Navin ([info]mrsgollum) wrote,
@ 2008-03-19 11:30:00
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Current mood: contemplative
Current music:Dust 'n' Bones - Guns 'N' Roses
Entry tags:clarke, death, sci-fi.

Dave Bowman has left the building. It's a sad day in terms of loss to the sci-fi community. Lately, the man was restricted in his writings and chose to make his presence felt by sombre pleas for intelligent life, peace and environmental preservation.

I do not consider myself an ardent fan of any of Clarke's works but 2001. But for creating a timeless world of HAL, monoliths and Bowman's journeys, Clarke shall be remembered. And missed. Rest in peace.

A friend mentioned that Clarke's death culminates as the loss of the big 3 of the sci-fi writing world - Asimov and Heinlein being the other two. Another friend gave it an even more pessimistic twist saying that a lot of DNA has not got passed on. Do their kids write or show any comparable talent?

Atleast Pratchett's alive, I commented. Apparently, he's got early onset Alzheimer's or some such. No Vonnegut as well. So who's taking over the mantle - Stephen Baxter? Orson Scott Card? Ursula Le Guin?




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[info]halfbrain
2008-03-19 08:49 am UTC (link)
We probably won't have anyone making as big an impact as the Big 3 in SF. Plenty of good writers around though, so I wouldn't worry. China Mieville, Ian McDonald, and Charlie Stross come to mind. Alastair Reynolds is good too - very much in the ACC tradition.

Problem with SF (if you are pessimistic) is that reality has caught up with what once was fantasy :(

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[info]davenchit
2008-03-19 08:53 am UTC (link)
Ha! I missed Stross and McDOnald.

>Problem with SF (if you are pessimistic) is that reality has caught up with what once was fantasy

Heh. Yeah. Just compare Baxter's view of humanity's ultimate fate with Clarke's view.

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[info]davenchit
2008-03-19 08:51 am UTC (link)
Dave Bowman!

Dude, there are so many good science fiction writers out there. SF didn't end with the so-called Golden Age. Wolfe, Moorcock, Aldiss, Ballard, Roberts, Miller, LeGuin, Butler, Matheson, Simmons, Baxter, Reynolds, Mieville, Bear, Benford, Brin, and, who can forget, Banksie!

And these are just the ones that come immediately to mind.
But yes, he will be missed.

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[info]madhav
2008-03-19 11:24 am UTC (link)
>> Dave Bowman!

Thanks! I was wondering what I missed.

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[info]mrsgollum
2008-03-19 11:40 am UTC (link)
Such are the perils of infrequent quizzing.

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[info]davenchit
2008-03-19 12:47 pm UTC (link)
That'll change. I'll post some of my questions from the BQC quiz soon.

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[info]mrsgollum
2008-03-19 11:39 am UTC (link)
aiyyo! thanks - unpardonable.

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[info]davenchit
2008-03-19 12:48 pm UTC (link)
Dude- you've just moved ten places down on the Food Cthain.

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[info]mrsgollum
2008-03-19 03:37 pm UTC (link)
I can relate to this sadist urge to rub it in. However, I shall indulge in sessions of self-flagellation in Opus Deii style to atone appropriately for this sin.

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