Robots and Aliens vs. Elves and Orcs - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lalwendë · 09-12-2004, 08:52 AM

I don't claim to be an expert on sci-fi, but that article was interesting. Firstly, I think it's a mistake to say that Tolkien clearly delineates between good and evil; there are a lot of grey areas in Middle Earth lore, Gollum being an excellent example. He's one of my favourite characters in literature as it's impossible to say if he is truly bad. Even Gandalf warns against thinking in terms of black and white too much.

But, I was also interested to read that the quality of sci-fi is declining - I think it's changing in nature. There is some pretty good dystopian work, such as the film 28 Days Later, the virus in this is supposed to be based upon road rage. And surely, terrorism is nothing new, and if we have evil governments then wouldn't people want to express their distrust/disgust more?

The author of the article says that mainstream writers are using sci-fi more, citing Margaret Atwood - but she has already used sci-fi themes years ago in The Handmaid's Tale.

09-12-2004, 08:52 AM	#4
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I don't claim to be an expert on sci-fi, but that article was interesting. Firstly, I think it's a mistake to say that Tolkien clearly delineates between good and evil; there are a lot of grey areas in Middle Earth lore, Gollum being an excellent example. He's one of my favourite characters in literature as it's impossible to say if he is truly bad. Even Gandalf warns against thinking in terms of black and white too much. But, I was also interested to read that the quality of sci-fi is declining - I think it's changing in nature. There is some pretty good dystopian work, such as the film 28 Days Later, the virus in this is supposed to be based upon road rage. And surely, terrorism is nothing new, and if we have evil governments then wouldn't people want to express their distrust/disgust more? The author of the article says that mainstream writers are using sci-fi more, citing Margaret Atwood - but she has already used sci-fi themes years ago in The Handmaid's Tale.