General Fiction Discussion

Originally posted by l.saratn
What's wrong with sci-fi?

Let me quote:

"Another source of dislike for the term sci-fi term is the tendency for the mainstream to use it as a collective term that lumps together not only true science fiction but fantasy, horror, comic books, cult films, special effects action films, only marginally related genres such as anime and gaming, and completely unrelated fields such as UFOlogy"

See, you just have to hate the term Sci Fi....since I assume you people are actually talking about Science Fiction..which is like...good stuff..you know..Asimov and Clarke...not "The Aliens of the flying **** planet back for dinner to destroy the earth" ....

So, lets hate the term Sci-Fi together 😊

Sure? oO

Originally posted by l.saratn
Sure? oO

Science Fiction = Good
Sci-Fi = Evil
SF = Acceptable.

Oh gosh yes, because a bunch of shite about a bunch of boring eco-nuts using psychic powers to try and turn Humanity into a collective consciousness is SO much more intellectual and cutting edge than Independance Day, is it? Lazy and ridiculous plot conveniences like a man who is 'always right' or the same murder mystery repeated three times? Or hopelessly naive babble about the downfall of religion being the exposure of what is inside the Vatican. ignoring that a. no-one will care and b. that there might just be more than Christianity in the world. Frankly, I find Star Wars more credible.

I don't know what circles you hang around with, but I am not aware of any problem within which 'sci-fi' applies also to fantasy films, and the work of Asimov and Clarke is just as much sci-fi as Starship Troopers.

I'm just going to nod my head yes and agree to what Ush just said for the hell of it.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Oh gosh yes, because a bunch of shite about a bunch of boring eco-nuts using psychic powers to try and turn Humanity into a collective consciousness is SO much more intellectual and cutting edge than Independance Day, is it? Lazy and ridiculous plot conveniences like a man who is 'always right' or the same murder mystery repeated three times? Or hopelessly naive babble about the downfall of religion being the exposure of what is inside the Vatican. ignoring that a. no-one will care and b. that there might just be more than Christianity in the world. Frankly, I find Star Wars more credible.

I don't know what circles you hang around with, but I am not aware of any problem within which 'sci-fi' applies also to fantasy films, and the work of Asimov and Clarke is just as much sci-fi as Starship Troopers.

I can proudly say I was not able to follow what you were trying to bring across. Sorry.

As for Starship Trooper, well, that book was kinda written by one of the most famous and acknowledged Science Fiction authors besides Clarke and Asimov, so what was that all about?

I don't see why you would be proud about it, seeing as that is a summary of a load of what Asimov and Clarke wrote. Point is, there is nothing about their work, or any several hundred page long piece of boring crap from Brin about black holes or the like, that makes them in any way superior to other pieces of sci-fi, which is exactly what they are. Sci-fi is the term, get used to it. A claim otherwise is fake pretentious bullshit. You've got bugger all to be proud about, sonny.

And I was talking about the film of ST.

Maybe we should have made it so we enter our stories anonymously?

Just a thought... ermm

I concur. ermm

Originally posted by Ushgarak
I don't see why you would be proud about it, seeing as that is a summary of a load of what Asimov and Clarke wrote. Point is, there is nothing about their work, or any several hundred page long piece of boring crap from Brin about black holes or the like, that makes them in any way superior to other pieces of sci-fi, which is exactly what they are. Sci-fi is the term, get used to it. A claim otherwise is fake pretentious bullshit. You've got bugger all to be proud about, sonny.

And I was talking about the film of ST.

Well, I personally do really not have anything to be proud of, I didn't write any, you know.

The matter of the fact is though that Sci-Fi is used as a much broader genre than Science Fiction. Basically all you mentioned is included in Science Fiction though...

Also, I don't know all the stories you were referring to (well only a very few it seems) but I don't see how the three Robot Novels were somehow the same murder mystery? Is it because the same characters appeared? I assume all Sherlock Holmes books are the same as well, after all they feature Sherlock Holmes, right?

I basically don't mind the term Sci-Fi, I have to admit I enjoy ranting pretentious Bullshit sometimes, but it is a fact that Sci Fi is almost impossible to define since most things nowadays are labeled Sci-Fi for advertising or other purposes.

Because they are all resolved in the same way. Once the first novel has established the rules and their flaws, the next two are simply repeating the same idea. I like the scene where the Doctor proves a human cannot murder a human because a robot would stop him, but then it turns out to be because the robot had psychic powers that it got there first, and from there you are back into Star Was territory. A comparison to Holmes, who actually involves a genuine mystery each time, is facile; you might have more of a point if you had said Christie rather than Doyle.

And no... I am afraid that sci-fi and Science Fiction are the same thing. You'll just have to live with it! When someone says 'sci-fi' they might mean Second Foundation or they migh mean the Young Jedi novels. Ok, they are different types of sci-fi, but then so is Matrix a third., Doctor Who a fourth and Star Trek a fifth. There is no reason why Asimov et al get a special 'Science Fiction' label that the others do not.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Because they are all resolved in the same way. Once the first novel has established the rules and their flaws, the next two are simply repeating the same idea. I like the scene where the Doctor proves a human cannot murder a human because a robot would stop him, but then it turns out to be because the robot had psychic powers that it got there first, and from there you are back into Star Was territory. A comparison to Holmes, who actually involves a genuine mystery each time, is facile; you might have more of a point if you had said Christie rather than Doyle.

And no... I am afraid that sci-fi and Science Fiction are the same thing. You'll just have to live with it! When someone says 'sci-fi' they might mean Second Foundation or they migh mean the Young Jedi novels. Ok, they are different types of sci-fi, but then so is Matrix a third., Doctor Who a fourth and Star Trek a fifth. There is no reason why Asimov et al get a special 'Science Fiction' label that the others do not.

If I recall right the third novel was not about the murder of a human on a human. But maybe I just misunderstood what you said. Are you referring to the scene where Elijah was exposed to the open? I'm really not sure what you eman. As for the rules, yes they have been established, but that doesn't mean that all the mysteries were the same. For one it was in three totally different settings. Each had a very different ending and I personally couldn't put the puzzles together, but they seemed very plausible when thinking about afterwards.

And I don't want to deny that Young Jedi Knights in any way is Science Fiction, it is, no doubt about it. What is annoying is that shows like Buffy or The Dead Zone or X-Factor are referred to as Sci Fi, while clearly not being Science Fiction.

I have an idea for a my story... but I don't know if I can fit it in 20000 characters.... I might just do a fanfic if I have a huge problem. ^.^

Originally posted by H. S. 6
Maybe we should have made it so we enter our stories anonymously?

Just a thought... ermm

Meh, names won't matter to me. I'd like to think I'll be good at staying unbiased and judging solely on the writing. I've already had to do it some grading papers, and this won't be much different.

Can't speak for the others, but they'd probably say the same.

...

And anyway, 3 entries! Realizing I have to either keep up with them on a regular basis or just read them all at once is a bit disconcerting. But I'm looking forward to it.

I should probably start reading the entries before I put it off too long and have to read all 24 of them at once...

And on the sci-fi/science fiction debate -- I've never made any differentiation between the two beyond sci-fi being an abbreviation. As far as I'm concerned, if it uses scientific concepts but extends them in a way such that it can't happen and is completely fictitious and fantasy, then it's sci-fi.

I'm writing a Stargate story. 😐

Sci-fi just comes across as abbreviation to me.

26, Lana. 😱

i do not envy you, for those who has to judge all those stories.

Oh, come on, you know you wish you could. 😐

Originally posted by Captain REX
Oh, come on, you know you wish you could. 😐