It's a rather dreary day here in Atlanta. Not at all inspiring, but perhaps a good day to sit down and consider some books. Which is exactly what I intend to do today!
Later in the week I'll be delving into individual short stories, but as of right now I wanted to let you all know what anthologies I am drawing my stories out of. Hard science fiction, in my opinion, has largely been dominated by the short story style of writing. It is also my favorite way to read and write the genre. Why? Because, let's face it: for the less than scientifically inclined, hard science fiction can occasionally be very difficult to get through.
Now, the key difference between hard and 'soft' science fiction is found in the content. Isaac Asimov's anthology of short stories "I, Robot" (which you will find me referring to very often) and "A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber are both good examples of hard science fiction. They concentrate on the "what if's?" of science, actual possibilities that could occur in the realm of the natural world. Soft science fiction is a little less respected simply because it doesn't focus on the science of the story (seems a little silly, doesn't it? I mean, it is science fiction). I've become fond of the term "Futuristic Fantasy" to refer to soft science fiction. Do you like it? I made that up myself. And the reason is because the writers bend laws that cannot be bent to create their ideas. Think of Star Wars -- every time a Tie-Fighter blows up in space, there's a dramatic flash of flame. Hmmm. What is fire, essentially? It is the chemical reaction between a material and oxygen. Oxygen. There's no oxygen in space, hence there would be no explosion with fire. Now, there could be other ways for the ship to explode, I'm sure. That would require more research. But as it is, Star Wars got it wrong. Soft science fiction.
So 'Futuristic Fantasy' can easily take up hundreds and hundreds of pages without causing the brain to turn to confused and exhausted mush. It's very popular because of this. And that's ok -- don't get me wrong, I also enjoy and respect soft science fiction. It's still difficult to write. But hard science fiction is the thing that you *really* have to be careful with. Because if you call it legitimate, and you get it wrong, the science community will take great care to point it out to you. This happened to Larry Niven with his famous novel Ringworld. He had to write a second novel, The Ringworld Engineers to explain the physics of how his idea could work. So if you think you can qualify your stories to the people who really know what they're talking about, write whatever you want.
In short, hard science fiction is difficult no matter what because not everyone can be a physicist, or a chemist, or an astrologist, or an expert on nuclear materials, etc.
But I digress.
Anyways, the books that I will be drawing from are these:
(1). The Oxford Book of Science Fiction, ed. Tom Shippey.
(2). The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard Science Fiction, ed. David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.
And I'll also be dipping into The Essential Ellison which is a collection of all of Harlan Ellison's short stories for his entire career (including a few from his early teens). Not to mention I'll probably throw in a few classic novels here and there, when I have the time to read them!
Until next time then!
L
p.s. Don't forget to feed the Grumbies.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
455
Hello! Welcome to my blog. Seems to be what everyone is doing these days, but they say that companies like to see you have internet, coding, and writing skills all in one bunch. I guess you could say this means you can stick to a schedule too. So blogging is really one of those things that writers need.
I hate introductions, whether it be in person, in an essay, a story, or even something as low stakes as a blog. So this first post is going to be a lot looser, less formal, than the rest of my writing might sound. Of course, we'll be getting into much more interesting topics than myself later, which will help, I think.
Basically all you need to know about me at the moment can be found on my profile to the right. I am a student in Atlanta, Georgia, and I read and write science fiction. The reading part is probably the key to the writing -- I'd say that not a single person was *born* to write. Just like no one was *born* to make a circuit board (I made a circuit board once! Albeit...a very simple one). You have to learn, research, see how other people do it before you can start yourself, and for writers this comes in other author's works. You may like history books, or non-fiction, or maybe do-it-yourself guides, or, like me, the wider world of fiction. No matter what you find yourself attracted to, you *have* to read it before you can write it. Trust me, genres can be horribly mangled and converged into a Frankenstein monster if you're not paying attention.
