I dream of genre
01/01/2004 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

In an odd way, I’m hoping to prove a point with this month’s survey question, namely do SF fans, that’s you reading this by the way, also have an interest in espionage, either real or fictional? We wanted to cover other genres but the survey is only a two option choice.

Hello everyone

In an odd way, I’m hoping to prove a point with this month’s survey question, namely do SF fans, that’s you reading this by the way, also have an interest in espionage, either real or fictional? We wanted to cover other genres but the survey is only a two option choice.

Granted there is room for comparison of a covert world living along side everyday reality but is that just it? Do you really see it as something akin to an SF or fantasy world hidden around the corner of everyday reality? Look at it this way. Having a social structure living just beyond conventional reality can be true of any SF, fantasy or horror story. Indeed, it’s been used in all three. The only difference between a spy thriller and, say, ‘Watership Down’ is the latter has rabbits for saboteurs.

Should espionage-based stories be considered as a sub-genre of SF in the same way as alternative reality stories are? I mean much, if not all of the time, the events depicted other than particular methods and reflections on current world situations, don’t have anything in common with our reality.

Using myself as the template here, although I’ve found the odd comparison with some of the other people I’m in contact with, the thriller genre seems to be the favoured choice when a break from SF is called for. With my generation, if it wasn’t Ian Fleming’s ‘James Bond’ then it was probably Peter O’Donnell’s ‘Modesty Blaise’ that we picked up on for series books outside the genre. Ten years up the line, this changed to Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy’s satire thriller ‘The Destroyer’ series, even if the books ceased to have a UK release after # 42.

If a bit more serious espionage was wanted, there was always the likes of Alastair Maclean to John Le Carre to whoever took your fancy. If not them, then the TV fare like the US ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘I Spy’ and the recent ‘Alias’ to UK offerings such as ‘Callan’, ‘The Sandbaggers’ and, in direct lineage, ‘Spooks’ let alone what the cinema has to offer. If anything, it was the sharp contrast to SF fare but still had the attention of an alternative world going on with some level of contemporary balance. When SF readers want a change, the espionage thriller tends to catch the eye more than any other genre.

If I’m wrong, then say so in this month’s survey or have a more liberal discussion why not in the website letter column.

As I’ve commented somewhat in the past, SF tends to engulf aspects of other genres. Having covert activities happening in an SF reality tends to be taken for granted. In the espionage genre, being covert and secretive is something out of the norm to the people in the streets. Within the spy/secret agent’s field though, we see it as all actions of normality. They also do things that wouldn’t be out of place for a super-human come to that. The elements of appeal were always waiting in the wings although not necessarily strong enough to pull totally away from SF as after a breather, we return to it with a stronger vigour.

Of course, the appeal of the espionage genre could well be because it pulls on the same strings that guides us to SF and vice versa. Saying that, I doubt if the contrary is true and that we have a leakage of fans coming across from that side. No doubt the problem there is more to them only thinking that SF is just space opera although there are undoubtedly die-hards in any genre. If you know any spy fans, see if you can convince them that SF shares similarities to their genre.

OK. Even if I’m right, where is all this leading and what has this got to do with whether you read espionage stories as an alternative to SF? I commented in last month’s reviews that ‘Alternative Histories’ might as well be a separate genre considering how little SF detail is involved providing there is no traveller from our reality. By ‘SF detail’, I mean the elements would differentiate said stories from, say, an historical romance where the reality is only a backdrop to the events in the story. Maybe we should be placing ‘historical romances’ in ‘alternative realities’ and revise a whole genre on the book shelves? Then again, ‘historical romance’ is probably a quasi-genre that really should be a sub-division of ‘romance’ anyway as they share the same plot elements but set in a different time.

In recent months, I’ve been observing how some publishers and even some writers want to re-allocate what we would consider SF books into general fiction no doubt believing Science Fiction is a poisoned chalice to their work or think they’d get a bigger audience without being given such a label. Even if this is a misguided attempt to sneak something through and remind readers that they can find something similar under the SF genre is debatable cos all that is really created is confusion rather than order. The SF reader thinks such stories are from pretentious writers and generally avoids them and we don’t get to see them for review either so potential sales are missed. The general reader either thinks the story might be based on some true event or usually that it is SF and find something else to read. A definite no-win situation.

