Posted by Frank Denton on April 21, 1998 at 19:44:23:
In Reply to: Re: People who dislike SF posted by D. G. Wilson on April 18, 1998 at 23:30:09:
: Tastes vary and you can't easily teach an old dog new tricks.
: I'm like you, a long-time SF reader. My tastes run more to Vance or L. Sprague deCamp.
: LeGuin may be a little too far from the mainstream for some.
: Some might take a first step with something closer to present time, such as William Gibson, or Bruce Sterling (e. g., "Islands in the Net"). Or even something with a more conventional structure and current setting, maybe Michael Crichton followed by "Lucifer's Hammer" or "Footfall" or ...
: Some (not I) may have a political problem with (say) Poul Anderson or Robert Heinlein (or Rudyard Kipling).
: Some like to read about sex, which is usually downplayed in SF. But there's P. J. Farmer, and also William Barton.
The Professor poses an interesting question. I came to science fiction rather late; I was 38. And it was a whole new world. One has to take a chance, do a bit of exploring.
One of my observations has been that people who read sf and fantasy are far better conversationalists than the average person. They seem to be keenly interested in a number of topics and can talk about nearly anything. Gather a group of sf fans in a room and "all knowledge is contained therein."