The Future of Hard SF

[thebigcat]

"How many PhDs do you have?"<br /><br />Um...answer: "Two. I keep Bob Zubrin and Seth Shostak locked in my cellar" <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Oh, earlier somebody asked the name of the sentient computer in <i>The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress</i>. Don't even have to look it up. Mike. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[specfiction]

What recent SF Novels have peaked your interest and why. What elements of SF novels most interest you? And does anyone have any opinions on "mainstream" SF.

 

[hracctsold]

I don't know about "mainstream" SF, because I seem to be just a "fluff" reader, but I was encouraged by the good people here to pick up a Harry Turtledove book about alternate "what if" events and time travel. I had known about his books before but had not taken the time to explore them, and decided to do it this time. And it was a enjoyable trip, though at times it did seem to linger on a bit.<br /><br />The book was, "Guns of the South," and was about the events that could have happened if R.E. Lee's army had gotten hold of some AK47's in their war for independence. I found out that Turtledove kept it as factual as possible while changing the events to match his time line as needed, and that there is a whole series out there to continue that time line. I haven't had or looked for the time to devote to any more of his books yet, but may in time to come.<br /><br />One other note, I did find a hard back book by him in a used book store and got it just to find out about it, and found myself in a teen heart throb thriller about growing up in a alternate world with all its problems and worries. Not really what I was expecting.<br /><br />But all in all, not a bad choice to kill some down time and enjoy it at the same time.

 

[shadowsound]

I'm new here so bear with me.<br /><br />Check out the website <br />www.baen.com<br />Check out the Free Library and the online SF Magazine "Jim Baens Universe" Free snippets available. Many of the authors you will recognize.<br />The Magazine was started to promote the short story form of writing and new authors. <br /><br />Being an online magazine JBU does not have the high overhead of printing and distribution. They pay their writers much higher standard for stories. They want to promote the development of writers. To bring feel of the golden age of Science fiction back. <br /><br />Jim Baen has died but the dream live on.<br /><br />If you want good SF, check it out.<br /><br />Go into the "Baens Bar "forum. The publisher, editors, and authors commune there from time to time.

 

[shadowsound]

Also check out the Baen's Bar: the slush pile. the JBU Slushpile, and the 1632 slushpile.<br /><br />There are slushpile commentary forum's for discusion of the stories. <br /><br />All have good stories show up. Some have been published by Baen publishing. <br /><br />The publishers submission page is online. and you will receive notification that it was received. It may still be a year or more before it is read but you should be notified. <br /><br />

 

[shadowsound]

I should point out a little history of the Baen web-board and publishing. It is reader driven and independent. It is not owned by stock-market stock holders but a few people who like Science Fiction. Those that I know of are Tom Doherty of Tor and The surviving daughters of Jim Baen the original publisher and editor, Who just Died. <br /><br />The presnt Publisher is Toni Weisskopf who was the lead editor for many years before jim's death and mother of one of the children. Toni and Jim had the same general opinions about how the operation should be run, and Toni indicated she is going to follow that paradyme.<br /><br />That said getting back to user driven.<br />the web-board had been in existence back into the early nineties and maybe before. I joined up about 1997. while it was still a BIC Byte forum. that Jim had started with Arnold Baily the present webmaster, Jim had Arnold build the original web board where we all migrated to that being (JIM) Arnold David Weber one of Jim's main authors and Eric Flint who is the head Editor for Baen Publishing. You can find a history of the board on the home page. Many of use were mainly Weber fans.<br /><br />Anyway, a large number of us posted there and enjoyed the reading of Jim Baen's Publications. When the First Ebook reader came out the Franklin Rocket REB-500 I bought one and several other and Jim had been posting snippets of the books being published so we could see before hand what was coming up.<br /><br />The Rocket did realy well the first year until like any other for profit stock held company they sold to Gemstar and they were dumb enough to introduce DRM Digital right management on it . The market subsequently collapsed on them, and they sold to another board <br /><br />The bar iis a ready driven company and hate DRM<br /><br />Gemstar was a corporate driven comapny and lst its shirt on DRM e sales. <br /><br />In the meantime Jim was developing., his e pulisheing in non DRM adn doing very well. <br /><br /> I and a host of

 

[specfiction]

What elements of SF do readers most like. Why read SF as opposed to a historical novel or detective mystery--both of which often have elements in common with hard SF novels.

 

[shadowsound]

Call it; wanting to see beyond the horizon, to take a bit of observed reality and postulate what could be.<br /><br />As you said not a whole lot different than a mystery western, drama, comedy or romance. Combining a bit of all within a world defined by an advancement in time, science and reality.<br /><br />A good story plot should work well in many settings. a stage coach becomes a luxury space liner. a horse a rocket scooter. a bow and arrow a laser rifle.<br /><br />People have defined guideline as to how they react.<br />Antagonist verses Protagonist.<br /><br />Remember your bad guy don't think of him or herself as evil and its more realistic if they don't appear to be. they may be acting out of ignorance of the consequences. <br /><br />A good one to read is David Weber.

 

[specfiction]

And what about a greater point. For example, in the past, there have been SF works that make a large impression on mainstream readers because they examine questions of the day that people care about. For example: On the Beach, 1984, 2001 a Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, virtually everything Lem has written, including my favorite, His Master's Voice, etc. I've found a lot of push back these days in the SF genre to these kinds of books by unknown writers. You can see writers like Greg Bear oozing into the mainstream with books like Darwin's Radio, which I enjoyed very much.