It’s worth pointing out at this time that maybe the genric term ‘Science Fiction’ covers too many subjects from speculative fiction to space opera in any time or planet that it ultimately covers everything and nothing to people with no real interest in the genre.

The whole point of having titled genres is to help the bookseller and reader in picking out the kind of books they like to enjoy rather than having to wade through them on the shelves. Some divisions have gotten rather grey in recent years which is why SF is being squeezed in the same shelves as fantasy and horror even if all three genres actually sell well based off actual sales figures. To the High Street bookshop, horror usually means ‘Stephen King’ and fantasy ‘JRR Tolkien’ or ‘Terry Pratchett’. It’s a lot harder to label SF under one massive selling author although ‘Frank Herbert’, ‘Anne McCaffrey’ or ‘Iain Banks’ seem to dominate the shelves where I live.

If anything, these days the booksellers are targeting by author rather than genre. Why else have so many of each author’s different books on the shelves and not a greater diversification of authors? If there are going to be any new author finds then chances are that they’ll come from the more specialised media bookshops where no doubt a blast from the ghetto will indicate mass market appeal. Which is kinda contradictory considering that some publishers want to place SF amongst general fiction. I mean, are you likely to buy other books outside of SF. Well, OK, the espionage novel - easily recognised by a particular type of title - but we don’t see them being lumped in with general fiction and their readers aren’t as vocal about their taste.

Now this can also be considered a reflection on sales, the lack of knowledge of the retailers or a mixture of both. Considering the amount of film and even TV show promotion these days where the products are on the shelves for a few weeks, the High Street retailer is thinking anything is now a commodity with a limited shelf life. If a book isn’t shifting, then it’s considered dead-weight and returned to the warehouse where it might get resurrected in a remainder shop somewhere down the line. Books aren’t see as a commodity by the public to own at once. If anything, the serious book reader isn’t really that big a member of the general public these days. A lot of the time, if a book is interesting, it’s often word of mouth that might push the sale of a book providing it's on the shelves. A bit tough if it goes back to the warehouse too early as the off-the-shelf reader generally doesn’t think they can place an order let alone wait for a week for it to arrive. In this ‘now generation’ we are watching a further step in the downward spiral to encourage people to read.

None of this can be good news to the publisher and its authors and ultimately, the High Street shops are likely to suffer as well...except they’re more likely to turn to different areas where they can make more profit. Doing that, books are likely to become rarities. If the latter scenario should develop then the only place you’re likely to be able to get books is through the Internet and rely a lot more on reviewers as to whether you should be parting with your money sight unseen.

You’ve had my definition of SF in the past expressed as fiction with a slightly different rule structure to the norm that the author has to adhere to. Horror just raises the stakes as to what can frighten you in any format. Fantasy tends to the fantastic but has less of a rule structure. Espionage, crime, thrillers and romance are pretty well defined. How far can this go with other genres and which differentiates them? I mean, how do you tell an historical romance from an alternative history novel? Sooner or later someone other than me out there is going to say most fiction is fantastic and so all the sub-genres belong to Science Fiction. You can see the critics and snob readers raising their arms and eyebrows in horror at that proposition.

Maybe that’s what scares them the most. We’re going through a periodic change in how we define things. We’ve been doing this with words for a long time. Maybe we’re now about to do it with subjects as well. Book genres included. Maybe the reaction of ‘the Establishment’ is more akin to luddites who don’t want anything to change. The fact that Science Fiction has stood the test of time and sometimes make the best seller lists must irritate them to hell. Raise your hands if you think ‘Good!’ Quality writing and good ideas can come from any genre. Remind yourself of that when you buy your next book. If you want SF to stand out more on the High Street bookshelves then there needs to be greater urging to have more on display. If they don’t then there’s always the Net and our friends on the river.