But, as I have already stated, my personal area of interest, and hopefully one day expertise, is the extremely unappreciated genre of Science Fiction. But we'll get to that in a minute.
Let's start with the name of my blog. Unless you are a science buff, you probably won't immediately recognize what 455 below represents. Well, I'm pretty sure you can gather that it's a temperature, but a temperature of what?
Space. The beautiful infinite (or is it?) expanse that surrounds our comparatively insignificant little solar system. Now, this is by no means the average of all that space! The technical temperature of the void is 'absolute zero' or zero Kelvin, which converts to -273.15 degrees Celsius. I was never very good at these kinds of conversions, so I chose the Fahrenheit version: -459.66999999999996 degrees. Now obviously you can't name a blog *that*! No one would be able to talk about it.
"Hey, did you read 459.66999999999996 below today?"
"No, I missed that section."
Silly. No, I much prefer 455. Besides, out there somewhere (in the great beyond...) there is a specific patch of space - probably many patches - that have the specific temperature of -455 degrees F. Remember, the vacuum of space fluctuates. It's a pretty violent environment, or so I've been told.
And what will I be discussing here at 455 below? Well, many things I'm sure. I love the internet because it allows us to see and learn so many things. I will be concentrating, however, on reviewing different Science Fiction stories, long and short, that I read. You'll have to keep me honest -- my goal is to write at least once a week, so if I start slacking off, send me a virus or something (not really, please don't do that).
That reminds me of a story....
But you'll just have to WAIT to hear about it!
So long for now,
L
p.s. Enjoy feeding the space grumbies.
I hate introductions, whether it be in person, in an essay, a story, or even something as low stakes as a blog. So this first post is going to be a lot looser, less formal, than the rest of my writing might sound. Of course, we'll be getting into much more interesting topics than myself later, which will help, I think.
Basically all you need to know about me at the moment can be found on my profile to the right. I am a student in Atlanta, Georgia, and I read and write science fiction. The reading part is probably the key to the writing -- I'd say that not a single person was *born* to write. Just like no one was *born* to make a circuit board (I made a circuit board once! Albeit...a very simple one). You have to learn, research, see how other people do it before you can start yourself, and for writers this comes in other author's works. You may like history books, or non-fiction, or maybe do-it-yourself guides, or, like me, the wider world of fiction. No matter what you find yourself attracted to, you *have* to read it before you can write it. Trust me, genres can be horribly mangled and converged into a Frankenstein monster if you're not paying attention.
But, as I have already stated, my personal area of interest, and hopefully one day expertise, is the extremely unappreciated genre of Science Fiction. But we'll get to that in a minute.
Let's start with the name of my blog. Unless you are a science buff, you probably won't immediately recognize what 455 below represents. Well, I'm pretty sure you can gather that it's a temperature, but a temperature of what?
Space. The beautiful infinite (or is it?) expanse that surrounds our comparatively insignificant little solar system. Now, this is by no means the average of all that space! The technical temperature of the void is 'absolute zero' or zero Kelvin, which converts to -273.15 degrees Celsius. I was never very good at these kinds of conversions, so I chose the Fahrenheit version: -459.66999999999996 degrees. Now obviously you can't name a blog *that*! No one would be able to talk about it.
"Hey, did you read 459.66999999999996 below today?"
"No, I missed that section."
Silly. No, I much prefer 455. Besides, out there somewhere (in the great beyond...) there is a specific patch of space - probably many patches - that have the specific temperature of -455 degrees F. Remember, the vacuum of space fluctuates. It's a pretty violent environment, or so I've been told.
And what will I be discussing here at 455 below? Well, many things I'm sure. I love the internet because it allows us to see and learn so many things. I will be concentrating, however, on reviewing different Science Fiction stories, long and short, that I read. You'll have to keep me honest -- my goal is to write at least once a week, so if I start slacking off, send me a virus or something (not really, please don't do that).
That reminds me of a story....
But you'll just have to WAIT to hear about it!
So long for now,
L
p.s. Enjoy feeding the space grumbies.
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