Quote:
Originally Posted by Rizla
We're seeing the decline of male solid-fuel and space-opera sci-fiction, not of sci-fiction in general. Look at all the female romance/erotica sci-fi books out. Consider J.D.Robb and Nalini Singh, for example.
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Ahh...
Well, strictly speaking, those aren't SF. They are paranormal romance or mystery or urban fantasy or thrillers...
(A lot folks are actually peeved when stores stock them in the SF section.)
There is a pretty clear rule of thumb: if the core of the story is a relationship or a mystery, never mind the trappings, it is not SF. A story is SF if it can only happen because of a "science fictional element". A story about a detective investigating a rape or a murder in the 22nd century is not by itself SF. If the detective is a PSI (The Demolished Man) or an Android (CAVES OF STEEL) then it is SF.
SF can have mysteries and romance but the story has to be built around the ideas, not around the relationship. Or the mystery. Or the gritty tough guy protagonist.
Now, a lot of genre binning is all about marketing, like making the protagonists of a clearly SF or Fantasy story teenagers just to market it as YA, but people do get ticked when the marketing promises rabbit and they get cat. I've seem complaints (valid to me) about people who buy books about intrigue in complex SF or Fantasy societies where the book ends and the only thing that is settled is the H.E.A. of the protagonists and the world building and intrigue only gets lip service.
To the extent that lesser known authors doing "core" SF get marginalized by a flood of "paranormal this or that" they are going to be upset and when they see bad numbers like those PW reports they are going to panic.
Lots of over-reacting drama queens and kings in the SF ranks.
Nonetheless, the increasing acceptance of thin-veneer paranormal as SF does represent a degradation of the market (and availability) for actual SF.
So, as I said, in the OP: maybe there is a kernel of truth to the recurring panics.
SF's appeal is rooted in a very specific outlook and mindset and if society values move away from that outlook and mindset (which, BTW, it is) then SF (as a mainstream publishing business) could actually "die".
Maybe SF going indie is the first step towards going "underground" and becoming a counterculture literature?
The PW report is about bad methodogy applied to worse "data" but I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the matter as just a migration away from tradpub or genre devolution...