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"post-apocalyptic vs pioneering science and discovery"
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Anna
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Oct 11, 2009 06:56PM
As I look at my bookshelf, I realize that our times create our topics. In the 1960's and 1970's, sci-fi and fantasy was new, there were so many worlds to explore; old curses, new places. The past 2 decades have been devoted to, in my opinion, new uses for old monsters and post-apocalyptic worlds. Heinlein, Asimov, LeGuin and Bradbury were creating new worlds or in the stars. There don't seem to be many star-gazers around now, or is that just my imagination?
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I'd guess it's a generation thing. In the 60's (and the 70's aftermath) it was the Age of Aquarius, defined by everyone reinventing themselves, the culture, all of mankind. It was all about new horizons and breaking down old barriers. In the decades following, the generation which dominated were the kids of those Aquarius minds, who were generally all very unimpressed with their parent's "golden age" ideology (and the consequences thereof) so they became cynical about all those so-called new horizons. Is it any surprise than the rather sarcastic "realist" Generation X would interpret sci fi in a more post-apocalyptic way? Cause and effect, action and reaction. That'd be my interpretation.
My mother's experiences of the 60s (and probably for a lot of others too) were still a lot more restricted than the media would have us believe. As a child of the 70s and 80s, poor with divorced parents, I think pure escapism, perhaps a hunt for something better, came heavily into my interest in fantasy. I'm still there, reading and writing about other worlds. I also love creating a world totally under my control. (And I love drawing maps!!!)
I do think we live in very cynical times. It seems as though "everything" has been discovered that can be discovered, and we don't really have much to look forward to, besides zombie epidemics, nuclear holocaust, and ragnarok/armageddon. *sigh* maybe I just need to pull out some of my old favorites and cheer myself up!
Marisella wrote: "As I look at my bookshelf, I realize that our times create our topics. In the 1960's and 1970's, sci-fi and fantasy was new, there were so many worlds to explore; old curses, new places. The past 2..."Writers in the 70s and 80s were also influenced by the cold war, which offered the possibility of devastating war on a level never before conceived. As with all writers, we had to ask, what if...? I personally think that theme has become an overworked cliché. I tend to lean toward the stargazing crowd. (With its own collection of clichés.) In my own novel, Prison Earth, I wonder if our planet is really controlled by advance aliens who don’t destroy us, but instead use our planet as a place to store their prisoners. Of course, my overarching theme is that no matter what the odds, the human spirit will come out on top. We just have to find out who the real enemy is.
Clifford M. Scovell
Prison Earth - Not Guilty as Charged
www.prison-earth.com
As technology marches forward, humanity with all its flaws remains the same. Vanity, heroism, pettiness, goodness, evil all persist. The tools mankind uses have become more sophisticated, but the human condition remains flawed. Writing in the fifties, sixties and seventies could speculate on how advanced we would become, while warning us of the potential dangers. It seems that the more we advance the more we stay the same. Fantasy writing reflects the need to escape the troubled world we live in today, while often personifying the best and worst of the human condition.
I suppose this is a very cynical view. It is a theme that runs through the novel I wrote, Future Hope.David Gelber Future Hope: Book 1 of the ITP Series
Marisella wrote: "There don't seem to be many star-gazers around now, or is that just my imagination?"I get the same impression when I look for those books to read, and I'm very aware that some of the books I write seem to be anachronisms in a world of vampires and dystopias. I suspect we will look to the stars once again; but we have to accept that the naivete-colored glasses we once used to speculate about space have to be replaced with clearer, truer lenses.
I keep coming back to genetics as being the most interesting thing out there. I love *love* the zombies but it must be well-done, and dig the end-of-the-world scenarios as well...but it's the human potential for greatness that makes me interested in a book. The, "What if...humans could..." think X-men! Loved that premise...or Heroes. I know those are TV programs/movies but that's what peaks my interest. I want books that look at what WE are capable of...anyone know of any books out there that mimic or explore these themes?
Tamara: You might enjoy the Wild Cards series, about an alien virus brought to Earth in the thirties that began to introduce good, bad and incredible mutations to a small portion of the population... and rewrote our world's history. The series is incredible, but hard to find in its entirety... issues are now being rereleased.
