I was once a science fiction fan. I wasn't heavily involved in organized fandom, but I dallied with it here and there. It was cool. This was a time before Star Wars gimps, anime, and cosplay despoiled the whole thing. Sure, there were Star Trek devotees, and most fans held a certain degree of appreciation for Gene Roddenberry's visions of the future, but the community was mostly about the written word. Fandom was indeed a way of life for some people.
I grew away from SF when I was in my mid-twenties. The genre had grown stale. At least it did for me. I wasn't interested in the hard science fiction movement, I didn't really care for most of the media-related materials, but mostly I turned my head toward horror. It all came to a head when I wasted a substantial portion of a precious Saturday trying to read a novel called Who?, by one Algis Budrys. I was nearly finished with the novel when I abruptly realized I was not enjoying it, and I was finished with science fiction. Horror was my main reading game from that point on. I literally tossed the book aside and moved on to darker territories. This was around 1988.
Jump ahead a few decades. I have read a lot of horror in the interim. I don't regret an instant of it, but times change. I am nearing the state I was in when I abandoned SF. I don't feel like part of the community any more. Instead of feeling too cool for a bunch of geeks, I am now starting to feel like too much of a geek for so-called cool horror people.
The old days of clannish, fannish science fiction fandom looks good to me again. Of course those days are over. One thing we all learned from reading SF is, the future is coming whether we like it or not. Just as we can never forget how death lies in wait for us all as we read and watch horror.
I think it comes down to the simple fact that when things become too popular, they pretty much turn to crap.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are two of the best-known and important writers in the SF genre, and their career launched from the small genre world to the bestseller's list with Lucifer's Hammer. It is a science fiction sage dressed up as a popular disaster page-turner. I read and greatly enjoyed it back around 1986. I also liked collaborations from them like Footfall, Inferno, Oath of Fealty, and The Mote in God's Eye. I haven't picked up one of their books in ages, but Fallen Angels recently caught my eye.
The premise to Fallen Angels is irresistible. In the near future extreme environmentalism has brought about an ice age. Technology is deeply frowned upon. Science Fiction isn't exactly illegal, but can cost you your job or even your life. Sort of like being outed as a bigot in today's world.
There are bases in orbit around earth, which have become independent states. They are considered to be enemies by "Greenies", but fans think of the space dwellers as angels. A ship from the stations happens to be harvesting a little hydrogen from Mother Earth, and is shot down. The two survivors are trapped and freezing to death on a glacier in North Dakota. They are informed by radio that help is possibly on the way. But the help might be a little bit odd...
Before you can yell FIAWOL!, it's science fiction fandom to the rescue!
That's Fandom is a way of Life to you mundanes. Fans refer to nonfans that way. Yes, they can get more than a little bit cliquey and elitist.
The angels' ship is stuck in the ice. The green police and the air force badly want them, and an underground network of SF fans take it upon themselves to help. The goal is to get the spacemen off the ice and back into orbit. Not an easy task when the world has done away with almost all "inappropriate technology". It sounds far-fetched, but Niven, Pournelle, and co-author Michael Flynn know their science.
Fallen Angels shines the most in its depictions of eccentric folks in science fiction fandom. Many are composed of real individuals, and there is a glossary on Niven's website that connects figures in the SF community with characters in the novel.
I had a lot of fun with Fallen Angels. It isn't a hair on the ass of books like Lucifer's Hammer or Footfall, but it's worth a read. Those completely unfamiliar with fandom will find some of the conversations hard going. Fanspeak can get pretty convoluted. I struggled through some of it myself.
Fallen Angels made me nostalgic for my science fiction reading youth. It also gave me wistful memories of cons past. I will probably be reading more SF in the future.
Don't worry, I am not abandoning horror. I do feel a great deal of affection when I think back to the science fiction obsession of my youth, but it's not the same thrill I get when I remember when I plowed through the early King books, or the delicious shivers I got from Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, and Charles L. Grant in the days when I first discovered horror fiction. Horror will always be my main home, but from time to time I will crawl out of the earth and go back to the stars. That's the beauty of reading. There is a galaxy of choices and destinations in which to travel.
