This is a good thread. My knee-jerk reaction to the original thread about Science Fiction dying is to again ask “who are you reading?,” because I have at least four solid space opera novels published within the past couple years on my stack right now…all by PoC/Queer writers.
So many of the complaints on OP's thread were that the future was now. Like, that has always been what happens to SF? What was the future to 1950s SF authors is historical to present day readers. There are tons of marginalized SF authors being published rn who are reimagining the future.
Great minds! I absolutely agree with you. I mean, I’m enjoying Alien: Earth. That franchise went from “the future” to “an alternative historical future.” Projecting a future that’s fifty to a hundred years off is a staple of the genre, for better or worse.
I have this gut feeling that the tides are shifting to new visions. I also think being a slave to hard science has been a problem. I’m a new wave guy; I don’t need the intense focus on “realistic science.” SF is about humanity, not science. I think pushback is happening, if you choose to see it.
Yesssss
I also think Mamatas makes a good point that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past few years: Near-future sci-fi, particularly dystopian near-future sci-fi, has become more acceptable and is seen as more “literary” in today’s world.
I suspect that necessity will force A LOT of new far-future epics, hopefully with a more realist/utopian bent. This is the time, again, to imagine different worlds and different ways of being.