An Obsession With Miniature Table Top Games

Science fiction is one of those genres in literature that despite the fact that it has produced some of the best dialogues and commentaries on social consciousness, continues to be marginalized and judged based off its lesser works.

I think it was  OSC or Ben Bova who said that 90% of sci-fi out there is crap, that may be so but what the 10% that isn’t? Sci-Fi just like any other genre in literature has produced some classic works that captured the imagination of entire generations. Works the like of HGW’s War of the Worlds, FH’s Dune, Asimov’s Foundation and more recently Lucas’ Starwars (the original of course) have been no less important to our identity than classics from other genre’s.

Recently though as I flip through the odd Sci-Fi novel I find the same old regurgitated crap. Unwilling/moody/emo/disgruntled hero/ marine/ soldier etc -  is thrust into the fore front to save civilization as we know it from some very bad aliens/zombies/gene-enhanced monstrosities that want to eat us for breakfast. Humanity stands on the brink of destruction but miraculously finds a weapon that allows our protagonist to save the day Yaaaaay-Ho Hum!

Unlike other genre’s, Science Fiction in particular is positioned to enable astute authors to write about issues that really matter without incurring the firestorm of hate that would ensue if it were written in a more “serious” format. Seriously do you think that someone could, at the height of the cold war and nuclear arms race write about the failure of democracy the way Heinlein did in Starship Troopers and get away with it? Even in todays liberal and pseudo tolerant  society, such a piece of work would not be published in a more mainstream format. Actually I take that back because in todays liberal and pseudo tolerant  society it wouldn’t get published at all.

In a major twist of irony, artists, authors and publishers alike who champion the right to free speech seem to be censoring what we can and cannot read and instead push a placebo of action, sex and angst to keep us satiated.  I really hope that someone somewhere is able to wield this genre like the mighty force it is for social awareness thus establishing a classic for this generation.