What Happened to Science Fiction?

I’ve always been a huge science fiction (SF) fan in all mediums - books, computer games, TV shows and movies. However, when I stop and take stock of the current state of SF landscape - I can only weep.

On the seldom occasion when I go to the book store I go through an emotional roller coaster of sadness and anger. Anger when I go to the SF section and notice that it doesn’t even warrant its own section separate from Fantasy (yes they are similar but I’m still of the opinion that SF should have it’s own section). And sadness, when I see the size of the SF section and then anger again when I see that the SF section consists spin off novels like Halo, Warhammer or Star Wars and their ilk.

And finally sadness. Sadness that quality SF books are incredibly hard to find these days.

Where did all the Isaac Asimovs, Arthur C. Clarkes, Larry Nivens, Jerry Pournelles, Robert A. Heinleins, Iain M. Banks, Philip K. Dicks of yesteryear go? Where are the SF novels that ask hard questions? Stories that create universes and invent and take technologies to extremes to explore the human condition (the true purpose of SF in my humble opinion).

I want to think when I read a SF novel.

I don’t want a nine book series where each book is longer than the last, with a story that could have probably been told in a single book. I also don’t want endless rehashes of the same idea. No. I want the author to weave their own commentary about the culture and the world today by taking some science or technology to the far-reaching place. Show me a dystopia or utopia that shows the perils of the current path human society is taking,

The movie front isn’t much better with movie studios demonstrating a strong tendency towards safe films that are all style and no flash. The latest JJ Abraham’s reboot of Star Trek is a prime example of this. Granted, the first movie I admit was OK, I even liked the funky way Leonard Nimoy was written into the plot and Karl Urban was perfectly cast. However, the second movie was the kind of beautifully shot (lens flare!) crappy action movie that I have come to loathe.

Granted there is the occasional diamond in the rough SF movie such as Sunshine or District 9. But if they can dumb down ruin a good ending such as the one for I Am Legend. It can only mean a a difficult path for any future SF film that doesn’t rely on action scenes or gimmicks as a crux.

And finally TV…SciFi on TV is probably the worst of the lot. Quality SF shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek Next Gen and DS9, Babylon 5, Firefly, Farscape and Stargate are essentially an extinct species. I can’t even think of any current TV show that is set in space.

Instead the SyFy channel in their infinite wisdom has decided that quality content such as wrestling, made for TV movies and reality TV is the SciFi content we are all desperate to see. And shows like Caprica or Stargate: Universe are cancelled just when they begin to hit their straps and are even denied a resolution to a show ending cliffhanger to end the series in at least some satisfying way.

Maybe one day I’ll get around to writing that book I’ve always wanted to and reinvigorate the SF genre (hey it could happen). But if that never happens all I can say is: can somebody else please bring back the real science fiction?