Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) - Nerds protecting nonces

[BScCollateral]

It is interesting to read Heinlein's earlier books (and those of other Golden Age SF authors) and see what sorts of future technology would be considered dated by today's standards; for example, Blowups Happen, a short story concerning nuclear reactors and the safety thereof, , was written as though a reactor was run one step short of exploding like a nuke, because it was written in 1940, long before the general public knew much of anything about nuclear physics. Likewise, many SF authors in the 40s, 50s, and 60s assumed that computer size would increase with complexity, thus you can read of charming building (or city-sized!) mainframes.

Heinlein goofed up from time to time. He mishandled general relativity in Citizen of the Galaxy and heliox atmospheres in Have Spacesuit Will Travel.
Citizen had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit where a ship's library is stored on tape spools under someone's bunk, but I don't think anyone got that right until Arthur Clarke in Imperial Earth. Heck, even Solaris has some bits discussing a library which made no sense to me at all until I realized he was talking about "books" as physical media, either a printed codex or some sort of electronic storage module.

 

[Cherry Eyed Hamster]

Heinlein goofed up from time to time. He mishandled general relativity in Citizen of the Galaxy and heliox atmospheres in Have Spacesuit Will Travel.
Citizen had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit where a ship's library is stored on tape spools under someone's bunk, but I don't think anyone got that right until Arthur Clarke in Imperial Earth. Heck, even Solaris has some bits discussing a library which made no sense to me at all until I realized he was talking about "books" as physical media, either a printed codex or some sort of electronic storage module.

Didn’t Fahrenheit 451 have typewriters?

In Space Odyssey everyone dresses and acts in a typical 1960’s manner. There’s even gasp light wood grain!

Blade Runner and the novel it was based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, had pay phones.

I can’t really fault Heinlein for having outdated technology in his science fiction works, it is exceptionally common for pre-90’s sci-fi set in the future to references video tapes, pay phones, CRT tv’s, typewriters, Commodore 64-looking computers…and no reference to there being anything like a smartphone or wireless earbuds.

One of the few sci-fi novels that stands the test of time is Brave New World. Funny enough, Aldous Huxley later stated that he immsensely regret not involving computers more into the story, but the thing is, he didn’t need to. There are several references in that story to interactive film and characters entering drug-fuelled simulations to achieve their wants and desires. You could easily imagine that computers and artificial intelligence are so ingrained in that world that people just disregard them as they act completely in the background. By not going too deeply into the technological aspect of how this world worked, Huxley created a story that’s timeless. I was shocked when I was halfway through the story and learned that it was published in 1932.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

I can’t really fault Heinlein for having outdated technology in his science fiction works, it is exceptionally common for pre-90’s sci-fi set in the future to references video tapes, pay phones, CRT tv’s, typewriters, Commodore 64-looking computers…and no reference to there being anything like a smartphone or wireless earbuds.

The opening line to Neuromancer, the book that gave us "cyberspace" and more pretentious knockoffs in the eighties and nineties than I could possibly name, comes to mind.

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

 

[neverendingmidi]

Didn’t Fahrenheit 451 have typewriters?

In Space Odyssey everyone dresses and acts in a typical 1960’s manner. There’s even gasp light wood grain!

Blade Runner and the novel it was based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, had pay phones.

I can’t really fault Heinlein for having outdated technology in his science fiction works, it is exceptionally common for pre-90’s sci-fi set in the future to references video tapes, pay phones, CRT tv’s, typewriters, Commodore 64-looking computers…and no reference to there being anything like a smartphone or wireless earbuds.

One of the few sci-fi novels that stands the test of time is Brave New World. Funny enough, Aldous Huxley later stated that he immsensely regret not involving computers more into the story, but the thing is, he didn’t need to. There are several references in that story to interactive film and characters entering drug-fuelled simulations to achieve their wants and desires. You could easily imagine that computers and artificial intelligence are so ingrained in that world that people just disregard them as they act completely in the background. By not going too deeply into the technological aspect of how this world worked, Huxley created a story that’s timeless. I was shocked when I was halfway through the story and learned that it was published in 1932.

The closest thing to a smartphone I can think of was from Robert Asprin's Phule's Company series.

