Bringing Fans and Books Together What do we
Bringing Fans and Books Together
• What do we mean by the term science fiction • Who reads this stuff? • A short history of the genre Core authors and sub-genres within science fiction • Resources for readers • Trends in Science Fiction
The literature of “what if”… Full of technical and scientific details Often philosophical, intellectual and/or religious • Inner and outer space • Optimistic or pessimistic • Hard science vs. soft science • • •
• Intelligent, informed, outspoken • Interested in a wide variety of materials • • • They often enjoy either: Great stories – setting is crucial Philosophical/literary – ideas vs. action
• • Adventure/Exploration Space Opera Militaristic Time Travel Robots/Cyborgs Dystopias/Utopias Social Evolution Source: Strictly Science Fiction: A Guide to Reading Interests. • • Religious Altern. /Parallel Worlds Bioengineering Future is Bleak Aliens Shared Worlds Cyberpunk/Techno SF
“Fast-paced physical action and political intrigue…The thrill is in the quest and unexpected discoveries. ”
“Most widely read…romantic adventure on a grand scale – interstellar travel, heroic space battles…Many space operas are written in series format. ”
“Warriors, weapons and battles provide the big attraction to readers…”
“…into the past, into the future, or in both directions…”
“Robot – machine, mechanical Android – artificial human Cyborg – Human altered with artifcial parts. ”
“Sometimes the very worst of worlds are those that were created by those who thought they were creating perfection…”
“Societal evolution over time, influenced by biology or environment…”
“The effect of spiritual beliefs, moral codes and religious fervor on society and its inhabitants…”
“Earths or universes existing simultaneously, perhaps along a spatial 4 th dimension…”
“Exploring DNA, genetics, cloning – taking biology to another level…”
“Apocalyptic events or environmental disasters present a pessimistic view of the future…”
“First contact – what will aliens look like, and how will humans interact with them…”
“A collaboration of authors either working together or building on the work of another…often based on worlds and characters created for films or video games…”
“Lots of information about artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, virtual reality and beyond. Much of current “hard” SF and dark themed SF appears in this category…. ”
• • • Arthur C. Clarke Award James Tiptree, Jr. Award Hugo Award Nebula Award Philip K. Dick Award John W. Campbell Award
• WEB RESOURCES : Library Thing ( www. librarything. com ) Overbooked ( www. overbooked. org ) SF Site ( www. sfsite. com ) Sci. Fan ( www. scifan. com ) • NOVELIST DATABASE • BOOKS: 100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels
• • • Short stories/novellas Genreblending The “New Weird“ SF from other cultures Ascendancy of Fantasy Moving to the web
“’ The truth is, Brian Aldiss has written, that we are at last living in a SF scenario’. A collapsing environment, a hyper-connected world, suicide bombers, perpetual surveillance, the discovery of other solar systems, novel pathogens, tourists in space, children drugged with behavior controllers – it’s all coming true at last. Aldiss thinks this makes SF redundant. I disagree. In such a climate, it is the conventionally literary that is threatened and SF comes into its own as the most hardcore realism. ” Bryan Appleyard in the London Sunday Times, Dec. 2, 2007
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