William T Goodall wrote:
...
> > I did rate the C.S. Lewis books, _Perlandra_ etc,
> > as "useless". Mentioning other planets does not make an
> > allegory into science fiction. (Similarly for _Animal Farm_.)
>
> C S Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy is sf according to the the Encyclopedia of
> Science Fiction. The first two parts are 'planetary romances'.
> Obviously classification can be difficult in some cases, so using an
> authoritative source seems the best way to go.
...
> >
> > These two could be partially remedied by giving most authors
> > an "other books" entry. Then if I wanted to vote for Michael
> > Swanwick's _The Iron Dragon's Daughter_, I could approximate
> > my true feelings by voting for it as an "other book". As is,
> > I had not read the two books of his that were listed, and simply
> > did not vote on him at all.
>
> _The Iron Dragon's Daughter_ is "a savage revisionist fantasy which can
> be understood as an expose of faerie" according to the Encyclopedia of
> Fantasy, and hence is listed under Fantasy rather than Science Fiction.
> Entering 'swanwick' in the Author's Name field and leaving category at
> 'All' will bring up all four Swanwick books in the database, including
> _The Iron Dragon's Daughter_ and _Jack Faust_.
Ah, what IS science fiction? I admit that the lines blur, so it
may be best to just appeal to authority. My own definition is that
Science Fiction books show slices of axiomatically derived alternate
realities. The author should start with a small number of non-standard
assumptions (the axioms), and carefully derive the consequences.
Hard SF epitomizes this definition, but it also encompasses alternate
histories and "fantasy" books with carefully thought out magic
systems.
The Swanwick book I mention above fits my definition of Science
Fiction. It takes the standard elements of faerie, but works
them all out from a non-romantic, brutally realistic premise:
Faeries are no nicer than humans. So the High Elves are a
merciless elite, ruling over a state driven by industrial
magic...
---David
Who voted for _Perdido Street Station_, although it too may
not be science fiction.
> > I sort of
> > admired the humor in Harry Harrison's _Stainless Steel Rat_
> > series. But I couldn't remember which ones I had read, and so
> > just voted for the first one as a proxy for the series. And in
> > a similar vein, why was Keith Laumer's _Retief_ series omitted?
>
> The first in Baen's reissue of the series, _Retief!_ is now added. If
> you like Retief, what do you think of Poul Anderson's _Flandry_ series?
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