[DiapDealer]

So the thing that science-fiction used to be isn't as popular as the thing that science-fiction has become? Well duh.

But that's not death. That's dispersion and evolution. That's change. Now there's old-school (new and old old-school) and MORE.

You want to hang on to lines drawn in sand in the '40s & 50s? Then maybe you see decline. I just see the maturation of what was--at best--a one-trick micro-genre into a full-blown genre with room enough for everything under the sun (sf-thriller; medical-sf-thriller; future-horror; from the future, time-traveling, historical, find-the-way-home adventures; closed-room mysteries with fictional future-science plot devices; near-future, slower-than-light-space-travel-influenced political dramas; and dystopian, low-tech eco-warning tragedies).

As soon as I run out of good SF to read, I'll start worrying (and trust me, I like it all--provided it's well-written). But for now, I'm seeing nothing but abundance and choice. I really don't see that changing anytime soon. I may have to occasionally hop the fence to track down the SF that's wandered into the neighbors' pastures, but I don't mind.