Independent Reading Journal 12-1-08

Science Fiction Today and Tomorrow edited by Reginald Bretnor. Harper and Row. 1974.

So far I've been blogging about pieces included in the book written by the editor Reginald Bretnor. While much of the book is written by him, not all of it is. I thought I'd talk about a piece written by Poul Anderson. Anderson was an author who wrote People of the Wind and There Will Be Time as well as other books. He received several awards dealing with science fiction writing from various organizations. This piece included in Bretnor's symposium is entitled "The Creation of Imaginary Worlds: The World Builder's Handbook and Pocket Companion." To be quite frank this piece (much like most of the book in my opinion) is interesting but quite dry and boring. Anderson begins by criticizing science fiction writers for creating imaginary worlds that make no sense. He states that John Campbell created a planet which is "simply a chemical impossibility," saying that the two gases found in the atmosphere would "unite promptly and explosively." If this sounds boring that's because it is. Later on he is at least kind enough to exclude the creator's name when he criticizes a world devoid of plant life but full of thriving animal populations. I will not do too deep into detail, but Anderson spends a few pages giving tips and guidelines for creating science fiction worlds. He claims all that is needed is "a basic knowledge of current scientific fact and theory which any person must have before he can-in this day and age-call himself educated." He gives information on how bright the planet should be based on the distance from the nearest sun-like star, how important the content of the atmosphere is when deciding what type of life forms to have, as well as what the geography should look like. Anderson declares "the designing of a planet is fascinating-sheer fun." If you say so Anderson.