Next time someone asks me, "Jeff, why don't you write science fiction anymore?" I'll hand them this book.
There's plenty of evidence for good science fiction becoming popular as well, if you consider, for example, "The Martian," or to a lesser degree James Corey's 'The Expanse' series, if its just the popularity of the book is what turned you off. Bad things being popular shouldn't spoil a whole genre
I'll give you a Mulligan on the Martian. I have it on my nightstand and my son raved about it, so that is actually set to be read right after I grind through Ready Player One. The thing is, it's not that the book is bad that gets to me, there are a ton of awful books produced and that become popular every year, normally I can ignore them because normally I read through a whole mess of different genre at any given time some of it unbelievably good and very popular - the Help by Katherine Stokkett was absolutely awesome, except for the places where it was clear this was a first novel... but that's another story... I didn't expect to find myself sacrificing sleep to plow through that one but I did, Damned by Chuck Pahlaniuk, who I normally like quite a bit, was awful and dull and poorly paced and haphazardly written.
Maybe it's because I always feel that science fiction should always look forwards and not backwards and Ready Player One only looks backwards that it gets under my skin. The same way classic rock stations get under my skin, or actual rock and roll stations that still fill their playlists with Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots, and Aerosmith. The way politics seems to marvel at the distant past as some utopia to which we should aspire. And this stupid book with all of the glowing reviews and all of the awards focus ONLY on that he makes references to shit like Thompson Twins, and Better of Dead, and more obscure crap, and people love it because they remember being 6 years old when Transformers were on TV every afternoon... I keep thinking it's more of a critique of society, that we as a people can't look forward further than the next episode of Walking Dead or some other stupid pop culture moment and that's why we aren't on the Moon or Mars. That's why the futurism that drove me to science fiction when I was a kid died off and was replaced by fear and nihilism.
And the consumers of it, the enthusiasts for it, make me angry.
I don't know. I'm old now. 46. Died twice so far, once last year. My perspective is all skewed. Get off my lawn you kids!
LOL
« Last Edit: March 26, 2016, 04:27:28 PM by jrderego »
"Happiness consists of getting enough sleep." Robert A. Heinlein
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