I see overread books like Dune and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe as part of the problem, not part of the solution. Back in the 1980s there were so many "sci-fi fans" who had read Hitchhiker 20 times but never read Asimov or Heinlein or Dick or Smith or LeGunn or Pohl or...
I am a big fan of Frank Herbert's other books, particularly The Santaroga Barrier, Under Pressure, Destination Void, Eyes of Heisenberg, Whipping Star and the Dosadi books. I can't stand Dune but for some reason people read it over and over again and don't get into the rest of Herbert never mind any other authors.
I'd also blame Tor press for the downfall of sci-fi. Some of their books were groundbreaking like Ender's Game and Forge of God but because they represented a counter-reformation to the "new wave" which made Smith look cool again (great!) but really diminished the range of stories people would tell instead of expanding it. There was also the expansion of fantasy megaseries like Xanth (way too squicky for visual adaptation) and Discworld (too bad visual adaptations stopped when Pratchett passed away, but at least I can go to a Hogfather showing on the epiphany and cosplay as Twoflower)
I kinda feel about Vinge the way I feel about Niven, he didn't quite continue the promise he showed in his early career in his late career. Same with Charlie Stross, who became as bad a left wing nut (sees a fascist under every rock) as Niven was a right wing nut and gave up on the promising Eschaton series for just plain tiring series like The Merchant Princes (Xanth envy without the notes at the end about how much the author hates writing them?)
I liked the self-published We are Legion (We are Bob) which I found at the Salvation Army. Also
If the problem is that not many people read SF, how can popular SF books be part of the problem? Are you supposing that if not for popular books like Dune, people would read a wider variety of other SF works? I don't think that's how it works.
I think popular SF books are important for bringing the genre to a wider audience. Someone who is not familiar with the genre might pick up Dune because of the films, and sure, maybe that's all they'll read, but maybe they'll enjoy it and pick up some more.
As a kid I read a Tom Swift book than read all of them, and then started reading Asimov and many other authors. I don’t know what it is but people who read Dune and Hitchhiker just don’t move on to other books and authors.
And it’s just those two series. I can look down on Xanth but people I’ve met who’ve read that have read other fantasy books like the Deryni books or the Narnia books.
I think it is that people feel socially pressured to read Dune and Hitchhiker and come to conclusions like “reading science fiction is like watching protons decay” or “reading science fiction is being compelled to laugh at jokes that aren’t really funny”.
Mainly “Doc”, but I’d pick any of those Smiths over Adams any day. (God it so cringey though when Virgil Sams says something about “our white race” in First Lensman; it’s enough that he’d have to be cast as Black if there was ever a visual adaptation though it seems today that there will never be)
Niven's been one of my favorite authors. Amazing mind. The Bobiverse Books by Dennis Taylor are great, as is everything he's written. The Outland series is shaping up, and Roadkill was a joy.
I still think Neutron Star is one of the best sci-fi books of all time as it is a short story collection that reads like a novel. I liked Ringworld when I was a kid but fell out of love with it slowly over decades, particularly in that the world of the story was much much much smaller than the Ringworld would have been physically. If Pritchett could get almost 50 novels out of the Discworld, Niven should have been able to get 50,000,000 at least out of the Ringworld but Niven really struggled with the sequel novels.
He was never a character driven author, just plot driven, which I preferred more. Things happen to people rather than people happen to people; I get enough relationship drama in real life. If you really want a deep dive, go reread the 4 Ringworld books, then read the 5 book Fate of Worlds saga, which takes us back to the Ringworld. Amazing books he cowrote this century.
Sci-fi as a literary genre is so great because it's like Broadway; if you're being snobbish about it you're missing the point entirely. It comes from the tradition of mass market serials that have always been considered low-brow. Half the authors you mention began their careers writing throwaway pulp for ten cent magazines. It's a folk art form through and through.
So we should expect our next diamonds to come from areas like r/hfy, royalroad, archive of our own. Lot of young writers there but there's always some gems.
And the daily / weekly release cycles most use is really reminiscent of old-school serialized publications.
That folk art part of things also gets a little extra literal when you consider the long history of typically folk-style filk songs based on scifi and fantasy works.
Comments
I see overread books like Dune and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe as part of the problem, not part of the solution. Back in the 1980s there were so many "sci-fi fans" who had read Hitchhiker 20 times but never read Asimov or Heinlein or Dick or Smith or LeGunn or Pohl or...
