Search found 380 matches

by Windwalker
Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:36 am
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

I would not put a story that has a hierarchical society with inequalities immediately into the "good versus evil" category, if that is what you meant. (In the same way, I may have unconsciously conflated your non-hierarchical societies with utopias, the latter being notorious for somewhat...
by Windwalker
Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:46 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

Such societies are interesting gedanken experiments, but often make for boring fiction. Part of the problem is that fiction relies upon conflict, and if one writes about a society without hierarchies, one generally needs to find some other way to inject conflict. Most intriguingly, such societies a...
by Windwalker
Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:15 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

I found an old(ish) article by Michael Moorcock that discusses some of the key questions we explored in this thread: Starship Stormtroopers . It's long and the web page font is hard on the eyes, but it's worth reading. I agree with his assessment, which articulates some of my very deep uneasiness wi...
by Windwalker
Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:34 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

Usually involves a hero (no gender implied), who is focused, albeit not exclusively, on outward actions, often at great sacrifice. These actions must have large scale implications, so we're not talking office politics here. I would add one clause to this: that the hero is self-aware. That is, s/he ...
by Windwalker
Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:25 am
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

Do not Doc Smith's Lensmen series meet your criteria? Many of Heinlein's early books seem to fit your criteria (as he got older, his characters tended to sit around and spout philosophy). Also, Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity. Etc. I mean, you're probably right, but the difference seems a subtle o...
by Windwalker
Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:43 am
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

By the way, there is (was) one character on TV that meets all the traditional criteria of an epic hero and is also complex -- Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Serenity. I'd put Max of the Road Warrior and Thunderdome in that category as well.
by Windwalker
Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:48 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

I agree completely, as you almost certainly know. There's no question that in mainstream literature the epic mode had been superceded long ago, only to be later used ironically in such works as Joyce's Ulysses . SF between the sixties and the eighties was the real golden era by my definition -- comb...
by Windwalker
Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:38 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

Contemporary Western audiences like to have outer conflicts mirrored by inner ones. Does this taste tend to run against the epic mode, at least in its purest form? Do you think editors are receptive to the epic mode? Do they even recognize it when they see it? I think the prevailing taste does run ...
by Windwalker
Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:32 pm
Forum: Literature and Cinema
Topic: Science fiction/fantasy film recommendations
Replies: 21
Views: 180742

Also, I agree that it will be interesting to see what direction Del Toro takes The Hobbit in. Judging from Del Toro's other films, there may be grotesquerie. But then again, Peter Jackson was a shlockmeister before LOTR. This shows in some of the excesses particularly obvious in the extended DVDs o...
by Windwalker
Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:33 am
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

I agree with Lisa that in epic mode the protagonist needs to make sacrifices and overcome great odds -- in a conflict that changes the rest of the world, not just the hero (and I use the term regardless of gender). Even in LeGuin's quiet epics, the defiant gesture can start an avalanche that changes...
by Windwalker
Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:52 pm
Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
Topic: The epic mode
Replies: 19
Views: 167075

Re: The epic mode

I'll post a partial answer, as the thoughts occur to me, so that we can keep exploring. This issue came back to the forefront of my thinking for several reasons: Kristin Kathryn Rusch's article in the latest IROSF issue, which is truly worth reading in its entirety; the various exchanges in the Viab...
by Windwalker
Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:58 pm
Forum: The Art of Science, Fantasy and Science Fiction
Topic: Tea house Google theme
Replies: 10
Views: 122158

Google fox, second round

Google just introduced themes into Gmail as well. One of them is our old friend, the kitsune (Japanese fox spirit). He is now busy on the back side of his tea house, once again doing something different every two hours. The calm, civilized way of his life has not gone unnoticed. Someone wrote an ode...
by Windwalker
Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:45 pm
Forum: The Art of Science, Fantasy and Science Fiction
Topic: New Gallery
Replies: 18
Views: 156783

I always love the integration of style and content in your work -- in this case, the reflection of the aurora's shape and colors by the figure's lines, coloring and garment.
by Windwalker
Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:52 pm
Forum: Literature and Cinema
Topic: Broadening Horizons
Replies: 4
Views: 50826

I read Erdrich's Tracks a handful of years ago and found it to be highly compelling, all the more so for the subtlety of some of its undertones. Heather, if you like Erdrich you will also like Jim Harrison. Especially two connected novels: Dalva and The Way Home . He also wrote the novella Legends ...
by Windwalker
Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:48 pm
Forum: Literature and Cinema
Topic: Broadening Horizons
Replies: 4
Views: 50826

Here is my very partial list, all mainstream fiction by contemporary authors. A few (starred) flirt with fantasy and science fiction, but none crosses the line entirely into the speculative domain. You will notice that several writers on this list are either expatriates or of mixed ancestry. Such ne...