Comments on: Science fiction in science

By: Gila

Gila — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:59:34 +0000

Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Ursula Le Guin…all great reads.

By: Miriam Goldstein

Miriam Goldstein — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:10:02 +0000

I was interpreting the question as technology-oriented science fiction. It’s a lot easier to think of good books that DON’T explain the science. For example, in “Left Hand of Darkness” Ursula Le Guin talks a lot about the social implications of people without fixed gender, but not very much about how the people got that way. Or all the sentient-computer driven world-hopping time-travel madness in Dan Simmons’ “Hyperion.”

Martini-Corona – No, I’ve never read Brin. I’ll check it out – the premise sounds neat. Not sure I can deal with the Integral Trees, though…Niven DOES tend to make me die inside.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:05:13 +0000

I don’t know if it’s a sign of my competing girly and boy-y (is that a word?) aspects, but I like SF with both character development and speculative technology. There’s not much SF that does both well.

Martini-Corona: I think novel “Children of Men” is an interesting example of non-SF-like science fiction. The tone is not that far different from James’s murder mysteries, and has a very English feel to it. There’s not much an attempt made to explain what has happened scientifically, instead focusing on what happens to society.

Thanks for participating in the discussion!

By: Martini-Corona

Martini-Corona — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:51:46 +0000

Also, for lots of physics-heavy world building and also gender relations that will make you poke your brain out (IIRC -- I read this in middle school), please read The Integral Trees. I recall a fair amount of sex-in-freefall as well.

By: Martini-Corona

Martini-Corona — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:55:04 +0000

>Right now, I don’t see scifi as having much to do with real science.

That’s may depend on what you classify as “science” fiction vs. “speculative” fiction. What about Wm. Gibson’s stuff? Internets = science… kind of. Or dystopian futures, like in Never Let Me Go (cloning), Children of Men (environmental pollution? unclear), or Cloud Atlas (all of the above)? I suppose these stories fall more into the category of “scientific ethics” than “science,” but it should all be related.

I have a feeling that “hard” sci-fi is more technical… for non-mystical dolphins, you might try David Brin’s Uplift series. Or if you have tried them and they make you die inside… sorry?