Now, I am a genre fiction champion, but I am not unaware that most of it is crap. In fact, considering how important such things as plot and setting are to genre fiction, I am of the opinion that it is much more difficult to write a decent romance or science fiction or fantasy novel than it is to write a plain literary work. (That is one reason I prefer genre fiction: it is harder to do right, so that when it is done right, I feel like I have found buried treasure.)
A case in point: Coyote by J-school grad Allen Steele. This work of science fiction has won two Hugos. I think I know why, and it has nothing to do with the plot, which is a standard rehash of all those seventies-era scifi Liberals-in-Space novels. (For a much better practitioner of this sort of subgenre read anything by Ursula K. LeGuin. A sub-subgenre of this is the womyn-in-space sagas that appeared after Reagan had been president for a while, where men were the Great Evil that nurturing, bonding females had to fight and/or flee from to other planets; and there is even a sub-sub-subgenre I call "brown-womyn-in-space-and-their-nurturing-brown-male-supporters," where it's the White Male Oppressor that everyone is fighting/fleeing.)
Plot being the most important thing in genre fiction, take a gander at the plot of Coyote:
Coyote is a tale that begins in 2070. The only thing far-fetched about this story is that the government's space shuttles are named after conservative politicians from the 20th century, including Jesse Helms and George Wallace.The spirit of Joseph McCarthy?!? Is the fear of this long-dead senatorial buffoon still that strong in journalism schools? Can't we have some sort of ceremonial exorcism so I finally won't have to see the term "McCarthyism" applied to everything from communist-mocking to a multiplex cinema's refusal to show the latest unrated (i.e., full of skanky Eurosex) imported film in its big-screen theater? Make. It. Stop.But maybe that isn't so far-fetched. In Steele's near future, political conservatives, buoyed by decades of war against terrorists, have taken firm control of the government, amended the Constitution in the name of national security, put dissenters in prison and bankrupted society to build a genuine interstellar starship. It seems that the president has a dream of being the first to colonize a distant planet and begin a better, more pure world in the spirit of Joseph McCarthy.
However, liberal intellectual dissidents hatch a conspiracy, steal the starship Alabama from its port in Earth orbit and start their own space colony in the spirit of the Mayflower.
Via Media Minded; further via Susanna Cornett.
Posted by Andrea Harris at January 11, 2003 10:00 AMIt was either Tom Wolfe or P. J. O'Rourke who once mentioned "the new McCarthyism (Gene's not Joe's)". Perhaps we should all pretend that Gene McCarthy was more important than he was and get the name transferred to him once and for all.
Posted by: Dr. Weevil at January 11, 2003 at 10:31 AMI say we promote Charlie McCarthy into the position.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 11, 2003 at 10:44 AMSounds like a cross between The Handwive's Tale and Methuselah's Children. Bleah.
Posted by: *** Dave at January 11, 2003 at 11:10 AMI have to wonder, by the way, what the folks who bought their passage on the original Mayflower would think of a bunch of conspiratorial liberal intellectual dissidents stealing a ship.
Posted by: *** Dave at January 11, 2003 at 11:12 AMI think it's Steele who has won two Hugos, not Coyote.
It's news to me that McCarthy had a vision for a "better, more pure world", unless it was one that revered Joseph McCarthy. Oh, and maybe all the Communists were dead.
I have a copy of Steele's Clarke County, Space, which I got autographed by tackling him at an SF convention. This was before I read it. It's about space colony that gets fed up with the US Feddle Gummint and decides to secede. I remember rolling my eyes at the ham-handedness of the government in that novel. The Man is oppressing the People!
Posted by: Angie Schultz at January 11, 2003 at 11:53 AMWhoops -- misread that part of the article. Maybe Coyote won't get a Hugo.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 11, 2003 at 12:27 PMOh fer chrissakes--how long did she actually labor over this "eerily topical" work? A week, week and a half, tops?
Puh. Leez. The McCarthyism trope is stupid enough, but what about the underlying shameless capitalism that has prompted her spew? Methinks it's more about Benjamins than McCarthys, but then, I'm just a deluded lackey, and not up to being all brave and dissident-y.
Posted by: Tracey at January 11, 2003 at 12:54 PMUm, and I meant "he" and "his." I had "brown womyn in space" on the brain when I typed. Drat.
Posted by: Tracey at January 11, 2003 at 01:03 PM"I had 'brown womyn in space' on the brain when I typed."
Oh dear, that can't be a good thing.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 11, 2003 at 01:26 PMIt's an old cliche to "write what you know," but following that advice, journalists should not write anything.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at January 11, 2003 at 01:36 PMRight-O! I remember being decidedly miffed at the implied helplessness of "James Tiptree Jr.'s" (correct me if I'm mis-saying) The Women Most Men Don't See. Also, the pleasingly, albeit perhaps unintentionally, ironic Chaos Come Again by Wilhelmina Baird, wherein a space/time travelling wenchy-poo of the third type (highly decorated, so to speak) liberateth her "sisters" (from what I do not know) but seems the whole time to be including them in nought but a somehow higher, more noble form of indentature. The prose was somehow stilted and yet too "forward thinking". Or something.
Love,
Franklin Pierce
It was Steele who won Hugos, not COYOTE. And Steele should respell his name Steal, for accepting them.
Posted by: Gary Utter at January 11, 2003 at 09:38 PMIt was back in 1989 in The American Spectator that P. J. O'Rourke called for the establishment of a New McCarthyism, and asked for nominations to an Enemies List. "We need some means of persecuting neuterers, nutters, and screaming greenies..." he wrote. The tradition lives on at The American Prowler where an Enemy of the Week is desgnated every Thursday.
As for Steele, and Coyote, I gave up on this alleged "hard SF" writer when the heroes of his story gave every prospective starship passenger a big dose of antibiotics, so they would not bring harmful viruses on board.
Posted by: Rich Rostrom at January 11, 2003 at 10:06 PMAntibiotics for viruses? He really had that in one of his stories? Oh, LOL.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 11, 2003 at 10:38 PMIf you like scifi, I strongly reccomend David Weber and John Ringo. But keep in mind, these writers appeal to the guys like me who are more interested in Rambo/Terminator style action, which some of you might not appreciate.
Posted by: James P at January 12, 2003 at 04:37 PMReminds me of a story I read in an old compilation magazine that had an Asimov story,etc.
It starts with America's first black president being sworn in on TV, and the revulsion of some die-hard neoConfederates at this turn of events. They decide to go to Venus(this was written before it was known to be too hot to support us humans), where they can start living life as in the good old days, as the natives, who look like bipedal alligators are really happy to play the "darkie" role for these ol' Massas. When one of the ol' Massas decide they want to leave, he gets
killed by a native, as now the natives have
" a reason to live", and can't let anyone break up the game now. A lot better than this "leftist" S.F. you'all is talking about.
Actually, the SF I read is anything but lefty. In fact, my two favorite SF authors usually go to great and extraordinary lengths to convince their reader that liberals are the spawn of the devil.
Posted by: James P at January 13, 2003 at 03:44 AMWhat authors are these? Quite frankly Ive been reading a lot of non-fiction these days.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 13, 2003 at 09:46 AMAndrea, you say "skanky Eurosex" like that's A Bad Thing...
Posted by: Kim du Toit at January 13, 2003 at 03:14 PM