Topic: MediaTags: science fictionYesterday, I declared in commemorating his life, that Vernor Vinge was the greatest SF author. Of course, there are many opinions on who might get that title, and a solid argument that there isn't just one, or one axis of what makes great SF.
To explain my claim, I want to describe why I read SF, and how I judge greatness in it. Those who read SF may read all sorts of other books (and should) but they have a reason why SF holds a particular attraction and value. While any great book should have great characters and great prose and a gripping story and bring you to new realizations about the world and "the human condition" SF readers seek even more. (This is true to an extent which causes mainstream critics to disparage SF, because readers are willing to accept less than the best of these other virtues in order to get SF that is great at being SF.)
All good fiction explores important issues and the consequences of certain hypotheticals -- "What if?" For most fiction, these topics are important but "ordinary" and concern that human condition, our lives, our emotions, our morals, our philosophy, our politics and many other things.
Speculative fiction asks "what if?" with the world itself. Imagine a world that isn't just ours (often just because it's in the future as is not yet
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