The Port-A-Brain computer system was designed to be the ultimate in pocket computers. Its main strength was that it enabled the user to tap into nearly any data base or library in the settled worlds, or place an order with most businesses above a one-store retail level, or communicate directly with or leave messages for anyone or any business which utilized any form of computerized telecommunications, all without so much as plugging into a wall outlet or tapping into a phone line. What's more, the unit, complete with folding screen, was no larger than a paperback book. In short, it was a triumph of high-tech microcircuitry . . . but there was a small problem. Each unit cost as much as a small corporation, placing it well out of the financial reach of the individual and all but the most extravagant conglomerate executive officers; and even those who could afford one usually contented themselves to use the cheaper modes of data access, particularly since their job positions were lofty enough to allow them to delegate such menial tasks as research and communications to lower echelon staffers. As such, there were fewer than a dozen Port-A-Brain units in actual use in the entire galaxy. Willard Phule had two: One for himself and one for his butler. He reasoned the expense was worth avoiding the inconvenience of waiting in line for a pay terminal.”

And any of us can see the errors now.

 

[Kayfabe]

Pretty sure he had to self publish this one though:

How to say you're a gross fetishist without saying you're a gross fetishist.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

How to say you're a gross fetishist without saying you're a gross fetishist.

I saw this at the local Savers and regretted not taking a pic...

 

[Jimjamflimflam]

Pretty sure he had to self publish this one though:

The most "vivid" page according to prosecraft.io (

smaller with a nude young woman sitting on a toilet. She was pretty, with well formed breasts, a small waist, and very nice slightly-spread thighs. From the toilet bowl came a melody fashioned from delicate farts of different pitches. There was an odor of sweet violets. The statue was at the community center, which of course surrounded the public privy. Folk were gathering for the evening socializing. The men wore colorful pantaloons, the women farthingales. Many of the latter were bare breasted. THAT MEANS THEY’RE AVAILABLE FOR CASH OR BARTER, the Spire gouted quietly in his bowel. YOU WANT TO FART FOR FOOD AND FLAT, NOT FUCKS. “Ah, right,” Prior agreed, half reluctantly. Some of the revealed upper sections were fetching, and the nether sections too, when the women happened to pass between him and a light so that the bell-shaped skirts became translucent, verging on transparent. A lovely woman approached him, her full breasts playing peek-a-boo behind her veil of hair. She issued an inviting fart. NO GOOD, the Spire gouted. SHE’LL ROLL YOU. Prior turned away, letting out the Spire’s negative fart, and the woman retreated. A second beauty oriented on him, wafting a fart that smelled of roses. Her breasts were painted silver with bright red nipples. NO GOOD. Prior wasn’t sure how the Spire knew, but had to trust its judgment. He faced away, blowing aversion. I CAN SMELL THEM, the Spire explained. I ANALYZE THEIR FARTS AND ASCERTAIN THEIR PERSONALITIES. There was more to farting

Prosecraft: The Magic Fart by Piers Anthony

 

[Cherry Eyed Hamster]

How to say you're a gross fetishist without saying you're a gross fetishist.

The dude is just brazenly writing porn at this point, he’s not hiding it anymore (not that he was very good at hiding it in the first place tbh).

 

[BScCollateral]

The closest thing to a smartphone I can think of was from Robert Asprin's Phule's Company series.

Arthur Clarke, Imperial Earth (1975). I forget the details, but he had handheld computers which doubled as communications devices, and something very close to the World Wide Web. Clarke probably did the best job of "predicting" future technology, and IIRC the data pads in 2001 were used in court to dispute Apple's claim to have designed tablet computing.
Sometime you can get a very weird hit:

Science Fiction Theater, "Time is Just a Place", 1955. Time travellers from the future reveal themselves because they brought their Roomba with them.

Chosen Survivors (1974). A flat-screen home entertainment system with classic movies on tape. (Or, alternately, a projector)

 

[Meriasek]

Predicting the future is very much hit or miss. Lots of stories from the 50s and 60s acquired plenty of zeerust, but modern stories aren't safe. When you're just at the threshold of a technological revolution, all bets are off. Few would have predicted all the computer stuff we have now back in the 50s or even 70s. Even the 80s and 90s got a lot of things wrong, it's just all moving so fast.
It's often down to luck whether you got things right or not. Might as well either go full Soft SciFi and not tell any details about technology at all, or set your story so far in the future that any technology is just magic, anyway.
I enjoy the zeerust of old-school Heinlein stories where atomic rocket engineers use manual levers to control the control rods in their reactors. Where people smoke everywhere, computers are big buildings fed by tape, and spacers are somewhere between submarine crews and oil rig workers with PhDs in terms of insanity.

 

[teriyakiburns]

The closest thing to a smartphone I can think of was from Robert Asprin's Phule's Company series.



