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Revolution of the Science Fiction Authors
An anonymous reader writes "85 science fiction authors including Iain M Banks, Larry Niven, Stephen Hunt, Greg Bear and Michael Moorcock have written an open letter of protest to the BBC complaining of disrespect towards the genre, when, during an entire day of coverage of fiction by the BBC, not a single SF, fantasy or horror book was looked at. Here's the original article that sparked the open letter, along with updates. The British prime minister, David Cameron, when asked to comment, said that he doesn't have a favorite genre, so I guess he's not taking Greg Bear books to bed either!"
Something for children, adolescents, and overgrown man-children who lack the sophistication to appreciate the subtle beauty of the real world. Never mind that that is simply not true, as the genre includes some of the most beautiful and mature artistic works ever published. People who are into "literature" as opposed to "reading books" tend to be elitist snobs.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
The BBC can just fire up the TARDIS and go back an fix the problem.
[Insert pithy quote here]
I keep digging, but TFA has no links at all, and searches for the program's name don't turn much up, either (though the presenter looks super-nerdy cute in her pics and you'd think she'd be into the skiffy...)
Oh, and the summary neglects to point out that the Beeb has already promised to do an episode on Genre Fiction, so the crowd's already breaking up.
... "It won't make any difference." The literary establishment has not only decided that anything but "serious," contemporary*, mainstream fiction isn't Literature, and any protest from authors in other** genres will not only not change their minds, but will in fact solidify their position. They'll see it as further proof of the inherent immaturity of those who write (and, by extension, those who read) "genre fiction," and be further reassured in their smugness.
* Exceptions may be made for historical fiction, as long as the history in question is within the last century or so.
** Literary fiction is a genre of its own, with rules far more rigid than those of SF and fantasy and at least as rigid as those of horror, romance and Westerns, but you'll never get them to admit it.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Surely the SF community and authors can devise a suitable vengeance!
Condolences to the UK, but the US doesn't fare much better. Decades ago, NBC was in on the ground floor of a multibillion dollar franchise ("Star Trek"). They moved its time slot capriciously, as if trying to lose viewership, and cut its budget mercilessly. In its last season, just about every set was nothing but cheapo paper mache boulders. Then they cancelled it at the height of its popularity. In other words, they underestimated the public's appetite for sci-fi by tens of billions, dollars or pounds, take your pick.
Now we have a cable channel dedicated to sci-fi, and they changed their name to "Syfy". How's that's supposed to be pronounced, "siffie"? They used to produce remakes of Dune that were more faithful to the books, but "Syfy" now only makes end-of-the-world and big-animal movies. They've lost faith in sci-fi too, as much as NBC did.
Both sides of the Atlantic, sad to say.
Since the stereotype of the Sci-Fi Boys' Club hasn't been accurate for generations, if ever, that's not really the problem.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Sign of the times. Sci-fi is the genre of the innovater and thinker. The current world order does not encourage either.
Asimov is rolling over in his grave.
I'm moderately surprised that Reynolds, Stephenson, Varley, and Vinge are missing from the list.
The quality of writing in science fiction is worse than in any other genre. Most people pick up something and are so turned off that they never want to read another one. I'm saying probably less than 1% of sci fi novels are worth reading. Of the most famous authors, Heinlein, for example, published around 100 novels. But of those 100, only 1 or 2 were good. And so it is for the rest. You pick one up at the bookstore and chances are, it is garbage. There is no filter for sorting through the drek.
The same short-sighted analysis could be made about any genre.
On the other hand, most of Heinlein's books are good, actually; some are very good - "Time enough for love", for instance. Asimov published who-knows-how-many books, and virtually all of them are excelent. Frank Herbert published the Dune series; if you didn't like those, I'd be inclined to distrust your judgement even further.
But by all means, do continue flamebaiting. It's fun to read.
Perhaps I'm trolling, perhaps I'm not.
With Jerry Pournelle, the Mote in God's Eye , it's awesome.
The first Ringworld was ok, even with a few scientific oopses that were made into later plot devices for the other lesser novels.
Really? Worse than _any_ other genre? I think you're exaggerating a bit. I think probably only 90% of all science fiction is crap. Which about matches what i find when i take a look at what's on the shelves in other areas of the bookstore as well. Clearly the bit about Heinlein is just you being a troll or a case of your mileage varying. Personally i've found only about seven of Heinlein's thirty-four books to be "crap." That puts him at about a 75% success rate for me.
And the "filter for sorting through the drek" is the exact same thing you use for sorting through all the drek in other genres of literature, all the drek in television, all the drek in film, and all the drek in every other form of entertainment. You can read reviews, you can read synopsis, you can ask your friends, you can sample a little before investing in the full product, and you can put all that together to make an educated guess.
If you honestly think you can pick up _any_ non-science fiction book at random or just turn on the TV to a random channel and expect good odds of finding something of quality then i think you're bound to be severely disappointed.
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Am I really? How exactly was I condescending to mainstream literature? I did say that people who were into "literature" as opposed to "reading books" tend to be elitist snobs, but that isn't slandering mainstream literature, or even the realm of literary criticism. I was merely pointing out that, if you characterize yourself as enjoying "literature" as opposed to "reading" you may be an elitist snob. Just say it to yourself: "I like reading books." Now say "I enjoy literature." Which sounded snobbier to you?
Psychological projection is the habit of ascribing to others those parts of your own personality that you refuse to accept. I accept that I am opinionated and critical. Therefore, projection is hardly the correct term, Mr. Hanky. Now, are you mad because you characterize yourself as enjoying literature, or is it something more personal?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
- Kurt Vonnegut, Wampeters, Foma, and Granfalloons
rip, kurt!
Ringworld is a great concept. But the story part got left out.
You don't see anything odd that a show sub-titled "The Books We Really Read" ignored nearly all popular books and focused on a very narrow subset favored by self-appointed elite? I assumed that "We" referred to the general public, but apparently I was wrong. BBC was using the royal "We".
Sure, most popular entertainment is crap. So is most of the "Literary Fiction" genre. Sturgeon's Law applies to all writing: 90% of everything is crap. The BBC should cover the 10% that is good, which is not limited to any one genre. I appreciate skillful use of language no matter where I find it.
For sci fi old school authors would actually be Jules Verne, HG Wells, etc; maybe for fantasy Bram Stoker, etc. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke may be more of a "classical era".
FWIW, the "literary snobs" might recognize Verne, Wells, etc. Perhaps the "literary snobs" of the next century will recognize Asimov, etc.
"Classic: a book which people praise but don't read."
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.