I adore science fiction when it’s well written. The possibilities and speculation spurs my imagination. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and while browsing at a bookstore, I spend most of my time in the sci-fi section.
Unfortunately, a lot of science fiction is just plain weird. I don’t know if that’s because writers in general are weird, or if science fiction attracts weirdos for writers. While I enjoy possibilities, sometimes I see them go off into the truly bizarre, speculating about independent brains wandering through space seeking to transcend dimensional barriers. Maybe that fires up some folks, but I’m not one of them.
Perhaps my world view is simply too grounded in reality, which I know is a strange thing for a fan of science fiction to claim, but I want my stories, while being fantastical, to still be possible, ie – something I can relate to. When writers start talking about ribbons of energy that interweave through metaphysical fabrics of time, space, and spirit, it gets too esoteric for me.
I think I’ve said before that sci-fi is usually either
great or horrid, with rarely anything in between. I rate the strange stuff as horrid, even if
it’s supposedly well written. While I
know we need to get that alien cultures are different, there still has to be a
degree of relatability for the audience to enjoy a book. Of course, some of these weird tales gain
great fandoms and win lots of awards, so maybe it’s just that I’m the weirdo.
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