Gutenberg Sci-Fi accusations
In the introduction to the article on Gutenberg Sci‐Fi I wrote that most of the writing was ‘hardcore’ sci‐fi. This covers up a truckload of differences between the downloads. This stuff is forever called ‘Sci‐Fi’, a dumpground meaning ‘pulp fiction which is not a Western, Detectives, Pornography, Romance or Gangsters’. Here’s a list of what it is. Or what I say it is,
Notes,
PsychFi, SciFi, SocFi are all speculations on ‘if’, for psychology, science, and society
Society is split into Alternative (it may exist but would be different, such as a maternal society), Historical (trappings are historical), and Future (trappings are future projections e.g. dystopias. I’m generous about this, even if characters are winging over the tax on rayguns, it’s Future SocFi)
I probably should have a column for ‘Outer space as alternate society’, but the the three Soc‐Fi columns cover it
Opera means saving the world. Usually to the music of gunfire. With a chorus line. I’ve decided to be generous about this too—planet‐saving counts. But its not opera if the result is aside to the aim
Fantasy means the story is beyond the accepted bounds of knowledge. There are no Yellow Brick Roads, or lightsabres, and never could be.
| Title/Author | PsychFi | SciFi | SocFi Historical | SocFi Alternative | SocFi Future | Opera | Fantasy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flatland, Edwin Abbot Abbot | y | y | |||||
| Industrial Revolution, Poul Anderson | y | ||||||
| One Shot, James Blish | y | y | |||||
| The Push of a Finger, Alfred Bester | y | y | y | ||||
| The Blue Behemoth, Leigh Brackett | y | ||||||
| The Citadel, Algis Budrys | y | ||||||
| RUR, Karel Capek | y | y | |||||
| The Eyes Have It, Philip K. Dick | y | ||||||
| The Hanging Stranger, Philip K. Dick | y | y | y | ||||
| The Piper in The Woods, Philip K. Dick | y | y | |||||
| The Gun, Philip K. Dick | y | y | |||||
| Heel!, Philip Jose Farmer | y | y | y | ||||
| Deathworld, Harry Harrison | y | y | y | ||||
| The Misplaced Battleship, Harry Harrison | y | y | y | ||||
| Planet Of The Damned, Harry Harrison | y | y | y | ||||
| Special Delivery, Damon Knight | y | ||||||
| The Ego Machine, Henry Kuttner | y | ||||||
| The Pirates of Ersatz, Murray Leinster | y | y | y | ||||
| A Pail of Air, Friz Lieber | y | y | |||||
| Dr. Kometevsky’s Day, Friz Lieber | y | y | |||||
| The Snowbank Orbit, Friz Lieber | y | y | |||||
| The 64‐Square Madhouse, Friz Lieber | y | y | |||||
| Riya’s Foundling, Algis Budrys | y | y | |||||
| The Marching Morons, Cyril Kornbluth | y | y | y | ||||
| With These Hands, Cyril Kornbluth | y | y | y | ||||
| The Luckiest Man in Denv, Cyril Kornbluth | y | y | y | ||||
| West of the Sun, Edgar Pangborn | y | ||||||
| y | y | ||||||
| Wolfbane, Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth | y | y | y | ||||
| The Blue Star, Fletcher Pratt | y | y | y | ||||
| Ask a Foolish Question, Robert Sheckley | y | y | |||||
| Keep Your Shape, Robert Sheckley | y | y | y | ||||
| The Game of Rat and Dragon, Cordwainer Smith | y | ||||||
| First Lensman, Doc E.E. Smith | y | y |