Ok.
So I am a science fiction and fantasy buff.
Yes, I actually know what wormholes are.
And yes, I can name a fantasy author other than Tolkien who writes for readers older than 15.
I know what a Hugo is.
And incidentally, I have watched all the Star Wars movies, and every episode of Star Trek: the next generation.
In spite of this last, I am a science fiction fan.
I think it is exasperating, the way people bring up the star wars franchise or the star trek show in any discussion of science fiction.
I mean, I enjoyed them very much. I remember what Jabba the Hutt looks like. And I can also name every member of every crew of the Starship Enterprise.
But that is not all of science fiction. Or even very good examples of it.
And most importantly, that is science fiction without soul.
Give me a Frederic Pohl, or an Alastair Reynolds, or a William Gibson or a Robert Silverberg or a hundred others, who actually write science fiction.
Good science fiction sticks with you. You carry it around, and it influences the way you think, a little. For one thing, I still remember the day I first read ‘Ubermensch’ by Kim Newman. It blew my mind. And I still fantasize about having my own dragon, like in the Anne McAffrey books.
Science fiction is so much more than spaceships and lasers and aliens. Science fiction is a fiction of ideas, of ‘what-if’ scenarios explored to their logical conclusion. Science fiction as it is intended to be makes you look up from the book you are reading with a beatific smile and shining eyes.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a good read.