I think they can all be present in a story, but when I feel the ideas and tech are exalted, I feel it's hard SF. The rest is just SF.
Spike: Lots of fuss over one girl. Other things to do around here--important things. Angel: You know that whoosh thing you do when you're suddenly not there anymore? I love that.
'Unleashed'
The Minearverse 3: The Network Is a Harsh Mistress
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
§ ita § - Jun 24, 2004 1:04:13 pm PDT #732 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Daisy Jane - Jun 24, 2004 1:05:59 pm PDT #733 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
What's Michael Chriton?
JohnSweden - Jun 24, 2004 1:07:13 pm PDT #734 of 10001
I can't even.
Agreed. My take on Martian Chronicles is that it isn't Hard SF. Too squishy, and I mean that as someone who doesn't have much taste for the science over character stuff, and who enjoyed the Martian Chronicles.
§ ita § - Jun 24, 2004 1:07:24 pm PDT #735 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
What's Michael Chriton?
Crap.
t /kneejerk
I haven't read him, so I don't actually know.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 24, 2004 1:08:12 pm PDT #736 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
That's probably fair, or at least the actual science is somewhat based on actual principles and has an important part in the story. As opposed to Bradbury-style SF, which goes about as far as using "rockets" and everything else is character/atmosphere.
JohnSweden - Jun 24, 2004 1:09:17 pm PDT #737 of 10001
I can't even.
I don't really think of Crichton as an SF writer, more of a pot-boiler writer who occasionally uses SF themes. I gather his science is also occasionally more than a little dubious, which the Hard SF folks would seriously frown on.
SailAweigh - Jun 24, 2004 1:11:40 pm PDT #738 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
For hard SF, two names that come to my mind without even having to think are Larry Niven and Poul Anderson. They liked to play around with hard-core scientific theory and build entire universes around them. I absolutely adored Anderson in high school.
Daisy Jane - Jun 24, 2004 1:14:57 pm PDT #739 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Huh. I guess I've never done "hard" SF then.
DXMachina - Jun 24, 2004 1:32:43 pm PDT #740 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
For hard SF, two names that come to my mind without even having to think are Larry Niven and Poul Anderson.
Yeah, Niven is my favorite, at least until his last coupla books. Haven't read Ringworld's Children yet. I would love to see The Mote in God's Eye on the screen. Anderson is fun, too. Hal Clement is another "hard" science fiction author.
Cranberry - Jun 24, 2004 2:10:46 pm PDT #741 of 10001
I was fine when existence had no meaning. Meaninglessness in a universe that has no meaning -- that I get. But meaninglessness in a universe with
meaning? What does that mean?
Michael Crichton drives me nuts. I've only read Jurassic Park and its sequel, and I could barely get through those because, while the books have neat plots, the man's writing style is awful. Almost every time a character speaks, Crichton puts the word "said" after the dialogue. Never "remarked," or "replied," or "shouted," or anything else -- just "said." An excerpt from JP:
"The Land Cruisers have started again," Arnold said. "They're on their way home."
"But why did they stop?" Hammond said. "And why can't we talk to them?"
"I don't know," Arnold said. "Maybe they turned off the radios in the cars."
"Probably the storm," Muldoon said. "Interference from the storm."
"They'll be here in twenty minutes," Hammond said. "You better call down and make sure the dining room is ready for them. Those kids are going to be hungry."
Arnold picked up the phone and heard a steady monotonous hiss. "What's this? What's going on?"
"Jesus, hang that up," Nedry said. "You'll screw up the data stream."
The entire book is like that -- it feels really stilted and unnatural.