h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Being a huge sci fi and fantasy fan for many years I was pleased to see this on the latest approved entries but when I got here I was pretty disappointed. scifi is a huge genre on it's own and fantasy also, and while there were a couple of authors listed I felt the omition of Isaac Asimov while including Gene Roddenberry (contribution one idea ~grin~) was wrong.Tolkien is great, so is TP and as you say many others with their own group of followers so in the end it has to be the researchers decision who to put in and leave out.

That aside I still think the article was light no mention of Scifis ability to analyse the human condition from a different perspective, and to cover issues of society and where it may be heading (1984, and Metropolis).
one of Star Treks strengths, for example, is that it can cover issues such as race or terrorism without pushing peoples buttons, allowing them to see a different point of view.

Good Scifi/fantasy isn't just escapism, (although much is just that) characters are what drive it Trek is about the people not just the story, part of the reason why I personally prefer TNG to TOS, the whole cast of characters is better developed. the Dragonlance chronicles stand up on characters alone due (I think) to them being well developed in the authors minds before the story even began.
on top of that for good SF to become great it has to have the right setting, Tolkien is the prime example he built an entire world with peoples and history and languages, Asimovs stories generally fit together into a consistent future universe that gives a sense of depth, Trek is that way too now (the first series was a little light but it has had 35 years to eveolve)
anyway whether you agree or disagree with MY opinions I think there is far more to be said on the subject that the article covers, sorry to be so critical

True, but you have to start somewhere. As such it is not bad, it just needs a set of links to specifics in the guide or something. How else is Mr. Benn to get an international following

aah Mr Benn a fantasy Icon if I ever saw one

You´re right - that´s exactly what went through my mind when I had finished reading the text. Since I haven´t submitted a text of my own yet, I can´t be too choosy, though. I wanted to write about "belief", but, while I was still busy writing a colorful essay, another one took his chance and just submitted his article. Now my search for a topic starts all over again. Maybe it´s better to write a crude outline and add more details later on...

I agree that this entry felt slanted towards fantasy.

I have written a possible addition to the entry that compares the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and lists a number of authors who were not mentioned in the entry. Please read the thread for this entry entitled 'Boundaries.'

I am also collaborating on an entry about Isaac Asimov. Perhaps it will sooth the soul to read that as well:
http://www.h2g2.com/A391763

I would definitley agree its important to put some more emphasis on science fictions ability to analyse or satirise political and social norms by comparison with imaginary extreme social setups without getting the authors books burned! In addition to the aforementioned 1984, books like Robert Heinelins "Stranger in a Strange Land" or Iain Banks "The Player of Games" are more examples. Also, mention should be made of the predictive nature of "hard" SF, such as Arthur C. Clarkes geo-synchronous orbit (or "Clarke orbit"!), current day ones like Kim Stanley Robinsons exploration of the possible colonisation of Mars in "Red Mars", or even Jules Vernes trip to the moon.

HI everyone,
as the original reasercher for this article i feel that perhaps I should appologise to everyone who has read the article and felt that I have done an injustice. Now that I have read the finished article I see your point that I do go on a bit more about fantasy than sci-fi and that perhaps I should have waited and improved the original text some what before submitting it to the Editors. I do agree with all the postings that have been made towards this entry and agree that sci-fi much more than fantasy can look at the social failings of the human race. Many of the ideas that have been included in the posting are subject matters that I never thought to approach when writing the article and see now that they are valid points that I should have made.

HI everyone,
as the original reasercher for this article i feel that perhaps I should appologise to everyone who has read the article and felt that I have done an injustice. Now that I have read the finished article I see your point that I do go on a bit more about fantasy than sci-fi and that perhaps I should have waited and improved the original text some what before submitting it to the Editors. I do agree with all the postings that have been made towards this entry and agree that sci-fi much more than fantasy can look at the social failings of the human race. Many of the ideas that have been included in the posting are subject matters that I never thought to approach when writing the article and see now that they are valid points that I should have made.

I think you are in for a job of work to get this right, The subject is so huge it may be impossible to do it justice in this format. From metropolis to Star Wars TPM just looking at movies would take several pages. if it was possible a whole section should be devoted to it then people could put in articles about their own favourite author or series, for example the chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1st and 2nd) by Stephen Donaldson. there is easily room for an article on just that one series. and there are countless others. perhaps that is the way to go, have this be a central site with links to various aspects of the genres, just a thought
Having thought about it I suspect that I would have been disappointed with anything short of perfection ~grin~ good luck in any case, I will be anticipating the updated article

Thanks, Kubulai. I would have started on this already, but I am moving this weekend and time is at a premium for me right now. I agree with you about linking to related entries. I will search the Guide to see what I can find that has already been approved. As more entries are added, I will be able to flag the entry for updating every so often.

sounds like a plan

Actually, this is very close to the topic of the multimedium book that I'm working on; using computer-based interactivity is really the only way to cover this material in an intelligent/encompassing fashion.

I am a little disappointed that, as usual, sf is lumped in with fantasy; I see this most of the time in video shops and bookshops, where most people don't care about the distinction and aren't interested (especially in video shops) in understanding the quite obvious differences...well, obvious to me, anyway.....

This is sure to draw some fire: while Roddenberry may've been a maverick producer for the creation of Star Trek when he got it on the air, he's far from a breathtaking writer; according to Harlan Ellison, who is a breathtaking writer, Roddenberry is mostly riding on the coattails of others (I can no more prove this than you can)....although the television he's worked on has been a kind of intellectual wasteland (imagine....no, I've already provoked a row - I'm not going any further; television and thinking minds rarely go together well).

Fruitbat