Elfy-Welfies, War Bores, Decadent Vamps and Licensed Crap. Interesting read - very true too. Sturgeon's Law is, unfortunately, out of date now - far more than 90% of science fiction is crud these days.
I have to say, I think that there are other sub-genres - Hard Sci Fi (I'm a big Greg Egan fan) is one. Then you have cyberpunk, Space Opera and whatever the genre Richard Morgan, Alastair Reynolds and Neal Asher are working in is called. Sci Fi Noir, perhaps? Anyway, I digress - and loads more that I can't be bothered to enumerate.
Posted to Books and magazines by Simon Brunning at March 22, 2004 04:47 PMOK, can't be bothered to read all of that article, but is there a pigeon hole for Neal Stephenson? How about Neil Gaiman?
Neal Stephenson[1] is *superb* - I've just finished Quicksilver. He used to be in cyberpunk, though head and shoulders above everyone else in the field. His last couple of novels aren’t genre fiction at all, though, IMHO.
Neil Gaiman[2] is another great writer, but I wouldn't call him Sci Fi. I'd be more inclined to call him a horror writer, though he's difficult to pigeonhole.
[1] http://www.nealstephenson.com/
[2] http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/
Not sure that Sturgeon was entirely correct - after proper scientific analysis, 97.4% of EVERYTHING is crap, not just SF!
Posted by: Tracey on March 23, 2004 10:13 AMYou didn't follow the link, did you, Tracey? That's almost *exactly* what Sturgeon said.
Posted by: Simon Brunning on March 23, 2004 10:22 AMThat’s why I don't like pigeonholing. Neil Gaiman doesn't fit. Iain Banks doesn't either - his Sci-fi (Iain M Banks) goes in the sci-fi section, but much of his "normal" fiction is fairly fantastical too. HG Wells will be found in traditional fiction, and Paul Auster writes about a boy who can fly (Mr Vertigo) which is also found there rather than in the more specialist regions because he is seen as a contempory fiction author.
Oh, if you want some really good horror/fantasy/steam punk stuff, go for The Scar or Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
Erm, oh ifyou want sub-genre's I'd also suggest 'literary Sci-fi' (not my term, and it does patronise the rest of sci-fi) which would include Philip K Dick, Theodore Sturgeon etc. Alastair Reynolds I would say is really Space Opera. Asimov and Niven are Hard Sci-fi. Someone like Dan Simmons is trying very hard to be 'literary Sci-fi' but also has heavy doses of Space Opera and even some Hard sci-fi.
Posted by: Sam Newman on March 23, 2004 02:46 PMThe ultimate in literary sci-fi: Shikasta by Doris Lessing[1]. Nearly as unreadable as Joyce's Ulysses[2], but certainly very literary.
Well, actually I finished Shikasta, but never made it beyond chapter 5 of Ulysses. ;-)
More literary sci-fi: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury[3], The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood[4] and quite a lot of stuff by J. G. Ballard[5]. All well worth reading.
[1] http://www.dorislessing.org/shikasta.html
[2] http://www.bibliomania.com/Fiction/joyce/ulysses/
[3] http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/summary.html
[4] http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/summary.html
[5] http://www.jgballard.com/
Iain Banks is, of course, fantastic. I read The Wasp Factory when it first came out, and have followed him ever since. As you say, some of the "non-genre" books are fairly "fantastical". The Bridge (my favorite of his novels) and Walking on Broken Glass are good examples. I think this is called "magical realism" in literary circles. ;-)
Niven is *usually* hard sci fi, but occasionally he veers into war bore mode.
China Mieville I didn't get on with. Paul Auster I'll look into. Thanks, Sam.
Posted by: Simon Brunning on March 23, 2004 03:20 PMPaul Auster is not a sci-fi authour at all, but he does use 'magical realism'. Mr Vertigo and the music of chance are good, but the new york trilogy or leviathan are better. I have both of his recent books, but haven't read either - I should really try and read his latest one, as I'm off to see a reading by him at foyles in May...
Posted by: Sam Newman on March 24, 2004 10:18 AMI'm looking out for some Thrash metal, Garage, Trance, Indy, Sci-Fi 'n' Bass init!
Posted by: Steve on March 24, 2004 12:30 PMBTW - given that I'll happily read all these genres, what does that make me? Apart from rarely seen without my head in a book (including while walking to work), that is...
Posted by: Tracey Annison on March 27, 2004 07:52 PMNot very discerning? ;-)
Posted by: Simon Brunning on March 29, 2004 12:08 PMI think I'd prefer "appreciative of a broad spectrum of reading material", thank you very much! Although I'm always happier if it has dragons in it, 'tis true...
Posted by: Tracey Annison on March 29, 2004 01:57 PMTracey, *I'm* appreciative of a broad spectrum of reading material. You are appreciative of a broad spectrum of sci-fi and fantasy. ;-)
Posted by: Simon Brunning on March 29, 2004 02:07 PM