Culture Question
A lot of people have expressed a wish to be reading sf and f (in addition to other genres) in other settings besides western civ.
I applaud this wish. I agree! Great idea! Here's the problem I keep butting up against: so many writers in English have been so long steeped in their own culture, when they venture far out of it, the research really shows. Sometimes one can even recognize sources by conclusions drawn, and the way facts are presented; other times the world feels thin, the characters may be earnestly drawn to represent a culture the writer respects, but they don't act like people.
I don't know a way around it, except immersion, but we really need several lifetimes for that.
I applaud this wish. I agree! Great idea! Here's the problem I keep butting up against: so many writers in English have been so long steeped in their own culture, when they venture far out of it, the research really shows. Sometimes one can even recognize sources by conclusions drawn, and the way facts are presented; other times the world feels thin, the characters may be earnestly drawn to represent a culture the writer respects, but they don't act like people.
I don't know a way around it, except immersion, but we really need several lifetimes for that.