Science Fiction: Welcome to my Worlds

Most people think about book reviews in terms of being about the latest books out. My reviews, on the other hand, will focus on the BEST Science Fiction and Fantasy I've read over the years.

I read a lot of books but, frankly, there are way more out there than I have time to read. I have to assume that is the case for a lot of people. In today's busy world, you have to pick and chose the best reading for your leisure time carefully or you will be wasting precious recreational reading time. But, truth be told, the latest book out isn't always the best or most interesting story to occupy your time.

That's why I will also be reviewing only those books I know are good whether they are just out or they were written decades ago. While we may not, necessarily, agree on what is good, that will at least give you a starting point in deciding on your next read. What, after all, would be the point of even including a Science Fiction or Fantasy book I didn't like... other than allowing me to vent? :) Much better to go with the positive and, if your tastes are similar, you should find my book reviews very helpful-- especially in pointing out older books you may not have read that could well be better than newer ones you may hear about in other places. If you find your tastes aren't similar to mine, at least you'll know which ones to avoid. :)

Just a short note about my taste in various 'flavors' of SF. I like hard Science Fiction and even Space Opera occasionally, but nothing 'tickles my trigger' like a novel with really good characters and a psionic/ESP background of some sort. Immortality and its various aspects has always been a close second. If you can mix the two together, AND keep the characters real and the story moving, you'll definitely have my attention. Books with too many characters or more than one main character tend to give me gas. Books that are 'sort of' Science Fiction for people who don't really like Sci-Fi-- like most of Ray Bradbury's writing-- also fall out as rejects.

In the Fantasy genre, I should probably warn you that I simply detest one book which many thousands of other Fantasy lovers adore. That would be Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. There are simply too many characters in the novel, none of which I really care about. If I'm reading something and I need a Who's Who list to keep track of things, it probably will be bounced off the wall by the third chapter and completely ignored thereafter.

The Fantasy novels I do like involve magic of some sort. I don't, as a general rule, like Sword and Sorcery though, because they usually wind up with far more sword action than magic. There are exceptions to everything, of course, and I do like the Elric of Melnibone' series because he certainly isn't your typical barbarian magic-hater.

That should give you an idea of where I'm coming from. Do take a look at my book reviews and see what you think.

There are big differences between Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror genres and you will probably find many different definitions of them. My purpose here will be to define them in a practical manner so you will know what I mean when I refer to them in the future. One caveat I should mention: In general, I tend to like both science fiction and fantasy-- but I do NOT usually like novels (or movies) in the horror field. That prejudice may show in my definition. :)

Science Fiction is usually thought of in terms of hard science: That is, spaceships and other futuristic technology which is at least reasonably projectable from some aspect of current technology. Some people (myself included) also think that at least some paranormal phenomena, i.e. psionics, telekinesis, clairvoyance, telepathy, astral travel and etc. should also be included in the category of Sci-Fi, IF they are presented in the proper manner, even though they don't spring from a root science that has been acceptably 'proven' to be true as yet.

Now why should that be, you might indignantly ask. Because, as in many other areas, sometimes the appearance of something is more important than its underlying reality. Paranormal phenomena may turn out to be complete pseudo-science but, as long as the possibility of its validity exists, and it is presented as science rather than supernatural, in the story, then it should fall under the heading of Science Fiction. As an example, the Darkover novels of (now deceased) Marion Zimmer Bradley (based totally on the psionic science of laran) are unquestionably science fiction because of their technological background. The Pliocene Exile series of Julian May is another excellent example of psionics in a technological setting.

That being said, I would add that this applies only to the areas of the paranormal which can (pseudo)scientifically be considered to spring from human origin. Stories about ghosts and demons, for example, normally fall under the supernatural heading and would always be fantasy UNLESS some story twist shows that said ghosts or demons are, in fact, misunderstood extraterrestrials. Alien species almost always fall under the heading of science fiction.

Generally speaking, it is the attitude of Fantasy that 'anything goes' which distinguishes it from Science Fiction. When you are talking about the BEST of fantasy, however, you will usually find there are underlying rules, even in the use of magic. Even though magic or sorcery has NO basis in scientific fact, if the author does not provide some method of operation for their magical system it quickly becomes meaningless. The Lafayette O' Leary novels of Keith Laumer are a great read and good examples of providing a magical system of operation.

Again, it is a question of attitude which distinguishes Horror from Science Fiction. Superficially, the genre of Horror may appear quite similar to that of Science Fiction in that it has many of the same elements such as aliens and futuristic technology. That's where the similarity ends. Science Fiction normally provides a more well rounded representation in that it depicts aliens who are different enough to provide needed conflict for the story but still shown as 'people'. That is they are represented as intelligent beings with their own set of priorities and needs which don't necessarily coincide with those of humans.

The horror genre presents a much simpler context in which aliens are always 'monsters' without any regard for more subtle factors. In short, a Horror novel or movie is designed with the quick thrill of terror in mind (much as you might get from riding a roller coaster) and no depth of character at all.

The best example of Science Fiction versus Horror I can think of occurred in the TV series Earth: Final Conflict. When the series began, and for the first few seasons, it was unquestionably Science Fiction. It was even good Science Fiction. Then, apparently the ratings fell a bit and the producers decided to go for something 'tried and true' (translate seriously cliche') like alien monsters. So their interesting aliens reverted to alien monsters... no doubt to the delight of twelve year old juveniles everywhere. And, their wonderful Science Fiction series became a Horror atrocity. Television (and sometimes movie) producers have an unfortunate tendency to shoot for the lowest common denominator when making SF flicks... but that's another topic.

I don't expect everyone to necessarily agree with my definitions... but it is how I see them.