A similar conversation is happening over on the Novels page, but I'm interested in hearing the SF/F community opinions. What do you see happening in stories that make you want to feed the book (and maybe the author too, but don't do it, that's not nice) into the nearest wood chipper? examples specific to science fiction and fantasy are preferred.
For me it's the preaching.
Right/left/center -- they all do it. I don't need another libertarian lecture from a Heinlein clone. I don't need to work on my liberal studies degree with a Le Guin clone. I'm here for the church of the human condition and
I am not your choir.
But 9 times out of 10 you'll have a Chekhov's gun moment of that sort in many (if not all) SF novels. By page one hundred you'll have been exposed to the requisite three moments reminding you of the "correct" view of...whatever.
My mind is expected to be open enough to envision talking dragons and trans-dimensional cans of spam -- but I need reminded of the "correct thoughts" by the author?
Bah. The literature of ideas is far too important to squander on the matter of politics.
Seriously. "Hey, there's this great character moment. Oh wait. It's a right-wing Mil SF. Guess I'll never tell my more pacifist friends about that." Or "Here's a
perfect example of life-as-outsider. Pity it had to get anvil-licious about the politics of sexuality. Guess I won't be sharing that one with XYZ."
Irony: the very people whose minds could stand being exposed to a new idea put the book down early because
they hear the Latin chanting the background.
But that's not even accurate. The camps of SF are far more divided than the Protestants and Catholics ever were.
This bothers me. I mean, you dig giant robots. I dig giant robots.
We dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots....
I just feel too many cool ideas get missed because the author's required (or feels required) to recite the entire litany against fear in every one of their books.
In short I'm tired of looking at every book I might pick up, squinting, and having to decide if it's SF + politics_whatever (most, if not) or just "SF" (a rarer and rarer beast, anymore).
Point this out to either camp and they'll tell you it doesn't matter, because
they are right.
Johncs, still looking for the giant robots.