We do have one "ship" show on, in the form of Battlestar Galactica, but it's probably not the sort of show he's talking about. Yeah, you've got a big ship, but most of the conflict is personal and political, and the strange new worlds that Galactica visits are usually barren and lifeless.
I agree that to a large extent, we're still trying to figure out what the hell an optimisic future even looks like nowadays, and it's hard to do space opera (at least big-screen space opera) if you can't imagine a positive future.
I think your analysis of the decline of the scifi convention is spot on -- the net provides me with almost everything I'd want from a con. This isn't true of gaming conventions, which give me the opportunity to play games I don't normally play (or can't play) at home.
The proliferation of choice is the flipside to the long tail of fandom -- everyone can pursue their own interests, and as a result, some of the communal activities we used to share -- like reading science fiction novels -- lose out to other alternatives. That said, you can be sure that I'll do my best to introduce my kids to the joys of reading ... and science fiction at an early age.
Fri, 09/01/2006 - 11:42am
We do have one "ship" show on, in the form of Battlestar Galactica, but it's probably not the sort of show he's talking about. Yeah, you've got a big ship, but most of the conflict is personal and political, and the strange new worlds that Galactica visits are usually barren and lifeless.
I agree that to a large extent, we're still trying to figure out what the hell an optimisic future even looks like nowadays, and it's hard to do space opera (at least big-screen space opera) if you can't imagine a positive future.
I think your analysis of the decline of the scifi convention is spot on -- the net provides me with almost everything I'd want from a con. This isn't true of gaming conventions, which give me the opportunity to play games I don't normally play (or can't play) at home.
The proliferation of choice is the flipside to the long tail of fandom -- everyone can pursue their own interests, and as a result, some of the communal activities we used to share -- like reading science fiction novels -- lose out to other alternatives. That said, you can be sure that I'll do my best to introduce my kids to the joys of reading ... and science fiction at an early age.
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