tag:google.com,2010:buzz:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
15 Feb 2011 15 Feb 2011 Mobile Public
I was in Forbidden Planet last night and was amazed that the book section seems to have been comp...
I was in Forbidden Planet last night and was amazed that the book section seems to have been completely taken over by Science Fantasy with Science Fiction fading away. And the books out on the edge of the field where the genre fades into slipstream literature have almost completely disappeared. They used to have a section of Anarchic political and music books that's gone. Many of the lesser known cyberpunk authors as well. For instance there wasn't a single John Shirley, only a couple of Di Fillipo and no Lewis Shiner or Lucius Shephard.[1] What's going on here? Has the future so contracted that nobody can imagine speculatively about ad 2100? Or is the readership retreating into quasi-historical swords and sorcery because the post-millenial world is too grim? [1]What happens to the ideas in books when they are out of print?
I was in Forbidden Planet last night and was amazed that the book section seems to have been completely taken over by Science Fantasy with Science Fiction fading away. And the books out on the edge of the field where the genre fades into slipstream literature have almost completely disappeared. They used to have a section of Anarchic political and music books that's gone. Many of the lesser known cyberpunk authors as well. For instance there wasn't a single John Shirley, only a couple of Di Fillipo and no Lewis Shiner or Lucius Shephard.[1]

What's going on here? Has the future so contracted that nobody can imagine speculatively about ad 2100? Or is the readership retreating into quasi-historical swords and sorcery because the post-millenial world is too grim?

[1]What happens to the ideas in books when they are out of print?
25-49 Musley Ln, Ware 25-49 Musley Ln, Ware 25-49 Musley Ln, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 7, UK 51.8137756 -0.0258717
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297777705682000
Thomas Morffew Thomas Morffew 110352049954858592591
Cyclical. It'll come back in fashion. Though maybe in a slightly different form ;) 15 Feb 2011 15 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297782148996000
Colin Copley Colin Copley 109311646027632527328
It's market forces. Even the niche interests are sold straight down the high line to maximise profits and reduce choice. Forbidden Planet was once a shop, now it's a retailer.

Get ready for more and more niche / underground things becoming pisher.

Remember when music was hip? I don't, but I've seen pictures.
15 Feb 2011 15 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297793221983000
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
Perhaps just feeling old as I watch the old favourite book shops slowly disappear. I'll happily buy from Amazon, but I miss the serendipity of just browsing and lucking into something unusual. The Amazon recommendation engine sucks for this as there's not enough randomness in it.

It's not just about the bookshops though. Am I right that SciFi is fading while Fantasy goes from strength to strength? Who buys all that stuff? Why?
15 Feb 2011 15 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297794399001000
Gareth George Gareth George 104138558627816762816
i used to like getting random pulp paperbacks from second hand shops. right now i'm reading neil gaimon's american gods . on kindle. miss the smell. they should make a smell of second hand book ap that you can download. 15 Feb 2011 15 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297869527144000
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
2011 Scifi and SciFan reading list from Locus
http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2011/Issue02_RecommendedReading.html
16 Feb 2011 16 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297876615747000
Colin Copley Colin Copley 109311646027632527328
Thanks for the link. Yeah probably cyclical the fantasy/sci-fi thing (hopes). My friend lent me American Gods, there's something ironic about reading it on a kindle and paying for it by Credit Card ;) 16 Feb 2011 16 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297876989051000
Gareth George Gareth George 104138558627816762816
@colin. lol. true, although it had escaped me until you mentioned it :) 16 Feb 2011 16 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297897092825000
David Emmett David Emmett 112423096590036286952
I wonder if there's an economic element to this. It seems to me that the great era of sci fi was the 50s and 60s, when economic optimism was rampant. Now, there's less optimism, and so people are opting more for the escapism of fantasy rather than the future realities of sci fi. To me (and I may be wrong), fantasy has always seemed to be a longing to escape the existing reality and find a completely alternative one, whereas sci fi is the longing to see how current reality will work out in the long term. But it could just be me.

On a related note, whatever happened to asteroid-threatens-to-destroy-the-world blockbusters?
16 Feb 2011 16 Feb 2011
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z12sxlcrlknftfcyi04ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1297930422185000
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
@David Emmett Well we do get natural-disaster-threatens-to-destroy-the-world blockbusters. BTW. I never did understand how a volcano erupted in down town LA. Hawaii perhaps, but LA?

It's also kind of hard to understand where all the vampires came from in the last 5 years.
17 Feb 2011 17 Feb 2011