"Now that’s not to say that there’s not insight or real religious dialogue. But there’s a humility that’s missing in modern fiction. Stories are written with authors assuming they have all the answers—that there’s nothing that could ever possibly confound them. And this certainty prevents the confounding from being explored. Everything has to have the author’s preferred angle—just so the audience gets it."
You hit the nail on the head with what is wrong with modern fiction. It's the primary reason I put down and never pick up again much much modern fantasy and science fiction: everything is already spelled out.
I'm curious if you've read Stanislaw Lem's "His Masters Voice", which recounts humanities attempt to decipher a message from outer space. It's much like "Rama" but earthbound, where extraordinarily intelligent people attempt to decipher something ordered, artificial, but utterly alien.
Stanislaw Lem is a fantastic author. I recently read 'Return from the Stars' by him. It very much reads like a social and philosophical warning against the type of world we're just now creating. Peak progressive hierarchy. I think we'll collapse before we reach that state (thankfully) but it is absolutely terrifying. I recommend the book in my book-reviews here:
I read Rendezvous with Rama a while back. I think the best way to describe a lot of 60s era science fiction is the author saying "look at this interesting idea" and building that idea into a digestible story. They're not so much character focused as focused on larger engineering projects and ideas. Books like ringworld fall into this category as well. Modern literature requires more because those tropes and ideas are no longer novel enough to hold a readers attention on their own. The audience has also dramatically changed.
When nearly every one aspires to be an entertainer through mediums such as substack, it's far harder to stand out from the crowd. The storytelling has benefitted from the competition. Unfortunately the society we live in today is both hyper-orthodox (ruled by an iron-fisted woke progressive commissars) and many of the 'big ideas' in science fiction have already been examined.
We're ready for a breakout culture right now, but it will require some type of catalyst. We're likely to see one here soon.
There are a series of art books from the 70s called the Terran Trade Authority series. I got them as a boy, the conceit is that they're a sort of Jane's Fighting ships of a future past detailing now obsolete spacecraft from a long ago war. At the end of 'Spacecraft 2000 - 2100' they have 5 or 6 strange encounters with associated pictures. The wreck of an ancient starship found on a small moon that will never be investigated because the mining expedition that discovered it wasn't financially viable. The strange hologram like spectre of a ship that has stayed totally inert in the atmosphere of a distant planet ever since it was discovered. The moving city ships of a desert planet that no one has ever been able to enter or contact. The tale of an alien wreck found drifting on the edge of the solar system containing a 20th century aircraft which was later discovered to have foundered colliding with another wreck millions of years older. Theres only half a page of writing to each but as a boy this stuff kept me awake at night, the thrilling mystery of it all nearly boiled my brain.
Agree with all your points. I really admire this book for its extremely economical premise. You can describe what it's about in one simple sentence. But there's plenty to say as that premise unfolds. It's a masterclass in writing for all authors of genre fiction.
Read this very young and was intrigued. I’ve read all the 4 books of the 2001 series. Just phenomenal. I think Clarke is a special Sci-Fi writer because of what he focuses on. Stanislaw Lem is another one of my favorites for the same reason. Lem ventures into some wild shit.
Thanks for the review. Rama is on the short list, and it might get bumped up.
Fundamentally, every great story is twofold: one, it's a tour of a fantasy land, and two, it's a progress of character(s). Great characters without a wonderful background grow boring. A great background without decent characters is flat.
A fantasy land can be any place, really. It's how you characterize it, how the characters have to interact with it, that's what gives it life. Stranger Things: suburban hell was a wonderful place for extra-dimensional weirdness. The juxtaposition of normalcy and the Upside Down created a Jekyll-Hyde character to the world the characters romped through.
I liked the heechee novels for wonder but too much time was spent on the characters.
Conan the Barbarian books (the originals by RE Howard, etc) were great for a fantasy setting of wonder, but Conan was not much of a character.
Great characters plus great background...that's the secret.
Do what you have to mon ami, do what you have to, and hope focusing on the positive stuff will help you out more. Also can't wait for the revisions to your work and upcoming chapters!
Thank you for the recommendation. I remember suffering through my childhood trying to find interesting fantasy/scifi!
Totally unforgivable that when a young boy searched “good sf/f” anything before 2000 wouldn’t appear on those listicles. Now one must read twice as hard for missed time.
Still trying to work out this sort of thing in my own stories.
My own inspirations lean towards authors like Banks, EE Smith, Howard, Burrows and Wright. Scope tends towards a bit large, is I guess what I'm trying to say here.
I have an extremely advanced, fantastically powerful alien race, but they have no interest in sharing their culture, philosophy or technology with anyone, and will openly admit that it is extreme and unhealthy and simply necessary for what they feel they have to do. They aren't an example to anyone and can only be viewed favorably in comparison to the existential disaster they're fighting. (and few believe that is even real). My protagonist pair is from this race, and there is a challenge in making them relatable while keeping their otherness consistent. Most of this lifting is going to be done by a major supporting character who decides to dedicate himself to being their advocate and understanding their beliefs through challenging them.
I may not have the skill yet for this, and I may be making a huge mistake by pantsing it or by being so shamelessly derivative for the human side of the equation.
I really should get around to reading Rendezvous before Villeneuve lovingly and respectfully adapts it except for one thing that changes the entire meaning.
"Now that’s not to say that there’s not insight or real religious dialogue. But there’s a humility that’s missing in modern fiction. Stories are written with authors assuming they have all the answers—that there’s nothing that could ever possibly confound them. And this certainty prevents the confounding from being explored. Everything has to have the author’s preferred angle—just so the audience gets it."
