Proper sf explores the edges of reality and then goes beyond.
Popular “sf” is old tropes and popular ideas rendered in terms of spaceships and robots.
The first is a real live alien. The second is cosplay.
Proper sf explores the edges of reality and then goes beyond.
Popular “sf” is old tropes and popular ideas rendered in terms of spaceships and robots.
The first is a real live alien. The second is cosplay.
the great thing about fiction (and any art form) is that anyone who wants to can define what makes one thing more “proper” than another.
and i can take anyone’s idea of “proper” and piss on it, because i couldn’t care less about anyone who thinks they’re going to gatekeep creativity. which seems to be more common amongst sci fi nerds
One must be realistic about these things, surely you agree.
We have a genre of fiction invented by thinkers of strange thoughts, specifically to convey their strange thoughts. Because no other tool will do
The genre becomes famous. We dress up our cowboys in spacesuits and call it sf.
It’s a big difference.