Science Fiction & Fantasy

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY - OUR MISSING INGREDIENTS


Young sf enthusiasts become scientists while fantasy fans turn to software



For many years of my life, from my middle schooldays to my late twenties, I read little fiction. Most of what I took in from the printed word was factual – newspapers, magazines, textbooks and manuals. Finally, I read an elementary book on psychology by Gregory who wrote of the ‘prison of current reality’ in which those who do not access imagination live and I began reading fiction again, beginning with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have carried on in this way ever since.

At the time that I read the book by Gregory, I was a junior cinema manager at the Moulin Cinema Complex on Great Windmill Street in London’s West End. The house manager who was next in line upwards in seniority to myself used to stalk into the theatre with paperback books which, after a time, I recognised as science fiction. This was a field of which I knew next to nothing. It subsequently turned out that his reading material, arguably in accordance with the rest of himself, was second rate. Most of the authors he read were obscure and were fortunate to find publishers to give them outlets.

From time to time I used to dip into the world of science fiction with forays into the works of Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Thus began a discovery of a view into a futuristic universe in which manned space exploration brought future generations into contact and sometimes into conflict with each other, with harsh nature and ultimately the alien – the unknown entity which has been spawned by systems external to our world.

Now, anybody who cares to browse through the shelves of almost any large bookshop or public library will see almost at a glance that science fiction shares shelf space with another genre altogether – fantasy. The relevant section of the Muswell Hill bookshop near my home is entitled: ‘Science Fiction and Fantasy’. This gives rise to definitional difficulties. My personal definition of science fiction is: ‘A story set in a universe in which the laws of nature are as understood at present’. There are many other definitions by people who are far more knowledgeable then myself. Here are a few samples:
· ‘A type of narrative about or based upon real or imagined scientific theories and technology. Science fiction is often peopled with alien creatures and set on other planets or in different dimensions’.

· ‘Another form of fantastic fiction: the majority of the action takes place in this world and universe, usually speculating on the future, and involving technical advancements’.
· ‘Imaginary writing based on current or projected scientific and technological developments, as Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451’.
· ‘Science fiction includes the hardcore, imaginatively embellished technological/scientific novel as well as fiction that is even slightly futuristic (often with an after-the-holocaust milieu - nuclear, environmental, extraterrestrial, genocidal). An element much valued by editors who acquire for the literary expression of this cross-media genre is the ability of the author to introduce elements that transcend and extend conventional insight’.
· ‘This fiction deals with the influence of real or imagined science on society or individuals’.
On the subject of fantasy, my personal definition is: ‘A story set in an environment in which the laws of nature are different from what they are, as understood at present’.

Here are some definitions from others who are probably better informed than me:

· ‘A literary form related to mythology and folklore. Fantasy literature is typically set in non-existent realms and features supernatural beings’.

· ‘An imagined sequence of events or mental images (e.g., daydreams) that serves to express unconscious conflicts, to gratify unconscious wishes, or to prepare for anticipated future events’.
· ‘Fantasy is slang for Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate’.
· ‘A type of fiction that bends or transcends the rules of the known world, allowing such conventions as time travel, talking animals, and super-human creatures’.
· ‘The purest form of fantastic fiction: the majority of the action does not take place within this world’.

