Hey Paul, thanks for the feedback! We went back and forth about who to include, and the rankings were certainly pretty arbitrary. On the other hand, this was a list of people who helped bring science fiction to mainstream attention in 2008, not people we like. There are certainly plenty of SF writers who would have been on a list of creators that wowed us in 2008. And for what it’s worth, I do think Will Smith had more impact on the larger zeitgeist (outside of science fiction fans) than Neal Stephenson this year. Kanye West is more debatable, I’ll admit. Like I said, the rankings were a tad arbitrary. Thanks again for the feedback!
Hi Charlie Jane, thanks for dropping by! I understand the ‘why’ of your list; if anything that’s exactly what makes it so frustrating to someone very much in the books-and-stories camp. The writer provide the innovation, and twenty years later Hollywood flogs it for a fortune to Joe Average. I guess we should be glad to be sat out lonely on the cutting edge!
December 13th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Hey Paul, thanks for the feedback! We went back and forth about who to include, and the rankings were certainly pretty arbitrary. On the other hand, this was a list of people who helped bring science fiction to mainstream attention in 2008, not people we like. There are certainly plenty of SF writers who would have been on a list of creators that wowed us in 2008. And for what it’s worth, I do think Will Smith had more impact on the larger zeitgeist (outside of science fiction fans) than Neal Stephenson this year. Kanye West is more debatable, I’ll admit. Like I said, the rankings were a tad arbitrary. Thanks again for the feedback!
December 13th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I posted my thoughts HERE.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hi Charlie Jane, thanks for dropping by! I understand the ‘why’ of your list; if anything that’s exactly what makes it so frustrating to someone very much in the books-and-stories camp. The writer provide the innovation, and twenty years later Hollywood flogs it for a fortune to Joe Average. I guess we should be glad to be sat out lonely on the cutting edge!
December 13th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
From that perspective, I suppose 2008’s most influential ought to be people like Bill Gibson and Lou Aronica.