[BRIEF NOTE] Futures

[rfmcdonald]

pompe's "Welcome to the Future" series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) does a good job of deflating some of the myths of science fiction, that worlds with rich diverse biospheres are going to be ruthlessly colonized, for instance, or that space travel will be romantic for the travellers. In the place of these myths he describes another set of possibilities, certainly not a set that's inevitable but at least one that's plausible.

Right now, I'm reading a book kindly lent to me by thebitterguy that is an example of how not to write science fiction. (Thanks for the loan. I think.) All genre fictions have their conventions, I know, and sometimes these conventions are silly, but do science fiction's conventions have to be so silly? I would like the genre to continue well into the 21st century since I think that it has a lot to offer, including some good writers. The problem, as always, is with the dross and dross' inevitable conservatism. We need more radicals.