Plainly stated: science fiction retains the bold, reality-breaking element of ancient myth-telling, far better than any other genre. But it also rebels against venerable tradition, by portraying change as a protean fluid, sometimes malleable or even good! Violating a core tenet of Aristotle's Poetics, sci fi contemplates the possibility of successfully defying Fate. 
Who dealt with the scale of human destiny better than the great Isaac Asimov, in his Foundation series? Elsewhere I've said about him: "Asimov served wondrous meals-of-the-mind to a civilization that was starved for clear thinking about the future. To this day, his visions spice our ongoing dinner-table conversation about human destiny." 
What books can we give our teens that don't mire them in a swamp of vampires, domineering wizards or nostalgia for feudalism? These are a few favorites for young adults, weighted more toward SF and a little common sense mixed with lots of sense-o-wonder. Many are classics...along with some marvelous recent additions. 
Only a few SF authors are scientifically or technically trained. In fact, most SF authors read History far more than science. Indeed, history -- and its possible extensions in time or other universes -- is far more often a topic of interest than any specific point of science. SF should have been called Speculative History. 
A lot of art –– including storytelling –– is about making up stuff! In other words, lying. Beautiful lies, stirring lies. Magnificent lies. But lies nonetheless. Where, I wondered, was anyone trying to figure out what was true? What is the message of Dune? How does the 1984 movie, directed by David Lynch, differ from the book by Frank Herbert? While the viewer roots for the House of Atreides, even they represent a future endlessly dominated by old-style oligarchy - the perpetual enemy of freedom. Is Frank Herbert catering to our fascination with feudalism? Or is he trying to shake the reader awake? 
In Star Wars, elites have an inherent right to arbitrary rule. This is just the beginning of a long list of “moral” lessons relentlessly pushed by “Star Wars.” Lessons that starkly differentiate this saga from others that seem superficially similar, like “Star Trek.” (We’ll take a much closer look at some stark divergences between these two sci-fi universes below.) 
Sousveillance -- or surveillance of the state by the people is the best counterbalance to Big Brother. When the state has a monopoly on the cameras, it can use them as it wishes. When cameras are distributed, it doesn't totally control what the state can see, but some degree of public consent is involved. |
Writing is a worthy calling -- one that can, at times, achieve great heights taht ennoblet he human race. Actually, I believe writing was the first truly verifiable and effective form of magic. Think of how it must have impressed people in ancient times! Author David Brin offers suggestions to set new authors on the path toward writing... 
A good starting point for delving into the literature of science fiction, ranging from classics such as 1984 and Dune to more recent works by Vernor Vinge and Neal Stephenson. Sci Fi novels are categorized as The Hard Stuff, Harbingers of Hope, Dire Warnings, Gedankenexperiments, Alternative History, Time Travel, Humor, and Predictive Successes. 
Why are SF and Fantasy so often grouped together? Obviously, because they share readership and so are well placed together in book stores. Fantasy is the mother genre -- e.g. Gilgamesh, the Illad, Odyssey and most religions. Sci Fi is the brash offshoot. All literature has deep roots in fantasy, which in turn emerges from the font of our dreams. Having said that, what is my definition of the separation? I think it is very basic, revolving around the notion of human improvability. 
Consider the ages from twelve to fifteen, when a person's sense of wonder can bloom or wither, starved by ennui or seared by fashionable cynicism. Sometimes even the right book or film can ignite a fire that lasts a lifetime — you never know. For many of us, it was futuristic or speculative literature that helped cast our minds far beyond family, city, or oppressive peers... not to mention the limitations that others seemed bent on imposing, shackling our dreams. What does it take to get started as an author? Science fiction author David Brin (The Postman, Startide Rising) offers advice to aspiring writers. Storytelling is the only verified form of magic; the ability to form incantations in the listerner's mind, to have them envision imaginary worlds, to feel profound emotions. 
Robert Heinlein was a question-asker. I consider Robert Heinlein’s most fascinating novel to be his prescriptive utopia Beyond This Horizon. (A prescriptive utopia i... 
Many have noted the aging of fandom. The literature of youthful, forward-looking openness... is graying and (in many ways) dying, even as its tropes and glossy surfaces have been embraced as never before. 
Sustainability and diversity are words I use a lot, whether it's in books that involve far-out futuristic settings or locales and situations much closer to home...I'm part of a long tradition of pro-environmental science fiction novelists. Early in the Twentieth Century, Olaf Stapledon predicted that civilization might collapse from resource depletion, something hardly mentioned anywhere else at his time. 
It’s well known that in 1865, Jules Verne published his novel, De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon), which includes the concept of human spaceflight. And yet, Verne never discussed the far more practical notion of of an artificial satellite orbiting Earth. For that it took an American, Edward Everett Hale (author of the Man Without a Country). The Brick Moon was published serially in Atlantic Monthly starting in 1869. And it is absolutely amazing. Almost every other paragraph you are either chortling over some bit of what we’d now call scientific naiveté… or else staring at the page in disbelief that some folks back then had such clear notions as geo-stationary navigation satellites. 
For some insights into the creative process and the author's most difficult job -- avoiding cliches -- here are some of my recently published (and net accessible) articles, interviews, and essays discussing the art of fiction. |
