What's Missing in Science Fiction at the Moment?

[suboptimal]

I think SF needs more material examining individuals' and Man's deepest reactions to scientific development and concepts, and the impacts science is having (and may have) on society.

This, to me, is the reason SF is an interesting genre to read. Not scientific speculation, but exploration of social, ethical and psychological issues posed by possible futures. The possible futures component is the essential part that differentiates SF from fantasy in my little world. A book may be scientifically ludicrous (to beat upon one of psik's favorite dead horses: Hyperion) but still fit into how I understand SF.

Ultimately genre labels are marketing devices, not creative straightjackets. It's undoubtedly the case that the line between SF and fantasy is ambiguous, but getting upset about where the line is drawn strikes me as an absurd waste of energy that ought to be put toward creating.

Perhaps writing needs to go the direction of electronic music, where young artists view the creation of a new genre as a professional goal; the result is absurd. Space dragons of the future with robot wizards spewing forth Newtonian sparkle-vampires: I call it post-emocore fanta-sci and demand my own shelf.

[Rosie Oliver]

From suboptimal: Perhaps writing needs to go the direction of electronic music, where young artists view the creation of a new genre as a professional goal;

You don't need to go into this kind of bizarrity to get good science fiction. Science is weird enough without needing to cross-fertilise conventional tropes to get absurd (and idiotic) ideas. Believe me, the truth about science and what it can do is stranger than any fiction SF writers can come up with!

[Steven L Jordan]

You don't need to go into this kind of bizarrity to get good science fiction. Science is weird enough without needing to cross-fertilise conventional tropes to get absurd (and idiotic) ideas. Believe me, the truth about science and what it can do is stranger than any fiction SF writers can come up with!

Actually, I don't see anything wrong with a bit of cross-fertilization. SF has been isolated as a genre for so long that it lacks the cross-genre catalog that most other genres now take for granted.

The trick is using the right tropes, of course. G.R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series combines SF with superhero tropes to excellent effect. And horror tropes can work in SF, witness the success of the Alien franchise and others.

Overall, I'd say that SF could benefit of an expansion of its scope through borrowing of tropes from other genres, as well as more borrowing from other genres such as drama, comedy, history, adventure, etc.

[Rosie Oliver]

Actually, I don't see anything wrong with a bit of cross-fertilization. SF has been isolated as a genre for so long that it lacks the cross-genre catalog that most other genres now take for granted.

The trick is using the right tropes, of course. G.R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series combines SF with superhero tropes to excellent effect. And horror tropes can work in SF, witness the success of the Alien franchise and others.

Overall, I'd say that SF could benefit of an expansion of its scope through borrowing of tropes from other genres, as well as more borrowing from other genres such as drama, comedy, history, adventure, etc.

Agree that science fiction could expand through borrowing from other areas... the point I was trying to make is that we don't NEED to go to other areas as there is loads of unexplored science there for the grabbing and science-fictionising. Even better some of that science is really mind-blowing...

Which all goes to make the science fiction genre as one that could readily refresh itself... only that is just not happening at the moment because the publishing industry is not willing to risk such new ideas.

I will go on to predict that science fiction as a genre will outlive most other genres

[Steven L Jordan]

Agree that science fiction could expand through borrowing from other areas... the point I was trying to make is that we don't NEED to go to other areas as there is loads of unexplored science there for the grabbing and science-fictionising. Even better some of that science is really mind-blowing...

Which all goes to make the science fiction genre as one that could readily refresh itself... only that is just not happening at the moment because the publishing industry is not willing to risk such new ideas.

I will go on to predict that science fiction as a genre will outlive most other genres

I don't know about that last part (I think social and political satire will outlive all other genres, myself), but I have no argument with the rest. You should provide a few examples, though!

For myself, I've noted a dearth of material that takes place undersea, or even on the ocean surface, and considering how little of the oceans we've explored thus far, that omission is a travesty.

[Rosie Oliver]

I don't know about that last part (I think social and political satire will outlive all other genres, myself), but I have no argument with the rest. You should provide a few examples, though!

For myself, I've noted a dearth of material that takes place undersea, or even on the ocean surface, and considering how little of the oceans we've explored thus far, that omission is a travesty.

Hm... the truth is stranger than fiction, but I've had a short story published back in October 2009 in a magazine called Jupiter that deals with the undersea. Even better it is based on a real phenomenon, but extrapolated to its extreme conclusion.

[Steven L Jordan]

Hm... the truth is stranger than fiction, but I've had a short story published back in October 2009 in a magazine called Jupiter that deals with the undersea. Even better it is based on a real phenomenon, but extrapolated to its extreme conclusion.

Well, there you go. Another area that's been lacking: Earth orbit, believe it or not. I've done two novels that take place in Earth orbit, an arena that I think needs serious consideration.

[Rosie Oliver]

Well, there you go. Another area that's been lacking: Earth orbit, believe it or not. I've done two novels that take place in Earth orbit, an arena that I think needs serious consideration.

