Hard SF

António Pedro Marques · 29 Nov 2012, 01:56 · from 2012-November.txt.gz

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From: entonio at gmail.com (=?utf-8?Q?Ant=C3=B3nio_Pedro_Marques?=)
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:56:11 +0000
Subject: (urth) Hard SF
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I think I've said this a number of times but, for me, 'hard sf' is that where the workings of science itself are a major driver of the plot. Little to do with being science-'realistic', except as an almost necessary implication. In that regard, Wolfe's work is not hard sf.

No dia 28/11/2012, ?s 22:55, David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net> escreveu:

> That is, the "medium" of physics-driven fiction is not the message, which is the case with true hard SF. Wolfe works hard to reconcile myth with physical plausibility to make a story "work." You can see the tension between them, but he never abandons one for the other.
> 
> On 11/28/2012 12:04 PM, DAVID STOCKHOFF wrote:
>> I agree with him too. But Urth is still not "hard SF."
>> 
>> From: Daniel Petersen <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com>
>> To: The Urth Mailing List <urth at lists.urth.net> 
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 11:03 AM
>> Subject: Re: (urth) Hard SF
>> 
>> I'd tend to agree with Lee here. -DOJP
>> 
>> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 3:51 PM, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> >David Stockhoff: We're not talking about hard SF here.
>> 
>> Just for the sake of discussion, I'll disagree. Perhaps Wolfe isn't diamond-hard
>> but I'd give him ruby- or sapphire- on the MOhs scale. I think he makes a
>> sincere attempt in most of his work, as the quote below illustrates.
>> 
>> Where fantasy writers are content to give us shape changers without explanation,
>> Wolfe provides us with a sponge cellular analogy for Tzadkiel and flexible bones
>> and muscles, make-up and hypnotic abilities for Inhumi.
>> 
>> If the Inhumi really fly through space I'd want more than the skimpy evidence we
>> are provided (and less evidence for their lying nature).
>> 
>> >Nick Gevers: Speaking as an engineer, how might the godling be constructed so as to
>> >walk as a giant on land, where the undines [submarine giantesses] cannot?
>> 
>> >Gene Wolfe: There are a number of ways you could go. First, get rid of the notion that
>> >the godling is going to be proportioned like a human being. Changes in size always mean
>> >changes in build. (Dr. Crane touches on that.) A man fifty feet tall, proportioned like
>> >you or me, would sink into the ground a lot -- had you thought of that? Take a look at
>> >the really big dinosaurs. Bone density could be increased, and the legs and pelvis made
>> >more massive, and so on
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>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
>> 
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