 

[shadowsound]

Point<br /><br />The City at the Edge of Time, Slan, Way Station. are some that had a major effect on many including myself.<br />I see what you mean about Lem.<br /><br /><br />http://www.rpi.edu/~sofkam/lem/<br /><br />http://www.sfwa.org/news/2006/slem.htm<br /><br /><br />What makes a book a classic.?<br /><br />For something different in the means of distribution.<br /><br />Check out this podcast <br /><br />http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com<br /><br />http://www.TheFutureAndYou.com

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="yellow">specfiction - What I’m really looking for is people’s feelings on promoting a new crop of Greg Bears, Arthur Clarkes, Stan Lem, Greg Benford—that ilk. Writers that take the real world and produce intellectually interesting scenarios where we can explore the intermix between the real world, as we are beginning to understand it, and the future of our society in a multi-dimensional way, i.e. politics, religion, exploration, etc. </font><br /><br />Well, I'm not sure if you check this thread anymore and I apologize for my extremely late reply. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I think that "hard" science fiction is probably the most important segment of science-fiction there is. Many authors take topics that are on the cutting edge of science or are of mainstream concern and succesfully create a story around these that helps us to examine the implications such things may have. Sometimes, new scientific findings or successfully argued philosophical points render some topics moot but it doesn't devalue the story. Some "soft" science fiction incorporates a few "hard" topics but it generally isn't exploring how something could possibly effect us socially (or in any number of areas). Of course, good stories aren't all just about parables either.<br /><br />Bear and Benford are probably two of my favorite "hard sci-fi" writers. I am hard pressed to come up with writers that have provided me with as much entertainment nor have explored as deeply how technology, social change, etc.. can effect us.<br /><br />Promote the heck out of "hard sci-fi" I say! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[specfiction]

Yeah, I agree a_lost_packet. Those are motivations I had in writing my book, Proteus Rising. What's a little disappointing to me is that although we’ve had a good response to my book, as my wife has plugged the book to her friends, she told me that more people than she had expected told her they "didn't read SF" as a rule. The sad part is that many of these people are avid readers of fiction. Perhaps the way that SF has been promoted, and this might include movies and especially TV, it has left many thoughtful mainstream readers with the impression that SF has little to offer. I'm hoping that as the web continues to short circuit traditional media, many new voices will be popularized that traditional marketing has sidelined--much like what's happening in the music industry.

 

[hracctsold]

So, "hard" sci/fi then adds in as much real science and reality as the storyline will allow, thus helping to make real the statement that, "Today's sci/fi will be tomorrow's science fact"? Would Crition(SP) and Jurasic Park then be in that reality bit, as he took from science the DNA studies and made a novel out of it? <br /><br />P.S., I never did truly understand what was meant by it when that thread did run the first time.

 

[specfiction]

I think of it like this:<br /><br />Today's (hard?) SF "could be" tomorrow's reality. <br /><br />Also, I only used "hard" because that's what people use when talking about "realistic" SF. I think of it like this, there are two kinds of fantastic fiction, that which admits magic or the supernatural, and that that does not. I think of hard SF as that that does not. Some people disagree with this, they say hard SF concerns hard science and soft SF concerns soft science (i.e sociology etc.). My opinion is that good SF usually has both.<br /><br />_________________________<br /><br />Speculative Fiction Review

 

[shadowsound]

It comes down to being consistent with the basic reality of the world you are creating.<br />Up is away from the gravity source. of a mass, or down is the direction force of momentum in an Oneal colony and provide a solid orientation for the story.<br /><br />IF you create a device for a story it must be consistent within the plausibility you created. whether it is a speculative method or a confirmed scientific observation it must be plausible and consistent.<br /><br />An example given by the late Publisher Jim Baen in Baen's Bar was that of a ship in space using rotation to create artificial gravity. If you enter an access tunnel with a ladder connection from the central core to the outer skin area; which way is up, or down. Describe this to a reader that makes sense. Now which is right or which is left.<br /><br />If it is not based in the physical world then it is fantasy; if it is it may be fantasy, or science fiction.<br /><br />Now days marketers have blurred the line so they can sell their products in as many areas as possible to maximize throughput and sales.<br /><br />An excellent reference is one that Jim Baen had the decidedly hard SF writer Doctor Charles Sheffield, write. It deals with science in writing. Title Borderlands of Science. By Charles Sheffield. I've seen it in two areas of a book store SF and Science. Try reference as well.<br /><br />If you want to write something and publish it as Science Fiction and bring is as an item that does miraculous things you had better give an explanation as to how and when it can do it.<br /><br />Robert A. Heinlein was the master in many people minds as to writing Hard sf. His early stuff, what are considered his children's series, were written for sale as stories in the Boy scout magazine. and great stories as examples of writing. They were later republished in paper and hard back. They were bought by many generations and re-bought several times to replace lost or worn out copies. He was a master at taking a scientific

 

[specfiction]

"--It comes down to being consistent with the basic reality of the world you are creating." <br /><br />I agree that this is an essential ingredient of good fiction. On the other hand there is a brand of SF that is written in the world in which we actually live. The writer might even suppose a speculative world that is set in the future or past--but it is a "speculative" version of the "real" world as we understand it. It is this particular type of SF that I personally like the most because the writer and reader can explore the human experience in a way that they can imagine as directly relating to themselves. It is this type of SF that mainstream readers usually visit. For that reason I call this variant of hard SF, mainstream SF. <br /><br />