You hit the nail on the head with what is wrong with modern fiction. It's the primary reason I put down and never pick up again much much modern fantasy and science fiction: everything is already spelled out.
I'm curious if you've read Stanislaw Lem's "His Masters Voice", which recounts humanities attempt to decipher a message from outer space. It's much like "Rama" but earthbound, where extraordinarily intelligent people attempt to decipher something ordered, artificial, but utterly alien.
I have not read it! I’ll add it to the list!
Excellent choice! Stanislaw Lem, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are the intriguing authors of a past, grand age of science fiction.
Stanislaw Lem is a fantastic author. I recently read 'Return from the Stars' by him. It very much reads like a social and philosophical warning against the type of world we're just now creating. Peak progressive hierarchy. I think we'll collapse before we reach that state (thankfully) but it is absolutely terrifying. I recommend the book in my book-reviews here:
https://alwaysthehorizon.substack.com/p/book-review-return-from-the-stars
This is among the first books that I read when I started reading science Fiction. Clarke is a great writer.
I liked the book as a teen. One of the few not censored during our communist period.
I read Rendezvous with Rama a while back. I think the best way to describe a lot of 60s era science fiction is the author saying "look at this interesting idea" and building that idea into a digestible story. They're not so much character focused as focused on larger engineering projects and ideas. Books like ringworld fall into this category as well. Modern literature requires more because those tropes and ideas are no longer novel enough to hold a readers attention on their own. The audience has also dramatically changed.
When nearly every one aspires to be an entertainer through mediums such as substack, it's far harder to stand out from the crowd. The storytelling has benefitted from the competition. Unfortunately the society we live in today is both hyper-orthodox (ruled by an iron-fisted woke progressive commissars) and many of the 'big ideas' in science fiction have already been examined.
We're ready for a breakout culture right now, but it will require some type of catalyst. We're likely to see one here soon.
There are a series of art books from the 70s called the Terran Trade Authority series. I got them as a boy, the conceit is that they're a sort of Jane's Fighting ships of a future past detailing now obsolete spacecraft from a long ago war. At the end of 'Spacecraft 2000 - 2100' they have 5 or 6 strange encounters with associated pictures. The wreck of an ancient starship found on a small moon that will never be investigated because the mining expedition that discovered it wasn't financially viable. The strange hologram like spectre of a ship that has stayed totally inert in the atmosphere of a distant planet ever since it was discovered. The moving city ships of a desert planet that no one has ever been able to enter or contact. The tale of an alien wreck found drifting on the edge of the solar system containing a 20th century aircraft which was later discovered to have foundered colliding with another wreck millions of years older. Theres only half a page of writing to each but as a boy this stuff kept me awake at night, the thrilling mystery of it all nearly boiled my brain.
Agree with all your points. I really admire this book for its extremely economical premise. You can describe what it's about in one simple sentence. But there's plenty to say as that premise unfolds. It's a masterclass in writing for all authors of genre fiction.
Funny enough I really disliked this book although I enjoyed many of the pastiches inspired by it.
Without giving any spoilers I think you would love the game "Outer Wilds"
Read this very young and was intrigued. I’ve read all the 4 books of the 2001 series. Just phenomenal. I think Clarke is a special Sci-Fi writer because of what he focuses on. Stanislaw Lem is another one of my favorites for the same reason. Lem ventures into some wild shit.
Thanks for the review. Rama is on the short list, and it might get bumped up.
Fundamentally, every great story is twofold: one, it's a tour of a fantasy land, and two, it's a progress of character(s). Great characters without a wonderful background grow boring. A great background without decent characters is flat.
A fantasy land can be any place, really. It's how you characterize it, how the characters have to interact with it, that's what gives it life. Stranger Things: suburban hell was a wonderful place for extra-dimensional weirdness. The juxtaposition of normalcy and the Upside Down created a Jekyll-Hyde character to the world the characters romped through.
I liked the heechee novels for wonder but too much time was spent on the characters.
Conan the Barbarian books (the originals by RE Howard, etc) were great for a fantasy setting of wonder, but Conan was not much of a character.
Great characters plus great background...that's the secret.
The video game adaptation was wonderful. A real problem-solver special. I liked the books very much. I still listen to them on audiobook
Do what you have to mon ami, do what you have to, and hope focusing on the positive stuff will help you out more. Also can't wait for the revisions to your work and upcoming chapters!
Thanks for leaving this up, great article. Sounds a bit of an Asimov feel, an Asimov light 😃
Thank you for the recommendation. I remember suffering through my childhood trying to find interesting fantasy/scifi!
Totally unforgivable that when a young boy searched “good sf/f” anything before 2000 wouldn’t appear on those listicles. Now one must read twice as hard for missed time.
Still trying to work out this sort of thing in my own stories.
My own inspirations lean towards authors like Banks, EE Smith, Howard, Burrows and Wright. Scope tends towards a bit large, is I guess what I'm trying to say here.
I have an extremely advanced, fantastically powerful alien race, but they have no interest in sharing their culture, philosophy or technology with anyone, and will openly admit that it is extreme and unhealthy and simply necessary for what they feel they have to do. They aren't an example to anyone and can only be viewed favorably in comparison to the existential disaster they're fighting. (and few believe that is even real). My protagonist pair is from this race, and there is a challenge in making them relatable while keeping their otherness consistent. Most of this lifting is going to be done by a major supporting character who decides to dedicate himself to being their advocate and understanding their beliefs through challenging them.
I may not have the skill yet for this, and I may be making a huge mistake by pantsing it or by being so shamelessly derivative for the human side of the equation.
I really should get around to reading Rendezvous before Villeneuve lovingly and respectfully adapts it except for one thing that changes the entire meaning.