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Originally Posted by =X=
@DMcCunney; I've often ponder why I've a hard time enjoying SF. I now I've tried many times to read SF. The best answer I've come up with is that I've associated Fantasy with moden Mythology. Where the stories evole anound the individual/Community trying to overcome some aversary.
Most of the SF I've picked up focused too much on the techoloy or seemed too "every day" losing that Mythology feel. So far from my limited reading of SF, Star Wars does a good job.
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There are plenty of mythic elements in SF, and "the individual/Community trying to overcome some adversary" applies to an awful lot of literature, in and out of SF/fantasy.
SF with mythic elements? I suppose Star Wars qualifies, though I'm less thrilled with it as an example than others may be. Someone pointed out the thematic similarities in the original trilogy with the stuff cited by Joseph Campbell in _The Hero of a Thousand Faces_, and Lucas apparently bought into the hype. The problem with that is that I don't think it's something you can do consciously. It works because you tap in to archetypes on an unconscious level, and only realize after the fact what you've done, if you realize it at all. Try to do it deliberately, and the results will likely be disappointing. (I think the recent SW films have been execrable. Lucas is a master visual technician. If you can see it in your head, he can figure out a way to put it on a screen. But he can't write to save his life, and should never be allowed near
human actors as a director.)
If you want SF that deliberately mines myth, try Roger Zelazny, particularly _Lord of Light_ (Hindu mythology) and _Creatures of Light and Darkness_ (Egyptian mythology), recast in SF terms.
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Dennis