I am a big fan of Frank Herbert's other books, particularly The Santaroga Barrier, Under Pressure, Destination Void, Eyes of Heisenberg, Whipping Star and the Dosadi books. I can't stand Dune but for some reason people read it over and over again and don't get into the rest of Herbert never mind any other authors.
I'd also blame Tor press for the downfall of sci-fi. Some of their books were groundbreaking like Ender's Game and Forge of God but because they represented a counter-reformation to the "new wave" which made Smith look cool again (great!) but really diminished the range of stories people would tell instead of expanding it. There was also the expansion of fantasy megaseries like Xanth (way too squicky for visual adaptation) and Discworld (too bad visual adaptations stopped when Pratchett passed away, but at least I can go to a Hogfather showing on the epiphany and cosplay as Twoflower)
I kinda feel about Vinge the way I feel about Niven, he didn't quite continue the promise he showed in his early career in his late career. Same with Charlie Stross, who became as bad a left wing nut (sees a fascist under every rock) as Niven was a right wing nut and gave up on the promising Eschaton series for just plain tiring series like The Merchant Princes (Xanth envy without the notes at the end about how much the author hates writing them?)
I liked the self-published We are Legion (We are Bob) which I found at the Salvation Army. Also
https://www.amazon.com/Terraformers-Annalee-Newitz/dp/125022...
for a very recent book.
If the problem is that not many people read SF, how can popular SF books be part of the problem? Are you supposing that if not for popular books like Dune, people would read a wider variety of other SF works? I don't think that's how it works.
I think popular SF books are important for bringing the genre to a wider audience. Someone who is not familiar with the genre might pick up Dune because of the films, and sure, maybe that's all they'll read, but maybe they'll enjoy it and pick up some more.
As a kid I read a Tom Swift book than read all of them, and then started reading Asimov and many other authors. I don’t know what it is but people who read Dune and Hitchhiker just don’t move on to other books and authors.
And it’s just those two series. I can look down on Xanth but people I’ve met who’ve read that have read other fantasy books like the Deryni books or the Narnia books.
I think it is that people feel socially pressured to read Dune and Hitchhiker and come to conclusions like “reading science fiction is like watching protons decay” or “reading science fiction is being compelled to laugh at jokes that aren’t really funny”.
Top tier old school gatekeeping here. Love it :)
Tor didn't start until 1980, by which time the new wave was long dead. (Also which "Smith" do you mean? E.E.'Doc'? L.Neil? Cordwainer? Clark Ashton?)
Mainly “Doc”, but I’d pick any of those Smiths over Adams any day. (God it so cringey though when Virgil Sams says something about “our white race” in First Lensman; it’s enough that he’d have to be cast as Black if there was ever a visual adaptation though it seems today that there will never be)
Niven's been one of my favorite authors. Amazing mind. The Bobiverse Books by Dennis Taylor are great, as is everything he's written. The Outland series is shaping up, and Roadkill was a joy.
I still think Neutron Star is one of the best sci-fi books of all time as it is a short story collection that reads like a novel. I liked Ringworld when I was a kid but fell out of love with it slowly over decades, particularly in that the world of the story was much much much smaller than the Ringworld would have been physically. If Pritchett could get almost 50 novels out of the Discworld, Niven should have been able to get 50,000,000 at least out of the Ringworld but Niven really struggled with the sequel novels.
He was never a character driven author, just plot driven, which I preferred more. Things happen to people rather than people happen to people; I get enough relationship drama in real life. If you really want a deep dive, go reread the 4 Ringworld books, then read the 5 book Fate of Worlds saga, which takes us back to the Ringworld. Amazing books he cowrote this century.
Sci-fi as a literary genre is so great because it's like Broadway; if you're being snobbish about it you're missing the point entirely. It comes from the tradition of mass market serials that have always been considered low-brow. Half the authors you mention began their careers writing throwaway pulp for ten cent magazines. It's a folk art form through and through.
So we should expect our next diamonds to come from areas like r/hfy, royalroad, archive of our own. Lot of young writers there but there's always some gems.
And the daily / weekly release cycles most use is really reminiscent of old-school serialized publications.
That folk art part of things also gets a little extra literal when you consider the long history of typically folk-style filk songs based on scifi and fantasy works.
This. Gutenberg has Astounding Stories as the prime example:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/198