Be happy. Be safe. Enjoy the rest of the website and enjoy the new year.

Thank you and good night

Geoff Willmetts

editor: SFCrowsnest.com

PS For those keeping up with my health, all I’ve currently got currently is the odd sniffle cold. The only effect of one of those non-inoculation viruses that’s been floating around is a bizarre muzzy nose and palate for a couple days. Can’t say the same for my Mum who got the full chest infection and been ill for this past month and more than half my attention which has obviously affected the slush pile.

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 1: There’s been a lot of talk about bringing Lex Luthor to ‘Smallville’ in the TV series as being something new. Now that in itself is odd. It might not be the same in post-Crisis On Infinity Earths, but back in the 50s/60s, Lex was a neighbour of the Kents blaming Clark Kent for his loss of hair when the Kryptonian one rescued him from a fire the bold one had in his lab and blowing his flaming hair out...right out of its roots.

I hope they mine the original ‘Superboy’ comic some more. I’d love to see Mon-el come to Earth and take a fancy to Lana Lang.

(Maybe Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 2: By the by, if you all want something to mull over, don’t you think we’re seeing far too many young adults taking on the problems of the world these days in TV SF series?? When you compare it to our days of yore, when all the heroes were at least in their 30s, it does make you wonder where all their demographics is leading to.

In our day, who wanted to be the sidekick when you wanted to play Batman? Made the sidekick redundant and has now brought the age down. The big question really is would you trust the fate of the world to inexperienced youngsters or marginally more sensible less reactionary adults? Are we caught in an advertising demographic that thinks young adults never dream of being older adults? Worse, especially in America, are they going to see the rise of young adults who will believe themselves to be under-achievers and do something to change that. In the gun nation, that would truly be frightening.

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 3: I hope that someone is watching the new Governor of California to ensure there is no funding into any kind of sophisticated computer system to aid efficiency. We all know what happened the last time...

Conspiracy Practice: Has anyone else noticed how after Joe Straczynski, Chris Carter and Joss Whedon all creating and having successful runs with ‘Babylon 5’, ‘The X-Files’, ‘Buffy’/’Angel’ that any other series they were trying to get off the ground or on screen got killed off largely cos of executive interference. Ever got the feeling someone up there is prepared to risk loosing their companies money in order to reel these production runners in to remind them whose boss? Hardly an attitude of companies who really want to make money, is it??

PS If you’ve survived this far in the editorial, let me reiterate something from the website newsletter and the above editorial. As you can see from the main page, we have one of the biggest SF/fantasy/horror monthly reviews columns on the Net. Our success has increased the number of books that comes in and our policy is to read everything before giving a review. We roadtest books so you have some idea of what you’re letting yourself in for when all you’ve got to go by is the cover and promotional blurb.

If you like reading books in the genre, think and can show you can write a decent review and, most importantly, live in the British Isles (sorry, expense, time and distance travelled prohibits elsewhere), contact me below for my ‘Reviews Flyer’ - put this in the subject ebox and we’ll see if you’ve got what it takes. We can’t pay you but a review for the price of a book has to be a good incentive. We have one of the most popular SF review columns on the Net. Think you’re up to writing a review??

PPS: For those keeping track, I’m still about 20 months (early November 2001 still - see comments with my state of health above) behind with going through the ebook samples. Thank you for your patience but let me know if you’ve sold elsewhere so I can reduce my pile or if you’ve changed address, especially e-mail address.

This isn’t much of a repeat, just to show you’re not forgotten. Those sending in samples, be prepared for a long wait and read the Guidelines elsewhere on this website. They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I’m repeating myself over silly grammatical errors. It makes editing a lot easier if any editor has less work correcting poor English which should have been sorted out in the first place. There’s an old editorial adage, if you can’t aim for perfection why should an editor nurse-maid you to that state? If you’re a writer, then you should understand the words and grammar of the job you’re supposed to be writing or are you considering it as mundane and boring as any other job to get right? Fall in love with making every sentence the best you’re ever letting anyone else read it