Not having read either Atwood's or Langford's comments, I can't answer your second question.
As for your first question, I wasn't meaning to comment on any kind of generally recognised pecking order, or to make a value judgement between fantasy in general and science fiction in general.
What I am saying is that in order to make science fiction worthwhile in itself, in preference to fantasy or contemporary fiction or a detective novel, you have to have some commitment to the aspects of the genre which can make it more powerful as a tool than some other genre. If every author was writing science fiction, then inevitably many of them would be doing so because they figured they might as well have a go at it, and the results would, on the whole, be fantasy with big spaceships. Or detective fiction with big spaceships. Or people with issues about their childhood and big spaceships. Or whatever.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-07-26 10:43 am (UTC)Not having read either Atwood's or Langford's comments, I can't answer your second question.
As for your first question, I wasn't meaning to comment on any kind of generally recognised pecking order, or to make a value judgement between fantasy in general and science fiction in general.
What I am saying is that in order to make science fiction worthwhile in itself, in preference to fantasy or contemporary fiction or a detective novel, you have to have some commitment to the aspects of the genre which can make it more powerful as a tool than some other genre. If every author was writing science fiction, then inevitably many of them would be doing so because they figured they might as well have a go at it, and the results would, on the whole, be fantasy with big spaceships. Or detective fiction with big spaceships. Or people with issues about their childhood and big spaceships. Or whatever.