Sci-fi verses Science Fiction

[marshall_payne]

This is an old argument but perhaps one that needs to be brought up again because I see the term "sci-fi" misused more and more nowadays. Harlan Ellison has ranted about this one for years. Here's a video link where he speaks his mind:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2008/11/science-fiction-vs-scifi/

As a copyeditor, I sometimes find myself

Comments

[isaiah13]

I'd have to count myself among the ignorant on this, but if Harlan Ellison truly finds it offensive, I may keep confusing the terms on purpose.

[marshall_payne]

I often find Harlan over the top and annoying, but I agree with him on this one. Whenever I see the word I instantly wonder if the user is using it on purpose or just doesn't know the difference. It's also a term that the mainstream world uses to look down at us, "Yeah, he went and wrote a sci-fi novel over the summer to make some quick money." However, I'll add that Buckaroo Bonzai is a great "sci-fi" movie! *g*

[isleburroughs]

I like everything sciffy, sci-fi, sf and even some spec fic..

I don't like it if it takes itself too seriously. I mean if it gets too literary and/or is pretending to be science fiction.

I love UBIK, Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Ophiuchi Hotline and some of the "bad" sci-fi movies.

I liked Oryx and Crake despite the author's denials of being a science fiction writer. Never read her Handmaid's tale. Read page one and two a year after it came out and decided it was probably too mainstream for me.

If it has rocketships, robots, a.i., aliens, ftl, etc. etc. good characters, good plot I'm there. Even if the prose is bad:o)

[marshall_payne]

Ubik, one of my fave novels. I've read it several times. Joe Chip--great character.

I wasn't talking here about what should be used in casual conversation, just when writing reviews, essay, etc. Or take query letters. I wouldn't send an agent a query that asked if he/she would look at my "sci-fi" novel. That word alone might earn me a form rejection.

[isleburroughs]

True. You can tell when a reviewer calls everything sci-fi they're not aware of our sub-culture.

I don't see any reason to make it more noble although I do try to get the science right. It bothers me when it isn't. I don't care that the general public can't differentiate the good from the bad sf on either ends of a large spectrum of the genre.

Ubik is my all time fave too. PKD's work is so timeless although some of my "fiends" ;D would argue that Heinlein is more so.

[marshall_payne]

I got into this whole thing late in life. At the age of 27 in 1984 I decided I wanted to be an SF writer. Thing was, I hadn't read much of it. So I went to a friend of mine who knew the genre well and asked him, "Who's SF deals with reality coming unglued?" He said, "Philip K Dick!" I've read most of his novels, but if anyone asked which is my fave I'd say Ubik.

[isleburroughs]

I read Ubik when I was around 16 or 17 in the late 70s. 27 yrs old isn't that late.

I started reading s.f. around age 13. I read Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith. The sequel to 101 Dalmations. I read almost all the rocket ship books in the elementary school library I could get my hands on after that.

PKDick rules!

[marshall_payne]

So we're roughly the same age, Ruth. Doesn't matter, just that we've seen some of the same stuff, VCRs, the death of disco, punk rock, etc. ;-)

Yeah, I know 27 isn't that late, but if you ask most writers when they got interested in fiction they'd say when they could first read. I was into writing music as a teen and in my 20s.

[isleburroughs]

Yeah. and 8 track tapes and betamax video tapes. It's weird. I never thought I'd see a kid riding a bicycle with a phone in his hand. I figured if we had wireless phones they'd sound like walky talkies or Star Trek communicators. Not the clear sounding cell phones we have today.

So maybe I'll get my robot too:o)