The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Gentry Lee's Rama Is Below Par
just read the review for Gentry Lee's new novel, and I am not surprised. His collaborations with Arthur C. Clarke for the Rama sequels were well below par for what I expected, having read Rendevous with Rama. Honestly, I wished I had not read the sequels. Lee is just trying to get money off of the mastery that Clarke laid down in the first novel. I just finished the 10 Amber books also, and I think the same happened with Roger Zelazny. The first five books were terrific, but the last five were just B-grade compared to the very complex and interesting plots of the first series. Even the ending for the tenth book is inadequate, I feel. Leaves many unnecessary loose ends and does not read well with me.
Carl Jacques
czar_sid@hotmail.com
Get A Life!
. Fumega-Serrano's letter in the last issue of Science Fiction Weekly
regarding the Encyclopedia Shatnerica brings to mind words directly out of William Shatner's mouth: "Get a Life!" While Shatner was talking about excessively-geeky Trek fans, one might easily recall his advice when responding to someone who can't take a joke. Jeff Berkwits didn't write the book--he just wrote the review! Give the man a break!
The book looks to be very entertaining (as was the review), and I
eagerly await my buy.com shipment containing this gem.
Michael Lustig
mpl@blackrock.com
The Weirder The Fan, The Bigger The Heart
n regard to the letters concerning SF fandom, I would like to note that all of the conventions run by the fans themselves have always had benefit organizations that they contribute to by way of auctions (many guests contribute collectible items, my favorite being having your name used for a character in an upcoming book) and other donations. There is a Trek for AIDS that assists people with AIDS. Many are for children. Klingons are very good with blood drives. So, not only do fen have lives, they contribute through their fandom to many worthwhile causes. As Stephen Furst said at a recent convention: "The weirder the fan, the bigger the heart."
Deirdre Brennan
starbeast@netscape.net
What's The Point Of Clean Klingons?
ust to sum a few things up from the flurry of letters put forth after
the Fandom article:
Kevin Neff wrote this in his letter; "Fandom gets a bad rap in the media
because to them it's acceptable to find a group of people that won't
take enough offense to retaliate in kind." I know when I just can't get worked up enough about criticism to retaliate it's always because I am sure of myself.
Next I want to mention that every letter printed had a sentence that
said "We find most fans have jobs, families, lives, and are normal
people." Um, if we're all so normal, won't Theodore Sturgeon and Harlan Ellison
feel not-at-home with us?
I gotta tell you, I try very hard to look normal, but I rarely succeed.
Is it okay if I go to a convention and my hair is wrong? Or will I make
all you normal people feel uncomfortable?
Finally, Grig Larson said in his good letter that he could do without
the unwashed Klingon suits. Well, as a matter of fact, if you look at
the original Star Trek shows, they take special care to make up Klingons
to look dirty, greasy and unwashed! What would be the point of a
cleaned-up Klingon?
Jean Harrison
jeanjean@uswest.net
It's The People, Not The Environment
ust few general comments about last issue's Letters page--Ms. Kress: Of course we read your stories! You and other fine artists of the genre are the reason I got into SF fandom. Hope to see you again at another con.
And speaking of cons: Yes, you see what you look for. I've been involved in active fandom for 30 of my 52 years, everything from filking to masquerades to hard science panels, and I look forward eagerly to each con I attend. And yes, there are fans that get "overly involved" in their fringe groups, but doesn't that happen in mundane life as well? It's the personality type, not the environment.
"Dum vivimus, Vivamus!"
B.J. Willinger
CircleSinger@webtv.net
Enjoying SF Will Never Be Taken Seriously
ell, it seems Ms. Germroth dropped her match in the place where the powder was kept. I don't think the question of SF as serious or important literature is capable of being resolved to anyone's satisfaction. The roots of SF were undeniably in popular culture, and it's never really left popular culture behind, as a glance at most SF book covers strongly suggests. This, despite years of rather po-faced academic writing about the genre. It can be argued (I won't) that SF derives much of its vigor from its origins, along with its more yawn-inducing cliches.
The originators were often risk takers who created a medium for ideas that was, in some ways, unlike anything seen before. Sturgeon's Law applied to them as it does to their successors, but SF usually continues to present itself in terms strongly reminiscent of its pop or pulp background. Those who insist on SF's literary importance have an uphill battle against the effect of this upon mainstream critics. I wonder increasingly whether getting their approval is really worth the effort.
An otherwise thoughtful piece in the New York Review of Books on the (very) serious plays of Wallace Shawn observed how disconcerting it was seeing him appear as the Ferengi Grand Poobah (or whatever) on Deep Space Nine. It was as though, the reviewer suggested, Samuel Beckett had done a guest spot on The Brady Bunch.
