The degree to which the answer to why "SF is dying" is "girl cooties" is pathetic and annoying.
In other words, as writer Alastair Reynolds succinctly puts it: "Much of it is rightwing, reactionary crap."Fantasy seems to have a bit of an easier time meeting modern literary standards oddly enough, or rather it doesn't fall back on the "literature of ideas" excuse, and that's why it's been increasing in relative popularity.
Indeed. Also, one unfortunate reason that fantasy is doing better than SF is that fantasy isn't on average nearly as bleakly nihilistic as SF has become in the last 8 years. Rather than a "literature of ideas", much of it that isn't simply vile is a "literature of grim & depressing ideas". Given that analog magazine effectively became an arm of the Libertarian Party 20-25 years ago, I wonder how much of what we're seeing is the death of what has too much become, in the US at least, a literature of geeky angry white men. The fact that all but one (Kage Baker) of the SF authors whose books I buy on sight are British seems uncoincidental.
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In other words, as writer Alastair Reynolds succinctly puts it: "Much of it is rightwing, reactionary crap."Fantasy seems to have a bit of an easier time meeting modern literary standards oddly enough, or rather it doesn't fall back on the "literature of ideas" excuse, and that's why it's been increasing in relative popularity.
Indeed. Also, one unfortunate reason that fantasy is doing better than SF is that fantasy isn't on average nearly as bleakly nihilistic as SF has become in the last 8 years. Rather than a "literature of ideas", much of it that isn't simply vile is a "literature of grim & depressing ideas". Given that analog magazine effectively became an arm of the Libertarian Party 20-25 years ago, I wonder how much of what we're seeing is the death of what has too much become, in the US at least, a literature of geeky angry white men. The fact that all but one (Kage Baker) of the SF authors whose books I buy on sight are British seems uncoincidental.