Written by Mark Sieber
I grew away from SF when I was in my mid-twenties. The genre had grown stale. At least it did for me. I wasn't interested in the hard science fiction movement, I didn't really care for most of the media-related materials, but mostly I turned my head toward horror. It all came to a head when I wasted a substantial portion of a precious Saturday trying to read a novel called Who?, by one Algis Budrys. I was nearly finished with the novel when I abruptly realized I was not enjoying it, and I was finished with science fiction. Horror was my main reading game from that point on. I literally tossed the book aside and moved on to darker territories. This was around 1988.
Jump ahead a few decades. I have read a lot of horror in the interim. I don't regret an instant of it, but times change. I am nearing the state I was in when I abandoned SF. I don't feel like part of the community any more. Instead of feeling too cool for a bunch of geeks, I am now starting to feel like too much of a geek for so-called cool horror people.
The old days of clannish, fannish science fiction fandom looks good to me again. Of course those days are over. One thing we all learned from reading SF is, the future is coming whether we like it or not. Just as we can never forget how death lies in wait for us all as we read and watch horror.
I think it comes down to the simple fact that when things become too popular, they pretty much turn to crap.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are two of the best-known and important writers in the SF genre, and their career launched from the small genre world to the bestseller's list with Lucifer's Hammer. It is a science fiction sage dressed up as a popular disaster page-turner. I read and greatly enjoyed it back around 1986. I also liked collaborations from them like Footfall, Inferno, Oath of Fealty, and The Mote in God's Eye. I haven't picked up one of their books in ages, but Fallen Angels recently caught my eye.The premise to Fallen Angels is irresistible. In the near future extreme environmentalism has brought about an ice age. Technology is deeply frowned upon. Science Fiction isn't exactly illegal, but can cost you your job or even your life. Sort of like being outed as a bigot in today's world.
There are bases in orbit around earth, which have become independent states. They are considered to be enemies by "Greenies", but fans think of the space dwellers as angels. A ship from the stations happens to be harvesting a little hydrogen from Mother Earth, and is shot down. The two survivors are trapped and freezing to death on a glacier in North Dakota. They are informed by radio that help is possibly on the way. But the help might be a little bit odd...
Before you can yell FIAWOL!, it's science fiction fandom to the rescue!
That's Fandom is a way of Life to you mundanes. Fans refer to nonfans that way. Yes, they can get more than a little bit cliquey and elitist.
The angels' ship is stuck in the ice. The green police and the air force badly want them, and an underground network of SF fans take it upon themselves to help. The goal is to get the spacemen off the ice and back into orbit. Not an easy task when the world has done away with almost all "inappropriate technology". It sounds far-fetched, but Niven, Pournelle, and co-author Michael Flynn know their science.
Fallen Angels shines the most in its depictions of eccentric folks in science fiction fandom. Many are composed of real individuals, and there is a glossary on Niven's website that connects figures in the SF community with characters in the novel.
I had a lot of fun with Fallen Angels. It isn't a hair on the ass of books like Lucifer's Hammer or Footfall, but it's worth a read. Those completely unfamiliar with fandom will find some of the conversations hard going. Fanspeak can get pretty convoluted. I struggled through some of it myself.
Fallen Angels made me nostalgic for my science fiction reading youth. It also gave me wistful memories of cons past. I will probably be reading more SF in the future.
Don't worry, I am not abandoning horror. I do feel a great deal of affection when I think back to the science fiction obsession of my youth, but it's not the same thrill I get when I remember when I plowed through the early King books, or the delicious shivers I got from Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, and Charles L. Grant in the days when I first discovered horror fiction. Horror will always be my main home, but from time to time I will crawl out of the earth and go back to the stars. That's the beauty of reading. There is a galaxy of choices and destinations in which to travel.
Written by Mark Sieber
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