As a writer with jet writers writing company I'd say there is also a vast gulf between what we called science fiction in my youth and many stories described that way today.
For example, is Honor Harrington-style space opera sci-fi? Or just addictively fun drama situated in outer space? Does adding a few gee-wiz notions about warfare in space make it sci-fi?
At the risk of overgeneralizing, sci-fi in my youth worked off an interesting hard science notion and explored the ramifications of that "what-if."
What if people lived on a planet with dramatically different environment conditions, due its proximity to some other celestial body, a much longer or shorter year or day, dramatically different atmosphere or whatever? How would our bodies have developed in response had we evolved there? How would we Earthlings adapt if we attempted to colonize that planet?
I consumed these books and short stories like candy. But I have to say, most were populated with stick figure characters. The clever hard science notion was the point of the story.
As a writer with jet writers writing company I'd say there is also a vast gulf between what we called science fiction in my youth and many stories described that way today.
For example, is Honor Harrington-style space opera sci-fi? Or just addictively fun drama situated in outer space? Does adding a few gee-wiz notions about warfare in space make it sci-fi?
At the risk of overgeneralizing, sci-fi in my youth worked off an interesting hard science notion and explored the ramifications of that "what-if."
What if people lived on a planet with dramatically different environment conditions, due its proximity to some other celestial body, a much longer or shorter year or day, dramatically different atmosphere or whatever? How would our bodies have developed in response had we evolved there? How would we Earthlings adapt if we attempted to colonize that planet?
I consumed these books and short stories like candy. But I have to say, most were populated with stick figure characters. The clever hard science notion was the point of the story.