Calm Before The Storm

[chris_gerrib]

My parents came up last night for a visit, and so we went out to dinner where I had a couple of drinks. Then I had a nightcap, while reading Brad Torgersen's latest post entitled the unraveling of an unreliable field. His theory is that SF has kept the "packaging" (covers) but subverted the contents thereof. Money quote:

Yet SF/F literature seems almost permanently stuck on the subversive switcheroo. If we’re going to do a Tolkien-type fantasy, this time we’ll make the Orcs the heroes, and Gondor will be the bad guys. Space opera? Our plucky underdogs will be transgender socialists trying to fight the evil galactic corporations. War? The troops are fighting for evil, not good, and only realize it at the end. Planetary colonization? The humans are the invaders and the native aliens are the righteous victims. Yadda yadda yadda.

My immediate response was WTF, over? So I asked for specific examples of this switcheroo. So far, crickets.

Comments

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

There was a book I read recently where the rag-tag crew of the spaceship was mostly women and some of them were gay. Mind you, it didn't make a speck of difference to the excellence of the story, but it might be the sort of thing the Sad Puppies are whimpering about. I can't remember the name of the book at the moment, but if I find it I will let you know.

As far as I can follow Torgersen's analogy, he seems to be upset that science fiction isn't the same story over and over. It's not like there's a shortage of his kind of story, but he's angry that other kinds of stories even *exist* in science fiction, because he might read one by accident.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Not perhaps "Ascension" by Jacqueline Koyangi?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yes! That was totally it. Good call.