And any of us can see the errors now.

Sounds like an Apple product.

 

[Kayfabe]

"As a new writer Delany was a revelation. He’s gay and African-American and this intersectionality of experience gives his work dimensions that genre SF hadn’t seen before,

I know that American/Canadian racial autism and its "one-drop rule" doctrine is sky high levels of retarded but.... what....? how the hell is this guy black? he looks whiter than most Neo-Nazis/Wignats around.

Wikipedia says that his grandfather was black and..... that's it?, virtually anywhere outside of the United States and Canada, this guy will be seen as either white, or at most, mixed-race.

To compare, here is la creatura Nikolaos Michaloliakos, former leader of the Golden Dawn, arguably the most prolific and successful Neo-Nazi political party in all of Europe:

I don't want to switch the topic of this thread but this autism just bothers me, so many clearly white Americans claim to be "BIPOC Latinx Chicano" for oppression points, and mixed-race Amerimutts claim to be Aryan warriors of the White race and Western civilization.

And don't even start with the entire fucking Canadian subculture of eccentric white women who not only claim to be indigenous, but become full-blown indigenous leaders and representatives at universities and whatnot.

 

[Cherry Eyed Hamster]

I know that American/Canadian racial autism and its "one-drop rule" doctrine is sky high levels of retarded but.... what....? how the hell is this guy black? he looks whiter than most Neo-Nazis/Wignats around.

Wikipedia says that his grandfather was black and..... that's it?, virtually anywhere outside of the United States and Canada, this guy will be seen as either white, or at most, mixed-race.

To compare, here is la creatura Nikolaos Michaloliakos, former leader of the Golden Dawn, arguably the most prolific and successful Neo-Nazi political party in all of Europe:
View attachment 4668537
I don't want to switch the topic of this thread but this autism just bothers me, so many clearly white Americans claim to be "BIPOC Latinx Chicano" for oppression points, and mixed-race Amerimutts claim to be Aryan warriors of the White race and Western civilization.

And don't even start with the entire fucking Canadian subculture of eccentric white women who not only claim to be indigenous, but become full-blown indigenous leaders and representatives at universities and whatnot.

The United States is weirdly colorist in the regard that you're considered non-white if you have even as much of a grandparent who was half-black/asian/middle eastern/etc. It's retarded. I've seen Delaney irl and he's as white as George R.R Martin.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

Delany has a sort of black facial structure but almost perfectly white skin. Really weird indeed.

I believe Heinlein gets a lot of undeserved hate and criticism because he had some far more grounded and "conservative" views, not going full balls to the wall "enlightened future" or fantastical future people but more putting regular on his stories. Add to that his message about self-reliance and whole "pull yourself by your bootstraps" and you can see how liberal leaning types might get offended.

And then that dutch faggot couldn't be bothered to read Starship Troopers and accidentally made the best pro-fascist propaganda since 1942. The movie leans a lot harder on the "service guarantees citizenship" and military worship than the novel ever did (to the point if you read the novel you will notice that Heinlein was nowhere as gung-ho about it as the movie) and as such it only has some superficial similarity to the novel. Allow me to sperg a bit

I think the best part about it is how the sanctimonious faggot laid it so thick and was so sure everyone was gonna go along with his smug euro "oh aren't I so advanced and enlightened making fun of nationalism and military and brutish displays of strength" that not only did most people think it was just a campy sci-fi flick with a load of great scenes and memes, most of the people who caught the fascist overtones proceeded to accuse him of glorifying.

I think the best part about it all is how in Germany they straight up censored the entire bit where the characters are learning about the failure of democracy and the Revolt of the Scientists. All they talk about in the German dub is the bug war. Even the slogan "Service guarantees citizenship" was changed to "Fight for the future". The Teutons were obviously afraid of it accidentally triggering the old Prussian software inside their bodies to reboot.

And of course, now that some 25 years have passed it gets even better because for his "satire" to make sense and for the message he wanted to send to work you would need to be actively skeptical of the word of "official sources" such as the whole federation system in the movie and how it states as a open and shut case the "facts" about things like how the war is going, how it started, and how well the system works. I wonder what Mr. Verhoeven thinks of "conspiracy theorists" nowadays huh?

 

[Well Intentioned]

The only people featured in OP I've ever heard about outside this thread are Arthur C. Clark and Harlan Ellison, did any of these pedos even write anything noteworthy?

I had to read one of Delany's books when I was in university. Dhalgren. I did not enjoy it.

