Comments | silk_noir: Dancing on that Grave in a Red Dress

silk_noir

Dancing on that Grave in a Red Dress

Mar 07, 2011 08:54

So lately I've been talking with some friends about whether or not SF is dead. Well, for me, that's asking what they think, and then listening. And then I get all firey and pugnacious and slam my onager jawbone in the dirt and say by gum, someone just needs to revive the sucker. (And because I'm half insane, I frequently intimate that Ta-da! ( Read more... )

passion, reading, positive thinking, science fiction, writing, question

Comments 17

ext_244149 March 7 2011, 18:11:00 UTC

I am fed up with polemical writers who preach at me. I've been fed up with that for years. When I look at my bookshelves these days, I find far more history on the shelves than I do science fiction. As I've said in the past, if I have to sit and listen/read a poorly realized lecture on history, political science, anthropology, sociology, etc, etc, etc, I will go find a book written by an expert and read that ( ... )

martinhesselius March 7 2011, 18:35:07 UTC

We suffer similar stereotypes of Alabama.
Thankfully, we also build rockets.

abbotofunreason March 7 2011, 19:27:13 UTC

"Just because the bookshelves are clogged with fantasy and YA and vampires doesn't mean that we should be ready to throw that first spadefull of dirt on SF just yet."

This.

3fgburner March 7 2011, 20:02:53 UTC

I'm currently reading a book about people who go around shooting ghoulies, ghosties, and thingies that go bump in the night.

evil_fionn March 8 2011, 05:04:12 UTC

Been thinking about this all day, and I sort of finally hit on what I think the possible issues are for me ( ... )

mstress_elianor March 8 2011, 13:49:51 UTC

I agree with Fionn. I am not excited by hard core science in my brain candy. I work in communications so I get my fill of dry social theory and writing press releases and reading for legal content. Blah. I can do it, but when I am ready to sit down with a good book the genre doesn't matter to me so much as the story line and the characters ( ... )

ext_244149 March 8 2011, 22:19:29 UTC

A historically flawed book, 1862 is. There is no way the British would have intervened in the American Civil War based upon the Trent Affair alone. There were economic and strategic reasons against such a decision.

I enjoy reading alternate histories as well, so long as the premise is sound and plausible. So many of them, like 1862, are not.

I realize that the wording here might imply a terse/critical or perhaps even an attack tone. That is not my intent. My criticism is with 1862, not with the person who read and enjoyed it.

Respects,
S. F. Murphy
On the Outer Marches

mstress_elianor March 10 2011, 19:30:07 UTC

"After several weeks of tension and loose talk of war, the crisis was resolved when the Lincoln administration released the envoys and disavowed Captain Wilkes's actions. No formal apology was issued. Mason and Slidell resumed their voyage to Britain but failed in their goal of achieving diplomatic recognition."

I agree that the situation was unlikely to engage Britain in the conflict, however, as a premise for a book it was relatively plausable. Much better than making something up out of whole cloth.

As for being attacked, nah. Besides, it's not actual history, just brain candy! :o)

maggotpunk March 8 2011, 06:25:16 UTC

Genres go in and out of fashion. Right now zombies are cool, previously vampires were cool, Sci-Fi often makes a comeback. Soon there will be some big hit and there will be a lot of sci-fi capitalizing on that fame. There will be the die hard fans but for the general public they'll go with whatever the corporate overlords feed them.