Quote:
Originally Posted by Penforhire
Maybe you can question whether or not we're in a golden age of SF, in decline, or at the start of a swell. That has more to do with society's relationship to science and scientists, out of authors' control.
|
Very true: Society has a different relationship with science than it had during most of the 20th century; it isn't considered the "miracle" that it once was, and after a century of science giving us pollution, health problems, conspicuous consumption, landfills and keeping up with the "cutting edge," science and technology have lost much of their public sheen. This has even tainted new SF, leaving the general feeling that even the most advanced technologies "probably have
something wrong with them, even if we don't know
what yet." And it's certainly the reason for the rise of steampunk, a throwback to a more innocent age.
Personally, I think authors could exert more control over that relationship; it depends on what they write, and how well they write it.