots of cheering and good ale. All you get in an SF celebration is the dark realization that none of it really matters, because in a week some other goon will rise up and continue with the “company mission.” Unique LanguagesTrue, there are a few SF stories with unique, invented languages, but fantasy rules on this front. And I do mean rules. Tolkien wasn’t even the first one to do it, by the way, but he was the one person who made invented languages a cliche of the genre. But that’s okay. I forgive him for that. I like Quenyan and Sindarin, or the dozens of other interesting languages that have sprung up over the last 50 or so years. They’re interesting and I have the utmost respect for fantasy authors who can do it well, because I can’t. MythologyI don’t mean this in the traditional sense, although fantasy draws heavily from human mythology (obviously). By this, I mean that the fantasy genre has created its own mythology, largely due to Tolkien, of course. Science fiction, with rare exception, doesn’t have this benefit. The hordes of fans obsessively devoted to a particular world tend to be fantasy enthusiasts, not science fiction enthusiasts (with exception primarily to the Heinlein crowd and the folks that thing Dune is real). They have a lot to be devoted to: fantasy authors have developed entire histories for their fictitious civilizations, which have captivated audiences worldwide. It’s a beautiful thing. And there you have it! If you disagree with my selections, leave a comment. Or, if you would like to amend my list and put one of your own on here, leave a comment. Anywho!

World in the Satin Bag

Orbit Books: One Dollar Ebooks!

/

In case you are one of those folks that can either read on a computer without any problem or happens to have one of those new-fangled eReaders (Kindle, Sony, whatever), I thought I would pass along that Orbit Books has a huge deal on ebooks. $1.00 each! That’s dirt cheap! As for me? Well, I hate reading on the computer, so I try to do it as little as I can. I also don’t have the money to blow on one of those readers and quite honestly I don’t know if it would be worth it. Even $200 is a lot of money to spend on something you don’t even know will work the way you hope. I spent $250 on my mp3 player because I already knew what I was going to get: an mp3 player that could hold a crapload of mp3s and play them, and would likely have a bunch of other features that would matter less. I don’t know if I will be getting a great reading experience with an eReader. It would have been nice to be one of those lucky folks who were given a reader for free in exchange for a review. But, alas, I am not one of those folks! Anywho!

World in the Satin Bag

School’s Back In!

/

I start school today at noon and, well, I figured I’d give you all a heads up. Things may be a little quiet over the next few days. The reason? Well, partially because school is back in and partially because I will be putting the finishing touches on my graduate school applications. I have officially turned in my applications to the University of Rochester, the University of Florida, the University of Oregon, and Oxford University. Oxford is completely done and I only have to send my supplementary materials (CV, statement of purpose, writing samples) to the other three. Those are only the most pressing applications as far as deadlines are concerned. Don’t worry, though. I won’t be putting off all the others until the deadline like those four. The others will get finished before February and all will be well.So, wish me luck, send me money, because I’m broke, and I look forward to spending another quarter with all of you, even though you’re not here!

World in the Satin Bag

Website Found: Forbidden Library

/

I figure since it’s a new year and there are bound to be a whole slue of new book bannings and burnings across the country, this would be a most fitting website! What is it?The Forbidden Library is a website featuring only books that have been banned at one time or another, with short commentary on each of the books explaining the reasons behind any past or present banning (at least the ones known). Why is it cool?I’m not sure if this section of this post is even necessary. If you’ve even wondered why people have banned a particular book, this is probably the place to go. Books are listed by title or by author (there are also an about page, censorship quotes page, mailbag page, other sites page, and credits page). You’d be surprised what books have been banned and for what reasons, too! Books have been banned in the past even though the challengers never read whatever it was they were trying to ban! Talk about idiocy! Give it a look. It’s a cool site and might prove interesting for a reading list for your kids or just for yourself (recommended for kids, since corrupting our youth while they’re still young is much better than waiting until they are almost adults; books are “evil” after all).

Scroll to Top