I see in the papers that Terry Pratchett is going to be here on September 30th for a talk and (of course) autographs. I haven't read any Pratchett yet, but he's one of Denise's favorite authors. Too bad she's not going to be here for that (or will she...?) This is apparently to promote his new book, "Good Omens", co-authored with one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman. (Gaiman got first billing, so neener neener neener to Denise. *grin*)
In a mostly-unrelated matter, I see in a Sunday comic strip that (according to Tom Batiuk, anyway), the European novel tends to focus on the invididual finding his place in society, whereas science fiction tends to deal with the isolated rebel whose ideas place him in direct opposition to societal conventions. Interesting hypothesis, and it does seem to apply a great deal to science fiction (Star Trek's Captain Kirk, Star Wars' Luke Skywalker, Babylon 5's John Sheridan, or much of David Gerrold's work, most notably David Auberson in "HARLIE" and Jim McCarthy in the "Chtorr" series, or practically anything ever written by Robert Heinlein). I don't know enough about the European novel offhand to comment, though.
Posted by Zathras at August 26, 2003 03:17 PMOdd, I could have sworn "Good Omens" came out quite a while back -- I know that I've seen it at the bookstore. I do recall that they decided never to work together again after that, though, so perhaps it's a reissue?
I'm looking forward to seeing Pratchett at a local bookstore in a month or two, if I remember to go. He's releasing another Discworld novel and will be reading from it, so I'm hoping I'll get to have it signed. Mucho cool!
Star Wars actually doesn't qualify as SF, however. According to SF fans as well as Lucas himself, the total absence of *any* science in the movie and well as its "good vs. bad" emphasis make it more of a Space Western. Also, Luke isn't really going against "societal forces" so much as he is randomly killing things akin to a video game, which also qualifies it more as a western. *grin*
The easiest way to distinguish between SF and Lit is that a SF plot will revolve around the effects of an object upon society, while a lit plot will focus on the effect of societal change upon people. Speculative Fiction asks the question of how life would be different under altered circumstances; literature focuses on how people handle different societal forces. Movies, even those with a "scientific" basis such as Star Trek, tend to qualify as lit rather than SF as a result.
(Spec Fic encompasses both fantasy-fic and science-fic, which is useful given FF and SF are often hard to distinguish between. Anyway, I prefer a blend, as works in the individual SF/FF categories tend to hyperfocus on object description to the detriment of character development/realism. Then again, there's McCaffrey, whose SFF is so full of stereotypes that reality itself gives up and goes home three pages in... *snicker*)
Posted by: Moggy at August 27, 2003 03:39 AMMaybe "Good Omens" is older than I thought -- I actually didn't bother to look up the publication date or other information.
Thank you for the further information on the literature stuff -- literature is one of my weaker areas, so I don't know a great deal about it. I'll have to look into it sometime.
McCaffrey is an excellent author, with few weaknesses -- however, the weaknesses that she *does* have are quite glaring. After it took me nearly a year to get thru "The Skies of Pern", I've essentially given up on her. IMO, the last good Pern book was "All the Weyrs of Pern". After that, she jumped the shark.
Ending to just about every Pern novel ever written:
{Insert important dragonrider's name here} stood up forcefully and proudly. The other men at the meeting table looked up at him in awe and respect as he brought a fist into the air and thundered, "Dragons shall always fly the skies of Pern!"
"good omens" came out sometime in the mid-90s, i think - i can't remember from my copy at home. as denise suggested, it could be a reissue. either way, it's one of my favorite books; i've been meaning to give it a reread, but other titles keep piling up in the way.
had i an extra $30 or $50 or whatever it takes to reserve seats, i'd consider going.
fwiw, i think gaiman only got first billing because his name is first alpahabetically. ;-)
Posted by: kat at August 27, 2003 11:54 AMFavorite authors huh? Sounds like an opportunity to get a nice xmas or birthday present for someone. :)
Posted by: Matt at September 1, 2003 02:20 AMAn autographed xmas or bday present...
Posted by: Matt at September 1, 2003 02:22 AM