Comments on: Is this the Golden Age of SF (and if not, WHY NOT?)

By: Philip Palmer

Philip Palmer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:51:15 +0000

Linger – glad you like the current crop of SF more. Some of the books I read as a lad stand the test of time – some really don’t.

Drew and Rachel – I agree completely about the odd mismatch between the popularity of SF in the movies and among readers. If you add in superhero movies as SF – which I firmly believe they are – then SF totally dominates the zeitgeist.

Of course quite a few blockbuster SF movies are pretty mindless. But really good stuff gets through – like the excellent JUMPER, written by the guy who’s now writing FLASH FORWARD, David S. Goyer. And District 9 of course. And personally – though I know many who disagree – I thought THE WATCHMEN was one of the most intelligent action movies of recent years.

Popularity isn’t everything – I love Joss Whedon’s philosophy that he’d rather his work was loved as much as life itself by a few, than quite liked by many. (Or words to that effect.) But I do like Rachel’s comment that we live more in a Sci-Fi than a Fantasy society.

But Sci-Fi, of course, can be FANTASTIC – it has to be possible, but that doesn’t mean it should be prosaic.

By: linger

linger — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:56:53 +0000

I do have to say, if I compared all the 30′s-50′s SF books I’ve read with all the 90′s-00′s SF books I’ve read, I’d definately prefer the 90′s-00′s stack.

By: Rachel Aaron

Rachel Aaron — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:50:50 +0000

I’m with Drew. Fantasy book sales may be topping SciFi, but Science dominates the screen (which I always thought was odd, aren’t movies supposed to be the ‘land of magic’?). I would say we’re much more of a SciFi society than a fantasy one.

Of course, going back to the point of the post, I’m a huge fan of books written right now over books written decades before. I was an English major, I did my time in the Classics, now I want books written for me. I truly agree that we are always living in the best of all worlds for fiction, because the current crop of media is being made for US, and it will never be as enjoyable as it is right now. I think this is true for fantasy just as much as SciFi.

However, please take my opinion with a grain of salt. I did not get into SciFi at 12, but at 22. As a girl I was always encouraged to read fantasy, not SciFi, and I grew up thinking SciFi was math-y and boring. This was a great disservice, and I’ve never really shaken that prejudice, especially about the classics of SciFi. Maybe that’s why I gravitate so heavily towards the newer books, no stigma. Or… it could just be that the newer books coming out are awesome. That probably doesn’t hurt.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:43:20 +0000

… Can I add – note that SF kills fantasy generally in volume of movies produced, while fantasy has only a few hits.

What does this say?

Yes, LOTR is a monster, but feel the width.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:39:28 +0000

Fab post!

There’s a lot to chaw on here, but I especially agree with this: that NOW is the golden age. It would be sadly ironic for SF writers – futurists – to look back on the past as the benchmark and inspiration for writing today.

I’d love to see some market research on WHY SF is trounced by fantasy in sales.

My hunch is that SF has the aura of something where you need to be more science educated to enjoy, while fantasy is pretty much hold-on-tight-I’m-making-it-up-as-I-go-along-here!

FYI re: Hovis. The ads were done by one other than …. Ridley Scott, of ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER fame.