Comments on: A vindication of ‘beer-money’ science fiction http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/ Science fiction, science fact, and all that's in between ... Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:49:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: The King of Beer Money http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/comment-page-1/#comment-69744 The King of Beer Money Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:05:30 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/#comment-69744 You know, pretty much everything I do is beer money work. I enjoy it thoroughly. You know, pretty much everything I do is beer money work. I enjoy it thoroughly.

]]> By: The Pod Bay Doors » Blog Archive » The Greatest Show In The Galaxy #5 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/comment-page-1/#comment-37547 The Pod Bay Doors » Blog Archive » The Greatest Show In The Galaxy #5 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:30:22 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/#comment-37547 [...] Raven / Armchair Anarchist presents A vindication of [...] Raven / Armchair Anarchist presents A vindication of

]]> By: Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » “Beer-money hard-pulp cyber-opera”, or “Defining the indefinable” http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/comment-page-1/#comment-2908 Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » “Beer-money hard-pulp cyber-opera”, or “Defining the indefinable” Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:28:02 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/#comment-2908 [...] First of all, Andrew Wheeler decided to expand on his original ‘beer-money’ post (yeah, the one I riffed on already). This is a welcome expansion - I can see where he was going much more clearly now. It’s a good little piece, so go read it. But here’s the takeaway for me, right at the end: “One of two things could make SF’s language more accessible to readers: either SF (or some subset of it) limits itself to very clearly understandable extrapolations (which wouldn’t necessarily mean really near-future; I suspect very unscientific Galactic Empire adventure stories would be the best bet), or the language of SF extrapolation becomes massively more widespread and central in our culture. Since I don’t see either of those things happening any time soon, I guess we’re stuck over in here in our ghetto. But we’re used to it; we’ve been here since the days of Gernsback, and, to be honest, we’ve really done wonders with the place. I doubt ol’ Hugo would even recognize it…” [...] [...] First of all, Andrew Wheeler decided to expand on his original ‘beer-money’ post (yeah, the one I riffed on already). This is a welcome expansion – I can see where he was going much more clearly now. It’s a good little piece, so go read it. But here’s the takeaway for me, right at the end: “One of two things could make SF’s language more accessible to readers: either SF (or some subset of it) limits itself to very clearly understandable extrapolations (which wouldn’t necessarily mean really near-future; I suspect very unscientific Galactic Empire adventure stories would be the best bet), or the language of SF extrapolation becomes massively more widespread and central in our culture. Since I don’t see either of those things happening any time soon, I guess we’re stuck over in here in our ghetto. But we’re used to it; we’ve been here since the days of Gernsback, and, to be honest, we’ve really done wonders with the place. I doubt ol’ Hugo would even recognize it…” [...]

]]> By: Armchair Anarchist http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/comment-page-1/#comment-2778 Armchair Anarchist Sat, 30 Sep 2006 22:22:43 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/#comment-2778 I can't speak for Andrew, but I can pick out a couple of my own. Martin Sketchley's 'Structure' novels fit the bill; his style of storytelling felt very pedestrian to me, and I had a hell of a time actually finishing the two I read - I'd have given up if I wasn't reviewing one of them! Likewise Kevin J. Anderson's 'Seven Suns' sequence - had one of those to review, and really couldn't get into it at all. That's not to demean them as writers, though: many people buy and enjoy their books, and so they should. It's a personal taste issue; the entire point of this post was to highlight the partisan nature of fandom, but to also suggest that all works are of equal value in the grand scheme of things (ie to the big wide world of people who think that *all* sf is tripe!). I can’t speak for Andrew, but I can pick out a couple of my own. Martin Sketchley’s ‘Structure’ novels fit the bill; his style of storytelling felt very pedestrian to me, and I had a hell of a time actually finishing the two I read – I’d have given up if I wasn’t reviewing one of them! Likewise Kevin J. Anderson’s ‘Seven Suns’ sequence – had one of those to review, and really couldn’t get into it at all.

That’s not to demean them as writers, though: many people buy and enjoy their books, and so they should. It’s a personal taste issue; the entire point of this post was to highlight the partisan nature of fandom, but to also suggest that all works are of equal value in the grand scheme of things (ie to the big wide world of people who think that *all* sf is tripe!).

]]> By: Skott Klebe http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/comment-page-1/#comment-2749 Skott Klebe Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:07:47 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/a-vindication-of-beer-money-science-fiction/#comment-2749 Any _examples_ of what you and Andrew Any _examples_ of what you and Andrew

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