The Purpose of Science Fiction (and, Technically, Fantasy)
In the 200th episode of The Coode Street Podcast, the hosts (Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe) and guests (Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert Silverberg, and Jo Walton) briefly discussed the seemingly nebulous question, “Does science fiction have a purpose?” It’s worth a listen. I would respond initially by saying that the question is somewhat malformed. […]
The Taxonomy of Genre: Science Fiction as Supergenre
I recently stayed with Maureen Kincaid Speller and Paul Kincaid, two wonderful people whose book collections would make almost any sf fan drool. One of the brief discussions we had before I headed off for my final days in London concerned the often pointless debates about what science fiction “is.” Paul suggested that thinking of […]
On Grit, Gore, and the Fantasy of Everyday Life in SF
I’m not going to re-hash old arguments about grimdark or gory fiction or whatever. Originally, I had meant to respond to the question “can fiction be too gritty?” I’m not convinced that fiction has limits in any standardized sense. Some of us may not like gore or grit (or that grr feeling we get when […]
Kim Stanley Robinson and Exposition (or, No More James Patterson, Please)
Just this past weekend, I saw Kim Stanley Robinson give a talk about narrative and time at the Marxist Reading Group Conference at the University of Florida. During this talk, Robinson suggested, as I’m sure he has elsewhere, that science fiction has been the victim of casual writing instruction, which has mistakenly convinced us that […]
Post-Post-Event Thoughts on Loncon3 and Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross is not hosting the Hugos this year. He’s made what I think is the right decision and stepped down. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you missed all the “fun” on Twitter. You can get a decent overview of the situation over at The Wertzone. In any case, what […]
Fishing (or Publishing); Whatever
Person One: There is only one way to fish. Fly fishing. Obviously. You would be a fool to try anything else. Person Two: Nu-uh. Angling is the only valid method, sir. I have clearly done better than you via this method, so you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Person Three: Oh yeah? Well […]