Status Updates From Trace Elements: Conversatio...

(Sigh) I’m back to yelling at this book. The authors are now claiming that “true” SF isn’t metaphorical; if it has zombies those are real zombies, and any deeper readings are secondary and probably hallucinated by the reader.

And sure, that’s sometimes true. But—and call me a bad dumb SF reader I guess—if the zombies aren’t actually ABOUT something it’s probably not a very interesting book.

I get so viscerally annoyed every time SF authors start whining about “mainstream” authors publishing SF novels through “mainstream” publishers, appealing to “mainstream” readers. Wahhh, they’re not part of our CLUB, they’re not part of our CONVERSATION, it’s not REAL science fiction! Yes it fucking is, and it appeals to wider audiences often because it’s GOOD. Die mad about it, I guess.

I dislike both Walton’s and Palmer’s SF, buuuut I am still hopeful they might have something worthwhile to add to the metaconversation? Maybe?