Talk:Science fiction

Duplication? Isn't that cross-referencing?

Okay, Hayford, not sure I take your point in removing some author's works from the "literature" list in Related Articles.

If I follow you, "Frankenstein", e.g. is to be removed because "Mary Shelley" is listed under "Authors"?

But surely, if that were the case, we would have to decide to have either a literature list or an author's list?

I don't think that the list of Literature will contain more than one--maybe two?--of any particular person's work, but I do think it should exist for those larger-than-life works, wherein a person might not necessarily know who wrote it, or remember the exact title, etc. etc.

By the same token, if there is not to be this cross-referencing, why do we need film, tv or radio lists? George Lucas AND Star Wars?

Maybe you have another way of looking at this?

Aleta Curry 18:35, 18 May 2008 (CDT)

Well, I'm not the person who started this page -- I've made a couple of contributions to it, and have removed a couple of items, but it isn't something that interests me greatly. Didn't we discuss this before, somewhere? If so, I don't think we came to any conclusions about it. But, off the top of my head, if we're going to have Authors, with, say, Chulz Voine, as Isaac Asimov thought he was called when he (Isaac) was a boy in Brooklyn, on one list, then I think it would make more sense to have:

• Jules Verne

• 20,000 Leagues Under
• Voyage to the Center
• A Trip to the Moon
• Etc. etc.

rather than just his name up at the top of the page, *then*, somewhere far below, a list of books with *no* mention of who wrote them. Ditto for the other categories. If we have George Lucas, why not list Star Wars under his name rather than separately?

Of course, if you want to be a completist, you could also cross reference all of the above stuff the *other* way around *also*, so that everything is listed twice....

Dunno if any of this makes sense.... Hayford Peirce 18:56, 18 May 2008 (CDT)

• Makes a good deal of sense. I'm fine with listing authors/pioneers/originators with a list of their works, seminal or otherwise.
• Did we discuss this before? And would I remember where it was if we did? Hahahahahahahahahahaha
• I'm not sure, once we start organising into anything other than just a straight list with definitions, doesn't that put us into catalogues rather than related pages?

Aleta Curry 19:04, 18 May 2008 (CDT)

Well, I know that I discussed it with *someone*, but maybe it was just by lengthy notes on the Summary line when we made editorial changes. Why don't we (you, me, someone, the spirit of St. RAH, perhaps) just rearrange the present list as we've just discussed. At some point, I imagine, if warranted, our Kindly Editor-in-Chief will make a dramatic appearance and "gently guide" us into creating Catalogs or Subpages or some other Arcana that I can't ever quite wrap my tired old brain around. And how difficult it must be for *you*, being down there on the other side of the world, upside down and all, with all the blood draining from your brain down to yer feet.... Frightening! Hayford Peirce 19:31, 18 May 2008 (CDT)

The love of a good woman?!

[Rises to bait indignantly]

Now, really! Really, now!

What's so #$%^&*%! hard about that?! Ya'll want some pointers?

What you lot *really* want is the love of a good woman who looks like that Kidman person, dances like Fonteyn, sings like Kathy Battle, cooks like Julia Child, has Marie Curie's brain and Mother Theresa's morals, Madonna's abandon, Oprah's money and can kick a** like Wonder Woman.

Dayum, baby, I'd want her too!

God don't work like that; she's a fair God.

Do me a favour, bro!

(And it's amazing how many sci-fi books work in that love of a good woman theme--just so this post is relevant to the talk page.)

Aleta Curry 19:56, 19 May 2008 (CDT)

I dunno who the "Kidman person" is, but I suppose, in a pinch, the young Brigitte Bardot could fill in, or maybe France Nuyen.... And you left out: plays tennis like Venus Williams and, from South Pacific, is "faithful as a bird dog and kind as Santy Claus".... In any case, I would think you would have learned from experience that there are far more good wimmin around than there are good men! Not even close. As for the S.F. books, check out Flickerman, by yours truly, probably my best book -- 100% serious: about the obsessive love of a good man for a semi-good woman -- who has vanished behind an alien forcefield established around Polynesia and who is now dead 100 years in his past. He wants her back -- I mean, he really wants her back.... Hayford Peirce 21:30, 19 May 2008 (CDT)

Asimov... one of my favourite writers. Can we have an article on him pleaseeeee... Denis Cavanagh 21:35, 19 May 2008 (CDT)

I had lunch with him once in NYC, in 1976, and tried not to blow cigarette smoke in his face -- those were the days! There's so much to say about him, where to begin? But not me.... Hayford Peirce 22:48, 19 May 2008 (CDT)

Good Lord! You had lunch with Asimov?! Could I touch your hand? Please, please?!

Okay, at the first intelligent opportunity I will indeed check out Flickerman. Amazon does something obscene with respect to postage to Oz, but I'll include it in my next large order, okay?

Kidman, Nicole, is a very beautiful woman who passes for an actress around here. I could definitely see Brigitte. And you'd go for Venus rather than Serena? (Though I'd certainly agree that at her best Venue is the more elegant player.) Either way, how could I have left them out?

Aleta Curry 18:12, 20 May 2008 (CDT)

Speaking of Asimov...

I'd like to add something to this article about Asimov's definition of good sci-fi as being less about the technology itself and more about the social implications and effects of the technology. Unfortunately, I can't remember or find the article or book in which he discussed that. Do any of you know it? He discusses, for example, the 1941(?) story "Stalemate" which predicted the development of the atom bomb (ho-hum, says Isaac, anybody keeping up with physics at the time could have predicted that) but goes on to predict the nuclear standoff between superpowers (which is the element of the story that Asimov finds important and impressive). Since Asimov published about eleventy quadrillion essays I don't know where to start looking. Thanks for any pointers. Bruce M.Tindall 15:17, 26 June 2008 (CDT)

Sorry, I can't help you here -- I read a bunch of his essays over the years but even if I *had* read this particular one I wouldn't know where to begin looking. Here's a suggestion: why don't you go to the WP article about Isaac and ask the same question over there? I'll bet someone will be able to answer you.... Hayford Peirce 15:58, 26 June 2008 (CDT)

sci-fi, horror, fantasy

Is there a plan to keep these separate? Because they really are quite different from each other, even if the same writers sometimes cross the genre lines.Pat Palmer (talk) 03:29, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

They usually are treated separately, though the readerships heavily overlap. There's also crossover stuff like science fantasy. Peter Jackson (talk) 09:19, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

Just noticed your catalogue of SF writers includes Lovecraft. While it's true some of his work would count as SF, he's normally thought of as a horror writer. I did a Fantasy/Catalogs page long ago. Peter Jackson (talk) 09:22, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

Agreed, no Lovecraft here!Pat Palmer (talk) 10:57, 24 October 2020 (UTC)