boyajian@akov68.DEC (05/02/84)
> Oh, yeah, one more thing. What makes this book science fiction? (Other > than the label on the front cover that says "Berkley (sic) science fiction") > Bob (Bob.Colwell@cmu-cs-g.ARPA) Well, I suppose it all depends on what you consider to be science fiction (Rich- ard McKenna, ofttimes sf author, had said on occasion that he thought that his "mainstream" novel, THE SAND PEBBLES, was science fiction --- the science was sociology (of course, there are those who don't think that sociology is a valid science)). Individuals have their own standards, but there are certain concepts that are generally accepted to be "science fiction": space travel, time travel, atomic wars, stories clearly set in the future, alien invasions, etc. One of the more interesting of these concepts is that of the "alternate history", of which THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE is a perfect example. Perhaps this could be a good topic for discussion here. Here's something to chew on: is SPACE by James Michener sf? It's about space travel, but it does not present any technology that we don't already have. Certainly they characters and situations are largely fictional, but it's really just a recent-historical novel about the space program. Think about it. <"Science fiction is what I point to and say, `That's science fiction'!"> --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard) UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian) ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)
pking@denelcor.UUCP (P. King) (05/03/84)
If it doesn't blow your mind, it isn't science fiction. P. King (...!hao!denelcor!pking)