Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Its and old, but popular question. Just what exactly is Science Fiction? Perhaps the reason its so popular is that no two people ever seem to answer it the same way. Theodore Sturgeon gave the pretty workable definition that:

A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its scientific content.

Assuming we don’t get too picky about the word scientific and what that means, this definition that can fairly effectively cover everything from Star Trek to Dune. Speaking of which, Frank Herbert on the other hand presented a rather different view on the topic:

Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time—linear or non-linear time.

I find that one a little too confusing to be terribly useful honestly. Though it does somehow seem appropriate to the writer. Robert A. Heinlein takes a more functional approach:

A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method.

Except that would seem to eliminate the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek, putting them presumably into the fantasy camp. Which is a position quite a few would take certainly. And there is the heart of the problem. Science Fiction is different things to different authors, so not surprisingly its different things to different people.

So perhaps instead of worrying too much about just what is or isn’t science fiction, we should perhaps spend our time enjoying it, and remember Damon Knight’s definition:

Science Fiction is what I mean when I point to it.