One of the salient features of science fiction as a genre is that in European cultures, as opposed to our own, it provides a gateway to the ‘hard sciences’ especially the so-called ‘hard sciences’ such as physics, astronomy, engineering and chemistry. The racist agitator, the late Dr William Pierce was an associate professor of physics at Oregon State University before he decided to exchange academia for the insecure lifestyle of an anti-non-white propagandist. He used to say that he discovered science fiction at the age of 12 and was immersed in it to the extent that he “rarely came up for air.”
This is not surprising. Many of the best-known science fiction writers are highly competent scientists in their own right. Larry Niven is a mathematician. Brian Stableford is a biologist. Sir Arthur C Clarke specialised in satellite technology. Isaac Asimov was a chemist (not pharmaceuticals) before he turned to writing fiction.
It is not too hard to believe that these indefatigable writers influenced the young in Europe and North America to turn their talents to the sciences to bring about the situation where those people make all the major technological progress and we follow by learning what they have discovered and invented. The gap can be attributed, arguably in part, because so many of our scientists do not read fiction at all, let alone science fiction and almost all the Europeans do.
It has truly been said that all fiction writing is implicitly autobiographical and that when someone turns his hand to writing a story his own experiences are drawn upon. If it turns out to be the case that he or she was a scientist then, if that hypothesis is correct, the whole previous technical training and experience comes into play and on stream.
As an example, let us consider The Mote in God’s Eye by Niven and Pournelle. Both writers are ‘hard scientists’ and the story about a futuristic encounter between human space explorers and a disease ridden alien race reflects that. The famous Dune novels by Frank Herbert draw on his profession which was software engineering even though he does not bring up the subject of computers anywhere in that long series of books.
Even when a scientist writes non-science fiction as in the case of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a medical practitioner, who created the famous detective and Solzenitzyn, a mathematics graduate, who dwelt on the underside of Soviet life, the previous rigorous education emerges.
In the case of fantasy, it is not a requirement for the writer to have had a scientific background or any kind of rigorous training. The best selling authors Raymond E Feist and Anne McCaffrey were non-scientists. Feist was involved in game playing before turning to writing and McCaffrey has a degree in Slavonic studies. All that is required is to have an extremely fertile imagination, with Michael Moorcock leading the way in outrageous imagery, and an expert command of the English language.
Standing head and shoulders over all other fantasy writers is JRR Tolkien, a professor of Middle English at Oxford University with a South African early background. When I was reading more fantasy than now during the 1980s I could not help spotting that a great many, possibly a majority of subsequent fantasy writers including the American ones, follow in his footsteps. Sometimes, it was obvious that many of the books were Lord of the Rings rewrites with similar characterisations and creatures including Tolkienesque elves, dragons and wizards.
What makes Professor Tolkien a lasting influence on English literature is his deep understanding of human nature and the strategies and tactics which are used by the highly intelligent, talented and socially well placed to get their way in life. Melkor aka Morgoth is an excellent characterisation of the strong willed unscrupulous suppressive man who will use the sowing of dissention, the spreading of rumours bordering on outright lies and constraints on the liberties of others on the grounds of ‘law and order’. His acolyte Sauron is a person seen in human form all over the Third World in the form of the quislings whose senses of social responsibilities end at their own families’ boundaries. Gandalf the wizard represents the conscientious man who is prepared to stand up to evil but, being aware of the dangers to himself, takes out insurance policies in the event of the stronger side winning after all.
Now, just as so many science fiction youngsters, like Dr Pierce, end up as physicists, space scientists and engineers, many young fantasy readers end up in the software industry. In terms of I.T. the boy who concentrates on science fiction during his school holidays is likely to become a hardware specialist with a degree in electronic engineering under his belt. The boy next door who prefers fantasy is likely to become a computer programmer or graphic artist or even dare I say it – a journalist.
Where have all the old hippies gone? It was well known during the Alternative Society days of 1968 – 1976 that the hippies liked reading fantasy with or without mind-bending drugs. Well, the ones who did not die of overdoses or become social workers or become New Age travellers in large measure turned to the burgeoning software writing and using professions and the evidences are there for all to see. The emphasis on the primary colours, the swirls and whorls of illustrations and abstract artwork in magazines and on Internet sites are a direct descendant of the psychedelic culture of the Flower Power movement.
One person who should know is Nick Berg whose job in life it is to sell science fiction and fantasy at Waterstones’ Bookshop in Piccadilly, London. He said, “Any form of reading is a gateway. A lot of people I know who read science fiction then go on into science.”
Concerning the counterculture period which ended in 1976 he said, “I can understand why they were like that. It was a wonderful period.”
About fantasy, Mr Berg opined, “I don’t think fantasy can harm mental health. We sell a lot. We sell a fair lot. However, we sell more science fiction.”
The borderline between science fiction and fantasy is blurred. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was also a prolific science fiction writer before he delved into psychology and psychiatry and used the earnings from his writing to finance his movement. He was a mixed science fiction and fantasy writer as is evidenced by his Battlefield Earth series of books. He did, however, have a fairly rigorous scientific training by early post-war standards. He was a member of the very first class studying nuclear physics in the USA.
If like so many of our sensible and hard headed Asians you do not feel moved by me to venture into this field, you are in good company. In fact, you are in the company of Mary Cowre of the Captain’s Galley café in Thurso, Caithness who said to me, “Personally, I am not that much interested in science fiction.”