One of the short stories I'm working on deals with this... but it's a long way from mature.

You seem to be picking themes that a fair amount of real engineering has been done in (ships and submarines for sea; probes and satellites for space). Could the fact that progress has been made in these areas leave readers with the feeling that there's nothing all that much new? I suspect both Steven and I know how much newness is to be had in both these areas, and it's a case of advertising it.

A good example is Ben Bova's moon series where he uses diamond clippers. At the time of publishing, moulding diamonds into shape was a new plausible technology and all the rage in science magazines, and Ben used this to great advantage.

[Steven L Jordan]

You seem to be picking themes that a fair amount of real engineering has been done in (ships and submarines for sea; probes and satellites for space). Could the fact that progress has been made in these areas leave readers with the feeling that there's nothing all that much new? I suspect both Steven and I know how much newness is to be had in both these areas, and it's a case of advertising it.

The key to an SF story isn't just the existing technology, but its potential, and the impact it has on the characters involved. The tech may be mature or familiar, but it takes a good author to investigate its ramifications and present them in a realistic way. IMO, the human and social ramifications of orbital and aquatic living/working haven't been explored deeply, and they are overdue.

[Rosie Oliver]

The key to an SF story isn't just the existing technology, but its potential, and the impact it has on the characters involved. The tech may be mature or familiar, but it takes a good author to investigate its ramifications and present them in a realistic way. IMO, the human and social ramifications of orbital and aquatic living/working haven't been explored deeply, and they are overdue.

All technology changes the way we humans behave, sometimes only by a little, other times in huge ways. You only need to look at the impact of improving medical ways and means to see this.

As for the aquatic way of living/working - Arthur C Clarke had a go with The Deep Range. It's got some good ideas for the time it was written. But there are 2 fundamental difficulties - the first is it takes only a short depth before a diver is in danger of the bends and the second is that our seas are becoming more acidic, killing off the corals that are to vital to the diversity and sustainment of underwater life. You could try doing the equivalent of a dystopia underwater perhaps?

My first novel (which needs a heavy edit before I even think of sending it off - because my writing's improved so much since it was written) does explore some fascinating issues in the North Sea. There is a battle looming between the energy corps and the fisherfolk. One of the novel's drawbacks was it wasn't exciting enough, until I went rather over the top and kind of left 'reality' behind. The scary thing I did find was that so many of my predictions started becoming true, including weirdly enough the UK's austerity decade that we are now experiencing. But it was the lack of excitement that made me go onto other novels...

I suspect this is also true of a lot well written novels about orbital living. It's to a certain extent predictable, which makes it more boring compared to the far future SF.

[psikeyhackr]

I wonder if part of our problem is belief in progress.

That sounds kind of funny in relation to science fiction but if we think science fiction is supposed to get better and better over the decades then what do we really expect? The stories are longer than they were in the 60s but how much of that is due to word processors?

Sci-fi stories set hundreds of years in the future seem kind of silly without smartphones now but what else is there for SF writers to come up with that could not have been thought of decades ago? Hunger Games does not seem interesting or impressive as sci-fi goes to me. I think Alexei Panshin's Rite of Passage from 1968 has more to say.

psik

[Steven L Jordan]

Good SF is more than just a setting, fortunately. And as I said, there have to be a myriad of good untapped stories involving humans in orbital and undersea environments... Not just hardware stories, but people stories.

[psikeyhackr]

Good SF is more than just a setting, fortunately. And as I said, there have to be a myriad of good untapped stories involving humans in orbital and undersea environments... Not just hardware stories, but people stories.

A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content. - Theodore Sturgeon

That is the best definition of science fiction I have seen to date.

But I think there is another level to the issue. What happens when the technology changes the culture? Some people may have greater degrees of influence but is anybody in control? What can Bill Gates do about the invasion of $100 Android tablets?

What will cheap ubiquitous computing do to the culture?

I just found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQaOB44Iy5E

This is from 1993 and the interesting point is Gibson talking about "The Golden Ghetto" 2 minutes into the video. It is like science fiction was invaded by "writers" who can't write science fiction stories but presume to say what literature is and the same attitude that Kurt Vonnegut was reacting to in 1965. But apparently the financial rewards had changed by 1993. Gibson admitted that he didn't know anything about computers. I managed to finish Neuromancer the first time I read it but I tried twice3 since then and couldn't do it.

psik

[Rosie Oliver]

I wonder if part of our problem is belief in progress.

psik

Hm... sounds to me more like science fiction has to deviate significantly from the expected near future before the publishers will even take it on. After all there's plenty of dystopia about!

Which makes me think the publishers want to turn science fiction into fantasy!

[ian_sales]

Good SF is more than just a setting, fortunately. And as I said, there have to be a myriad of good untapped stories involving humans in orbital and undersea environments... Not just hardware stories, but people stories.

In which case, I recommend this book: http://www.mutationpress.com/

:-)