The perils of reading science fiction

[peake]

One of the things we become experienced at doing when we read sf is picking up on clues about the world. An artfully dropped name can tell you all about the alternate history you are in, a casual phrase can give you vital information about the technology available, and so on. It’s what Samuel Delany was talking about when he discussed the way sf

Comments

[fjm]

Well, if it's an American writer....

I once caught a student out with plagiarism because the story they submitted had an aristocrat having a cigar and brandy with breakfast and heading for the "Eastside" of London.

[lamentables]

I read Stephen Baxter's The H-Bomb Girl at the weekend - highly recommended, btw - and had exactly the same problem of being initially uncertain as to whether I was seeing mistakes or signs of sf.

[swisstone]

I had the same feeling when coming across the errors in Emperor - were the differences down to an alternate history, or just poor research? Sadly, I fear the latter.

[del_c]

In general you're right; it can be a problem. But I'm not finding this particular example a tough call :-)

[tysolna]

I'd guess that it's an author mistake, unless of course more anachronisms come creeping up. Still, how many casual readers would notice the Mini as an anachronism, and how many would think that it's a signpost for local colour?

[del_c]

An American casual reader might not notice anything, because the Mini says "Britain". A British casual reader notices, because the Mini says "The Sixties".

I can't stress enough how far from esoteric knowledge this is. It's not like showing a minor historical figure who did not in fact arrive in the country until the following year; it's more like having the main characters listening to the Beatles' White Album during the Blitz.

[tysolna]

... or a German casual reader. ;)

I didn't know this; in fact, I would probably have thought that, like the VW Beetle, the Mini was in production in the 1930s. Shows that, as much of an Anglophile I may be, I can't compete with someone who's grown up in the UK.

[nwhyte]

This is what ruined Connie Willis' "Fire Watch" for me!

[del_c]

I still don't know if her references to underground stations in Oxford in To Say Nothing Of The Dog were 21st century developments for "future colour", or just Willis not understanding that Oxford is not a suburb of London on the Metropolitan Line.

Having her characters zip back and forth between the two cities in minutes strongly suggests the latter (or is that meant to be future transport technology? damn...)

[nwhyte]

Oh, I'm more inclined to be charitable to her in To Say Nothing of the Dog - so much of the novel depends on the accuracy of her geography of the Thames valley and of Coventry that I think we can reasonably infer intentional future colour rather than unintentional error in that case.