Science Fiction

[waterspyder]

I was going through a list of the top 100 science fiction books of the 20th Century, and realized that I've read many of them, or other works by the authors on the list and I started to wonder.

What is it about Science Fiction that makes it so stigmatized?

All of the books on that list are thought-provoking. Many are written with a finesse that is completely lost on the contemporary serial novelist. Is there a ton of science fiction out there that I haven't read that is abyssmally bad? Is the average reader incapable of fathoming the concepts that are presented? What is it that makes sci-fi so inaccessible?

Comments

[zenten.livejournal.com]

It's a genre. Genre's are disliked. Horror, fantasy, Romance, Westerns etc aren't respected either, even the really good ones. It probably doesn't help that a number of writers use the genre elements as props to hold up their story, instead of accents.

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

What zenten said. I don't know why genre is so disliked, since "non-genre" fiction, most of the time (to me), is incredibly boring, and I don't see what people like about it. Why read a book about regular everyday life when you could be living it instead? That's why I greatly prefer "genre" fiction, since it is about situations and worlds that I can't experience myself.

[twiin.livejournal.com]

sci-fi is stigmatized and inaccessible?

my explanation

[feli-valkyria.livejournal.com]

Because science fiction, like many fantasy, has too many characters and settings to the point where I get overwhelmed and frustrated, and I already have facial/character recognition problems so why make it worse?

However, I'll take a dystopia any day.

[corradus.livejournal.com]

Why do you think Sci-Fi endures a worse rep than any other sub-genre? Personally I think it has its fans and detractors just like any other. Now, maybe certain long running franchises (and their fans) might get razzed periodically but I don't think it carries any worse mark than fantasy or horror or whatever. Why do you think that it does?

[foms.livejournal.com]

I want, very badly, to address this. I really, truly, don't have time. Please ask me again.

[furious-g.livejournal.com]

I blame the media.