IIRC, it deals with a fictional city that is 'closed off' due to a foreign presence. Strange phenomena occurs and the narrative basically devolves into schizo babble (literally.)

It's interesting to note that the Strugatsky brothers wrote a similar (but far more coherent) novel called Roadside Picnic that was published in 1972. Dhalgren was published in 1975. It was featured in English publications in 1973, so I'd say there's a pretty good chance that Delany may have been 'inspired' by Roadside Picnic.

Skimming the Wikipedia page, the main character ("the kid") has traits similar to the main character in Hogg (which is featured in OP.)

It had an interesting gimmick (book is circular so that the very last sentence and the very first sentence 'link' together), but if it wasn't done by a gay minority it would've been largely ignored. And if it was a straight story and not post-modernist garbage, it wouldn't even register.

Delany has brushed off criticism with:""a good number of Dhalgren's more incensed readers, the ones bewildered or angered by the book, simply cannot read the proper distinction between sex and society and the nature and direction of the causal arrows between them, a vision of which lies just below the novel's surface."

I really dislike postmodern prose in general because, while there are some 'postmodern' works that are well done, it's largely a field for untalented hacks to have their nonsense celebrated as something revolutionary. I don't mind 'complex' or 'hard' reads (I've fucking read books by Kissinger, for fuck sake's and his writing is denser than some of the retards featured on this site), but I dislike shit that's largely masturbatory.

When you realize that the main character has dyslexia (Delany has dyslexia), is a minority (Delany is a minority), etc, etc. It's hard not to see this as largely some sort of grotesque wish fulfillment.

 

[Sayer of the N-Word]

Samuel R. Delaney is a perfect example of a "high yellow" black guy, the nonwhite admixture is obvious.

And then that dutch faggot couldn't be bothered to read Starship Troopers and accidentally made the best pro-fascist propaganda since 1942.

I don't know what you're talking about, everyone knows the movie was deliberately filmed like war propaganda, right down to ending with a recruitment pitch.

 

[Mr Moonface]

Cross posting this from the Tomlinson thread. Youtuber Porsalin has opened the Pandora's Box that is SFWA pedophilia:



Something that is often forgotten is that the SFWA also gave Pat the money to subpoena the farms for user information as well.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

Samuel R. Delaney is a perfect example of a "high yellow" black guy, the nonwhite admixture is obvious.

I don't know what you're talking about, everyone knows the movie was deliberately filmed like war propaganda, right down to ending with a recruitment pitch.

You vastly, hilariously overestimate how informed and self aware the average normie is. Do you really think most people in 1997 who went to see the movie were gonna make the connection? Some of the older folk who had already seen war propaganda sure but the young 20 year old Gen X kids?

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

You vastly, hilariously overestimate how informed and self aware the average normie is. Do you really think most people in 1997 who went to see the movie were gonna make the connection? Some of the older folk who had already seen war propaganda sure but the young 20 year old Gen X kids?

I'd read the book and as soon as I saw there was no power-armor, I knew it wasn't going to be anything like the book.

Went and saw it opening night with a bunch of friends, and we all thought it was a great sci-fi war flick. We had no idea it was satire or supposed to be anti-war.

When I found out it was supposed to be some kind of Eurotrash critique of Nationalism years later I laughed my ass off.

He made a bigger case for human supremacy with one simple byplay.

"IT'S A NUMBERS GAME, JOHNNY, AND THEY HAVE MORE!"

Nobody I knew saw the bugs as anything but a fucking swarm of space bugs.

Hell, even the basic training scenes were cool.

One of the things we laughed the hardest at was when Zim yelled at someone to start running around the compound, then yelled for a Corporal to follow him.

The black dude whips out his collapible baton and snaps it open, then chases the recruit like he's hunting runaway slaves.

That shit was fucking great.

That little scene right there blew any racism out of the water.

Loved the movie and the book, but I was a bit jaded by the time the movie came out.

 

[Newman's Lovechild]

Late and gay, but not as late and gay as Arthur C Clarke.

A venue for escapism inevitably becomes an attractive place for people who want to escape from the real world to live out their sick fantasies and weird ideologies. It is like flies drawn to a jar of honey. Scientology started in SF fandom, furries started in fantasy fandom, troons are a transhumanist idea that is heavily connected to fandom, and you can see from the thread how pervs of various kinds found a place in it going way back to the golden age era. There is a reason SF/fantasy was looked down upon as skeevy by the normies.