George Elliott, Middlemarch, and SF
Those of you who like 19th C novels as much as I do, go read Jo Walton's take on the idea of Middlemarch and science fiction.
She also raises a good point about the problem with some sf and f in which the shiny ideas appear to be the focus of the story, to the cost of developing that resonated sense of the real in characters. Given that such things are subjective--one person's dynamic characters are someone else's standard cardboard cut-outs--it's a good point.
I mean, though we love genre, how many of our favorites have what we perceive to be a balance between the razzle-dazzle of magic or high tech, and complex interactions between characters who seem as real to us as people we know?
She also raises a good point about the problem with some sf and f in which the shiny ideas appear to be the focus of the story, to the cost of developing that resonated sense of the real in characters. Given that such things are subjective--one person's dynamic characters are someone else's standard cardboard cut-outs--it's a good point.
I mean, though we love genre, how many of our favorites have what we perceive to be a balance between the razzle-dazzle of magic or high tech, and complex interactions between characters who seem as real to us as people we know?