Another sad monday, begun expectantly with a story that disappoints. Or maybe it's the breakfast I never have. Whichever the case might be, Howard Waldrop's Flying Saucer Rock and Roll was a little like James Tiptree Jr.'s Beam Us Home, Joanna Russ's Souls, and, to a lesser extent, Gene Wolfe's The Ziggurat: a science fiction story which almost wasn't one, if it weren't for a tacked on trope that feels like it's dragging the story down Allegory lane. I don't like my science fiction done that way.
A good example of a science fiction story which balances social criticism and science fictional novum organically is Nancy Kress's Out of All Them Bright Stars. And that's largely because the reveal in the story isn't something that sticks out like a sore thumb. It uses a science fiction trope to shed light on a political reality, and not to necessarily 'solve it'. In this way, it avoids accusations of being 'escapist'.
I guess one good thing this story led to was reminding me of why I consider Kress's story to be so essential to the short SF canon.
A good example of a science fiction story which balances social criticism and science fictional novum organically is Nancy Kress's Out of All Them Bright Stars. And that's largely because the reveal in the story isn't something that sticks out like a sore thumb. It uses a science fiction trope to shed light on a political reality, and not to necessarily 'solve it'. In this way, it avoids accusations of being 'escapist'.
I guess one good thing this story led to was reminding me of why I consider Kress's story to be so essential to the short SF canon.
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