What Kind Of Improvements Would You Like To See In Books/literature, whats's missing?

[Katsunami]

Mwahaha Jellyfish protagonist for the win!

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Mwahaha Jellyfish protagonist for the win!

Time by Stephen Baxter features the squid Sheena 5 are one of the main characters.

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, and I have my HG Wells and Jules Verne books to back me up on this

Most stores (at least those selling to the UK) seem to categorise Jules Verne under Adventure or general fiction rather than science fiction.

Although I'm somewhat dubious whether the original novels are particularly steampunk, even if later adaptations have been. I've recently read 20,000 leagues under the sea and the Nautilus is very much described in the same way as a hybrid car - clean, efficient, the electricially-powered future.

And even if they are, science changes and science fiction has to change with it. What was reasonable scientific speculation a hundred years ago is fantasy today so just because an old novel was science fiction it doesn't mean a newer one on the same subject will be as well.

[HarryT]

The overwhelming majority of Verne's books are travel stories. Those few which one might call "science fiction" are simply travel to unusual places, or by unusual means.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by EndlessWaves

What was reasonable scientific speculation a hundred years ago is fantasy today so just because an old novel was science fiction it doesn't mean a newer one on the same subject will be as well.

Is "reasonable scientific speculation" the going definition of the Science Fiction genre these days? No wonder it's in trouble then.

Truth is; genre is simply chosen--attached if you like. It's Science Fiction because the author/publisher says it is. That's the way it's always been.

It's perfectly reasonable to wish there was more "reasonable scientific speculative" fiction being published. Just don't confuse that wish with "Science Fiction is Dead/Dying." It's never really been what its present aficionados wish it was ... for a long time now.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Is "reasonable scientific speculation" the going definition of the Science Fiction genre these days?

I think it affects its popularity in that if you want to tap into the zeitgeist, you have to write about something that is "reasonably" within reach. Back in the earlier days of science fiction, it did look like we were on the verge of moving out into space. People were hungry for speculations on what that would be like. Today, we know that space travel is very difficult and still very slow on any scale. We no longer believe we're about to embark across the universe. So, what used to be speculation is now more or less fantasy, and the masses are no longer interested in space stories. I think this holds for the writers as well as the readers. Now, it seems that the most popular science fiction being written is about life here on Earth.

I would still call stories about galactic space travel science fiction, though, even though the technology is more fantasy than science.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Is "reasonable scientific speculation" the going definition of the Science Fiction genre these days? No wonder it's in trouble then.

LOL. A lot of devices seen in the original Star Trek (a pad with a stylus) and in The Next Generation (tablets, readers), have already become reality or are even surpassed. Some computer specifications mentioned for KITT (Knight Rider) where HUGE in the 1980's, but have been superseded in the beginning of the 21st century.

I remember that he mentioned that he could store 250 billion bytes, and had a memory capacity of 1000 million bytes, but that would only be 250GB of storage and 1GB of memory. Those are 2002-era specifications

If I could only remember the episode in which these specifications were mentioned; then I could actually check them

edit: found it.

1,000 megabits => 125 megabyte. Unkown if this was memory, or storage capacity. Even less than I remembered

If memory, that would be 1998-era specs (for me), if storage capacity, it'd be somewhere around 1990-1991. My 1994 computer came with a 480 MB hard drive already.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Truth is; genre is simply chosen--attached if you like. It's Science Fiction because the author/publisher says it is. That's the way it's always been.

I am inclined to think it is what it is despite what the author publisher says it is. I can call a cheese sandwich anything I want to, but I doubt it will change it much.

Some Jules Verne is SF, some is steampunk (by broader definitions some say or a classic example others say) , some is both and some is neither.

I call it less than fascinating, but for many people it probably is.

Helen

[Pulpmeister]

Nice if authors always remembered that the object is to please the reader, not the writer. Otherwise, why publish? Write what you want to read, by all means, then shove it in drawer. Job done.

If you publish, surely you want other people to share; there's nothing like the gratification of a reader contacting you in appreciation of what you've done. It means you have pleased someone else.

A good story, well told; what more does a reader need?

[jeremy young]

I wish they would just do away with genre....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jeremy young

I wish they would just do away with genre....

You wouldn't want to see any division of books? All mixed up in the bookstore: history, biography, cookery books, romance, crime, SF, sorted only perhaps by author?

That would make it almost impossible to find books. Everyone I know of browses for books by genre. If I want a history book, I'll go and look on the "History" shelf of the bookstore.

[Namekuseijin]

What Kind Of Improvements Would You Like To See In Books/literature, whats's missing?

I'd like to see better readers

not devices, mind

[jeremy young]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You wouldn't want to see any division of books? All mixed up in the bookstore: history, biography, cookery books, romance, crime, SF, sorted only perhaps by author?

That would make it almost impossible to find books. Everyone I know of browses for books by genre. If I want a history book, I'll go and look on the "History" shelf of the bookstore.

I'm not suggesting anarchy.

And I don't consider history, biography, cookery etc as genre.

I rather liked the days when fiction was one thing, with maybe Mills and Boon being displayed separately - not unlike the way books are sold in charity shops(and I take on board they have a smaller stock, and less issue with stock control). As a reader I was much more likely to take a punt on an author that I had never heard of.

An example would be a trip to Smiths, back in the 80's, they had a 3 for 2 offer, I came away with Primo Levi If This is a Man, Michele Guinness The Promised Land and Garrison Keillor Lake Wobegon Days.

That wouldn't happen these days, because you have to walk half way round the shop - so you end up with three books from the same 'genre'. Or maybe a book from the adjoining section that the marketing department has decided match.