Clearly, the divisions between high and low culture are still very much in place, and we can argue ourselves blue in the face without changing a thing. So why bother? As for SF fans, they might as well enjoy themselves. George Mikes' book How To Be A Foreigner, though written some time back about the English, contains some useful advice. By all means, he says, accept that second helping at table without worrying about your standing as a gentleman. As a foreigner, you won't be considered a gentleman no matter what you do. Substitute "serious reader" and "enjoying SF" for the appropriate terms and you have a very durable bit of wisdom.
Wayne Daniels
wdaniels@nypl.north-york.on.ca
Editor's Note: I believe the Ferengi title in question is the Grand Nagus.
What's Wrong With Dressing Up?
his is in response to all the letters maligning fandom. I am a member of fandom, and I am also, gasp, one of those "weirdos" who dresses up at
conventions. But at the same time, I am a law student, holding two jobs,
and I do have a semblance of a life (in so much as law school allows). What
is wrong with dressing up at conventions, and generally, acting a little
out of the ordinary? I see no difference between dressing up at a
convention and dressing up for a Halloween party. There is always a point
where it is taken too far, when people start believing, or trying to
believe, that they are the character they are dressed up as, but that is a
mental/emotional problem and not necessarily indicative of fandom. I have
found conventions are a fantastic way to meet interesting people, most of
whom are sane and well balanced, who have similar interests.
To put the issue in perspective, which is worse, getting dressed up once a
year as a psi-cop and having fun for a weekend, or spending X amount of
hundreds of hours in front of the TV watching football? I personally think
the latter is less healthy and more indicative of a mental problem, but
it's acceptable practice.
Lastly, as a woman, I love science fiction, I got addicted by reading Dune, and I despise fantasy, partially since the writing is so bad, in case anyone is keeping a tally.
Emily M. Lee
elee@student.law.du.edu
Fandom Is A Good Part Of Real Life
andom enhances my life. As a critical care nurse for more than a quarter century, wife of 32 years, mother of two adults (and former PTA mom) who has enjoyed reading science fiction for more than 45 years, fandom brings some fun to my life. Starting with Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, and Del Rey, some authors' names sell me the book. Nancy Kress is one. Imagine that at conventions I met Larry Niven, Octavia Butler, Connie Willis, Ray Bradbury, James White and Hal Clement. What other field of entertainment gives the opportunity to meet and converse with those who educate and entertain us? (Oh yes, I have dressed like a Klingon.) We also provide a Red Cross blood drive collecting many units of life saving blood just at the holiday time each year. We are no sillier than those who drink and yell at televised sports. Just a good part of a real life. I treasure the friends I've made in fandom.
Kathy Carder
carders@mediaone.net
Generalizations Hurt The Genre
am a freshman in college, an 18-year-old woman, and I have been very interested in following the discussion of women in science fiction.
Yes, much of the older SF, and some of the newer material, is sexist, some of it in the extreme. Witness the movie which was recently featured in Science Fiction Weekly's Classics section, Harlan Ellison's A Boy And His Dog. However, this society is not necessarily an ideal, and I think that in many cases, incidents of sexism and sexual violence in science fiction need to be taken in context with the tone and setting of the story.
I have been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy for several years now. When I first began reading, and joined the SF/fantasy club at my school, I was the first woman to join. That has changed drastically since that time. I have noticed that though sexism is prevalent in the genre(s), so are strong women, both writers and characters. SF is in no way a male-only field, any more than other fictional literature. This is the case for both science fiction and fantasy; both contain a richness, and a level of innovation, that attract many readers. From Star Trek to TSR to Heinlein to Tolkien to Ellison, SF as a whole is a genre that does not easily fit into generalizations, and certainly does not always fit the stereotype of the "masculine genre."
Someone mentioned comic books recently in this letters section, specifically the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. Comic books are a medium (not a genre) which has also been the target of many generalizations, some of which have nearly crippled the industry.
Most comics could be defined as either science fiction or fantasy, or a combination of both. And yet, because of the less brilliant comic books, the entire medium has been shunned by readers of "real literature." Just as SF has been. And this is another medium where the generalization about sexism has been made. Yes, the women's chests on the covers of Marvel comics are often out of proportion, but this is not always the case even for Marvel, and certainly not for all comics. Graphic novels and comics are gaining momentum as more and more woman-friendly comics are published. Sandman is a good example of such a comic. One issue of this series was the first and only comic to win a World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story (which resulted in outrage and the exclusion of comic books from eligibility for this award afterwards). Alan Moore's Watchmen, which is closer to the superhero-type comic (though even so many years after its original publication, it still defies generalization), was given a Hugo Award nomination, and is another example of the heights of which comics are capable.
Science fiction, fantasy, and comic books are all capable of such heights. They are also capable of miserable failures. All three have had their share of both.
Why all the generalizations? It only injures the genres and media.
Irina Ruden
iruden@brynmawr.edu
