Comments on: Calling… http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/ ...science fiction and other stuff from jonathan strahan... Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:37:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David B. Williams http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/comment-page-1/#comment-67396 David B. Williams Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:31:38 +0000 http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/#comment-67396 It suddenly occurs to me, that perhaps Starship Troopers "smacked the field around" not because of its style or content but because it was written by Robert A. Heinlein. If it had been written by Joe Schmoe it would have appeared on the book racks and quietly vanished, no one would have raised a ruckus. But Heinlein was so influential at that point that he made Starship Troopers influential. You had to pay attention, you had to react, it was written by Heinlein! It suddenly occurs to me, that perhaps Starship Troopers “smacked the field around” not because of its style or content but because it was written by Robert A. Heinlein. If it had been written by Joe Schmoe it would have appeared on the book racks and quietly vanished, no one would have raised a ruckus. But Heinlein was so influential at that point that he made Starship Troopers influential. You had to pay attention, you had to react, it was written by Heinlein!

]]> By: Cheryl http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/comment-page-1/#comment-67222 Cheryl Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:03:26 +0000 http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/#comment-67222 No, Jonathan said that, and Jonathan is to anime what Clute is to SF, so if he says it I tend to believe it. I can put you in touch if you want to talk, but he's getting married in the next week or so which might slow down communication. No, Jonathan said that, and Jonathan is to anime what Clute is to SF, so if he says it I tend to believe it. I can put you in touch if you want to talk, but he’s getting married in the next week or so which might slow down communication.

]]> By: Jonathan http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/comment-page-1/#comment-67195 Jonathan Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:17:17 +0000 http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/#comment-67195 Really? Joe said that. I'm not questioning his accuracy, but it *sounds* like a helluva reach. A 1959 Heinlein novel had that much impact in Japan? Given that giant fighting robots in Japan precede the existence of the Heinlein novel by at least three or four years (and allowing for translation delays etc, probably even longer in practical terms), that is a surprising claim. Really? Joe said that. I’m not questioning his accuracy, but it *sounds* like a helluva reach. A 1959 Heinlein novel had that much impact in Japan? Given that giant fighting robots in Japan precede the existence of the Heinlein novel by at least three or four years (and allowing for translation delays etc, probably even longer in practical terms), that is a surprising claim.

]]> By: Cheryl http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/comment-page-1/#comment-67192 Cheryl Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:20:30 +0000 http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/#comment-67192 Alternatively you could have been at Finncon where we also had a "Heinlein Legacy" panel. Clute held forth excellently as usual, and so did Joe Haldeman and Jonathan Clements. The latter reminded us that <i>Starship Troopers</i> was largely responsible for Japan's fascination with giant fighting robots. Alternatively you could have been at Finncon where we also had a “Heinlein Legacy” panel. Clute held forth excellently as usual, and so did Joe Haldeman and Jonathan Clements. The latter reminded us that Starship Troopers was largely responsible for Japan’s fascination with giant fighting robots.

]]> By: Graham http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/comment-page-1/#comment-66884 Graham Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:11:37 +0000 http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/2007/07/15/calling/#comment-66884 It's a great shame you weren't at Readercon for the discussion that Gary, John, CHARLES and I did re Heinlein. I think you could make a case that either of Heinlein's two subsequent Hugo winners (Stranger and Moon) had substantial influence on the field, and indeed that Stranger did on society at large. But, yeah, as I said at the end of the piece I did for Locus, Heinlein gave us the language for sf; lots of people use it to say very different things from what he would have. In a sense, I think the lack of a single defining novel reflects the fact that there hasn't really been a centre to the sf field, a default way of doing things, for a couple of decades. (Not, in fact, since that period of, say, 1985-1993 when so many first-generation sf writers died.) Since then, we've had a bunch of different discourses running in parallel in sf (and cross-fertilising a lot) but no single one which everyone diverges from/agrees with. It’s a great shame you weren’t at Readercon for the discussion that Gary, John, CHARLES and I did re Heinlein. I think you could make a case that either of Heinlein’s two subsequent Hugo winners (Stranger and Moon) had substantial influence on the field, and indeed that Stranger did on society at large. But, yeah, as I said at the end of the piece I did for Locus, Heinlein gave us the language for sf; lots of people use it to say very different things from what he would have.

In a sense, I think the lack of a single defining novel reflects the fact that there hasn’t really been a centre to the sf field, a default way of doing things, for a couple of decades. (Not, in fact, since that period of, say, 1985-1993 when so many first-generation sf writers died.) Since then, we’ve had a bunch of different discourses running in parallel in sf (and cross-fertilising a lot) but no single one which everyone diverges from/agrees with.

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