Is Science Fiction Too 'Adult' Now?

[Vince W]

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[Ihe]

Not saying it to be antagonistic, but I have always felt SF, as a general rule of thumb, is a tad more demanding of their targeted age group (in this modern age that is. Older SF had its own share of stinkers while they worked out the kinks), but this could be due mostly to hard SF being part of the discussion.

The way I see it, SF (medium-to-hard-boiled; the softer SF can be almost indistinguishable from fantasy at times) often generously pulls from derivative jargon, science references, and anchors cultural/historical/philosophical changes based on what humans have seen so far. As such, a reader will need greater baseline knowledge to understand and enjoy the work, more so than if he/she were reading Fantasy (unless it is a very grounded Fantasy where a reader's previous historical knowledge might enhance the experience). By no means am I saying "SF fans" are smarter than "Fantasy fans". One can rarely divide the issue so freely. Everyone reads both genres, and generally speaking, I believe fantasy works actually edge out SF in the literary aspect, but that's another topic I'm not willing to ignite--don't wanna be burnt at the stake, you know ).

IMO, all things considered equal, SF would require a little more effort on the reader's part because of its very own derivative nature. SF is also a child of the times. It is more current and anchored in current progress, which also makes it age way worse than fantasy. I believe that's the reason there are more highly-regarded Fantasy classics than SF classics, and not so much because of an actual difference in the level of storytelling/technical quality (or so I choose to believe ). A classic, by definition, must stand the test of time. SF rarely does, unless of a very advanced or speculative nature.

But, since we're analyzing the whole issue, I could also point out that maybe SF isn't more "adult", maybe SF writers miss-classify their work more than fantasy writers? Maybe something about SF makes it be incorrectly judged in terms of target demographic, or maybe the way it is marketed is at fault? I'll leave that there for someone actually knowledgeable on the subject to pick up .

Just my 3.87 cents on this.

 

[Overread]

I don't think sci-fi nor fantasy is getting too mature, however what I think we are seeing is a rise in the popularity and marketing of "mature" market material. From the Babyboomers through to the children of the babyboomers we've got multiple generations who have grown up with a big influx of fantasy and sci-fi material to the point where today both are quite mainstream forms of entertainment.

With a large adult market potential there is far more room to fit in creations to cater to that market segment; and those within the market segment will feel like there is far more to see because more marketing will be used to target and appeal to them.


This might, short term, also cause a spike in "mature" material. Game of Thrones has likely been a huge influence here in pushing a mature market in to the mainstream. Like most things it will likely peek and then fall - heck we might well see a rise of adventure style stories after all these epic sweeping sagas.

 

[Al Jackson]

IMO, all things considered equal, SF would require a little more effort on the reader's part because of its very own derivative nature. SF is also a child of the times. It is more current and anchored in current progress, which also makes it age way worse than fantasy. I believe that's the reason there are more highly-regarded Fantasy classics than SF classics, and not so much because of an actual difference in the level of storytelling/technical quality (or so I choose to believe ). A classic, by definition, must stand the test of time. SF rarely does, unless of a very advanced or speculative nature.

I know that I was particularly transported by Heinlein's young adult novels when I was 13 , 1953, but Heinlein had only written a handful of those by then. I remember having to ask the librarian if there was other science fiction! Without batting an eyelash she showed over to the 'adult' section. I remember reading a ton of Groff Conklin's anthologies , you know Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke short stories were decided 'adult' , not talking language but concepts and level of prose. I do know that I read Orwell's 1984 when I was 14 , I think I understood it well enough. Between the age of 13 and 18 I know I read more 'adult' SF than juvenile.
Heck the Heinlein young adult novels still read great , I have had a problem re-reading Norton does not go as well.

 

[picklematrix]

I would say there is a decently diverse range of non-serious work out there, including YA type series. I havent read a comedy scifi in a while, but im sure there are a few new obes out there i have yet to read.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

I don't think a person's style of language, cursing or not, impeccable grammar or not, is any sign of maturity. Good language is supposed to be acquired with age, a sign of maturity, while good cursing is considered a sign of adulthood, that's when it's acceptable. I think commercially speaking those terms make sense but in the real world they have little to do with how some one comprehends the world and how they interact with it.

For me, adult oriented would be writings that make people wonder do I live in this kind of world, am I like that? Writing that doesn't do this is escapism, what people want to read so they can relax, not have to relive the days ugly events all over again. Well written words can get across all the images one needs to understand the situation without knowing the technical features behind the words. That whole illusion of simplicity can be junked in a second by using too many words people never heard of or descriptions based on descriptions based on descriptions. Using this idea of adult literature, many of it is commercially viable because the points it is trying to drive home are all too easy to overlook or to look at it in a way other than intended by the author.

Take a typical screwed up situation that might concern people, advance it way into the future in a place millions of light years away and the reality of the situation magically drops away. How many people are going to unwind a story to try to see if it is actually based on something they might feel responsible for by way of lack of action. So much easier to read about another person solving the problem you now won't have to consider because it hasn't even happened yet. I think fantasy works by completely trashing the sense of time which immediately releases the reader from any connection to day to day events.

I would think YA literature written by young adults for young adults is likely to be edgy because they are internally witnessed accountings. YA written by adults for the YA audience which is composed of all age ranges covers a much wider range of styles.

 

[Anthoney]

I think a lot of sci-fi has become to grim. To some, dark and grim means more adult. Sci-fi has been moving that way for the last 20 years.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'd like to get a better idea of which authors are pushing to make SF too adult, and are we talking about intelligent stories that aim to answer deep questions about humanity (as opposed to children's adventure stories) or about simply inserting graphic violence and sex into stories that don't necessarily require them?

 

[SilentRoamer]

I'd like to get a better idea of which authors are pushing to make SF too adult, and are we talking about intelligent stories that aim to answer deep questions about humanity (as opposed to children's adventure stories) or about simply inserting graphic violence and sex into stories that don't necessarily require them?

Off topic Brian but this reminded me of a standing joke in my house when I was a slightly older kid.

Channel 5: "The following programme contains scenes of a violent nature"
Mama Patterson: "Oooooh this should be good"

 

[Parson]

I'd like to get a better idea of which authors are pushing to make SF too adult, and are we talking about intelligent stories that aim to answer deep questions about humanity (as opposed to children's adventure stories) or about simply inserting graphic violence and sex into stories that don't necessarily require them?

I'll have a think about specific authors, but for me what I am aiming at is books of that later sort which insert graphhic violence and sex into them when it is really not needed. Going back to my original example: "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" is a memorable story where there was ample opportunity to add in graphic violence, and sex between the two protagonists would not have been unthinkable, but in my opinion the story was much better without them.