This might be tinfoil hat territory, but I think part of the reason we see so little non-Zombie-Apocalypse type SF is because we're no longer a scientifically literate society. Grab 100 writers, ask them about any sorts of hard science questions, how many of them can answer you? If it's mostly my pals, the blank looks will prevail. Meanwhile Zombie Apocalypse is mostly fantasy with a thin veneer of science on top. And what just about every writer is good at is coming up with fantasies.
So, just on a practical level, I'm thinking it's not so much a matter of our world being less hopeful (though that's probably true as well) as a matter that it's easier to write post apocalypse than reach for the stars. Heinlein talked about how he spent close to four hours with a huge role of butcher paper, and his wife, to figure out a math problem so he could correctly determine where astral bodies would be in location to each other for one sentence of one book. None of the P-A books I've read have anything like that level of research in them.
Hi everyone.My name is Drew.
I am new to Goodreads.
I suppose when you look at science fiction today,
it isn't seen as too cheery to some people.
Well, I tend to look at it in an optimistic viewpoint.
As a matter of fact, if you are looking for a great
book about the future, then you should try reading mine. The name of my new book is called George Buchanan Enters The Wormhole and it is young adult science fiction. It can be purchased on the Kindle for the temporary low price of 99 cents.
Let me know if you enjoyed my take on the future!
I hope you find my novel as beautiful as I believe it
to be.
God bless America!
@Keryl: I don't think we were much more science-literate in the 60s, when we dreamed of conquering the stars; in fact, I think the change in SF is due to our being more science-literate, and knowing that warp drive and alien races like our own are not nearly as likely as we thought back then.Like so many things, SF has been forced to grow up, and abandon a lot of the assumptions of its younger days. Some writers can't or won't deal with that, so they paint their SF veneer over zombie stories (hate 'em) or write Star Wars and Starship Troopers wanna-be's (yawn).
But the writers that are exploring the frontiers of adult SF are giving us some great stuff, stories that explore sophisticated SF elements, while including realistic adult interactions and relationships fit for a mature genre.
Steven Lyle Jordan
I write the future... so you don't have to.
Hi all.Good thread and one I love to discuss. Either you guys are too young or you've just forgotten the great dystopian novels of the fifties. Hollywood recently discovered Phillip K. Dick, for example. Other favorites: Kornbluth's Not This August and Christopher's No Blade of Grass. These drove me to push back into the past to Brave New World, The Time Machine, 1984, Darkness at Noon, etc. My own novels, dystopian with a bit of hope, reflect my past and my ideas that our future could be very bleak unless things turn around.
@ Charmed~Reader et al. I know the line between fantasy and sci-fi is fuzzy, but please don't call Star Wars sci-fi. It's basically a plagiarized fantasy based on names and characters from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian books. There is originality in the special effects but not much in the robots. And some really good sci-fi has been written for young adults (Heinlein's Tomorrow the Stars and Podkayne of Mars come to mind)--you have to look beyond Harry-Potter-in-space-style books, of course. Even Enders' Game can be considered a novel for young adults!
If you want to learn how to write real sci-fi, study some of the masters: Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, Sturgeon, Niven, Dick, and others. Asimov's bringing together the robot novels (Caves of Steel, etc) with the Foundation series and The End of Eternity was a coup de grace that probably will never be repeated in the sci-fi genre or elsewhere.
All the best,
Steve
I believe there are still star-gazers out there on the shelves. Space opera hasn't quite died yet.
It's probably just hidden among the zombie apocalypse and urban fantasy titles.
It's probably just hidden among the zombie apocalypse and urban fantasy titles.
I believe there are still star-gazers out there on the shelves. Space opera hasn't quite died yet.
It's probably just hidden among the zombie apocalypse and urban fantasy titles.
It's probably just hidden among the zombie apocalypse and urban fantasy titles.
I agree that we live in more cynical times, but I think the best post apocalyptic fiction (and tv shows and movies) are more hopeful than they're given credit for. The best one almost always have characters that viewers/readers are led to care about and we identify with their situations because there is a strong emotional undercurrent. Every dystopian and post apocalyptic novel I've read that I've enjoyed has these elements. Even THE ROAD--as despairing as it was. And it was such because of the poignancy of the father/son relationship it presented and established.
All,My dystopian sci-fi thrillers always have a bit of hope in them and characters that try to make a difference, so I partly agree with Stephen.
However, some of the great dystopian novels are really bleak and yet still popular: Brave New World, The Time Machine, Darkness at Noon, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 come to mind.
In The Road I couldn't get beyond the despair to find the poignancy, but that's just me...
All the best,
Steve
