Why does it always come back to Harry Potter?
Science fiction author Gregory Benford has a bug in his bonnet, and it’s called fantasy fiction. In his world, it seems all fantasy is based on Dungeons & Dragons.
Needless to say people disagree, including some folks in Benford’s comments, author Scott Lynch and (for the snarkful among us) Fandom Wank.
Oh, good grief. I finally read Heinlein, to see what the fuss was about, and I have to confess, maybe I’m just dumb, but my reaction to “Stranger In A Strange Land” was “WTF?” Please tell me Heinlein didn’t take this crap seriously. As for Clarke, the only thing of his I’ve liked is non-fiction. I’m sure the ideas are interesting, but wow, the execution is boring. (And as one reply put it, if metaphor and spiritualism are fantasy, what the hell is Dune?)
Keith Azariah-Kribbs’s response on Benford’s page is worth a read, though. As is the Lynch response.
Okay, I don’t get it. Why do people have to piss in each other’s swimming pools? Especially when it’s a commmunal pool? I mean COME ON. Sci-fi isn’t the be-all end-all. Neither is fantasy. Or any other genre. They all have different appeal and that’s a GOOD thing. This “I’m walking out ’cause Harry Potter won a Hugo” thing is just beyond stupid.