On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:52:51 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> For the second, though, there's a blur between "fantastic science" and
>> "fantasy science".
> 
> Sure. I'm of the opinion you can have science fiction without credible
> science, as long as the story is about the science. FTL? No problem.
> Stasis fields? No problem.

I personally tend towards that as well - pushing the boundaries of 
science is what it's about; Jurassic Park was science fiction, even 
though that technology doesn't exist today.  It's something that's 
possible.

I think one of the hallmarks of good Science Fiction is that the author 
does some research into the field he's writing about.

>> Agreed.  I would probably also put BSG in the "not science fiction"
>> category using that definition, because the story is more about the
>> characters and less about the technology.  The science is quite good
>> (one of the few shows where I've seen actual thought put into spaceship
>> physics), but the story isn't about the technology, it's about the
>> people and their journey.
> 
> Right. Ask yourself if you could rewrite it as a giant ocean-liner
> crossing the Atlantic in 1490, and see if the same basic plots still
> work.

Yep.  And I think they would.

> Now, recast Niven's "Ringworld" without spaceships. Does it still work?

I actually haven't read Ringworld.  Need to do that one of these days.

> Or any of James Halperin's stuff, like The Truth Machine or Immortality?
> How do you write a book about the affects on society of a perfect lie
> detector if you don't incorporate the technology of a perfect lie
> detector?
> 
> Even something like "The Witling", a novel about earthmen accidentally
> crashing a spaceship on a planet populated by people who can magically
> teleport themselves and others would count as "SF" in my view. The story
> just doesn't fly without the "magical technology" of the teleportation,
> even tho it is completely unexplained how it works or why.
> 
> Of course, there's a fuzzy boundary.

Well, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from 
magic. ;-)

Jim

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