tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post3140324355713327113..comments2024-03-09T13:49:30.039+05:30Comments on Variety SF: What's bad about science fiction?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-21149577577748848542008-09-07T11:01:00.000+05:302008-09-07T11:01:00.000+05:30James: It was third one - your last comment on Wol...James: It was third one - your last comment on Wolfbane quote: "are probably not as dated as I'd like to think they are."<BR/><BR/>Thanks for clarifying.<BR/><BR/>PS: Personally, I don't care if Western stories don't mention east. I do get <I>slightly</I> bugged when they tackle it, & get the perspective completely off the mark (assuming they get the data right, which itself doesn't happen often).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-73707990365224567612008-09-07T02:09:00.000+05:302008-09-07T02:09:00.000+05:30Assuming it was the third one and granting up fron...Assuming it was the third one and granting up front that if you took it the wrong way, I should have been clearer in expressing myself:<BR/><BR/>Most of the SF I see assumes a future in which the cultures outside the European nations and their former colonies (and generally only the Anglo ones) are assumed to play no significant role [1]. Occasionally some writer will notice that China exists (<I>China Mountain Zhang</I>, for example) or that India exists (<I>River of Gods</I>) and this is hailed as some amazing achievement. To my way of looking at things, what's amazing is that a genre supposedly concerned with the future consistantly ignores most of the planet and when it does mention them (as Gregory Benford did in a recent essay) seems to be pretty thoroughly misinformed about them. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes China gets used as an offstage threat and I will admit I did see a book where the galaxy was divided between bomb-tossing Muslims, fanatic and fecund Christians, ineffective Social Democrats and I think the crafty Space Chinese. Points for admitting someone exists aside from the Europeans and their colonies but points off for doing it so badly. <BR/><BR/><BR/>1: Well, except as a bad example, as something to point to when talking about overpopulation or as the stage for a nuclear war that teaches everyone nuclear war is not as much fun as it seems, without threatening any neighborhood the author values. I have an example in mind but I want to go check the book to make sure it says what I think it does.<BR/><BR/>If I've gone off in the wrong direction here, I apologize for taking up so much of your blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-41158948872258193052008-09-07T01:23:00.000+05:302008-09-07T01:23:00.000+05:30I found the last comment unnecessarily prejudiced....<I>I found the last comment unnecessarily prejudiced.</I><BR/><BR/>Do you mean point ten or the quotation from Damon Knight's review of <I>Wolfbane</I> or my comment about the quotation from Damon Knight's review of <I>Wolfbane</I>?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com