Talking SF until everyone’s eyes glaze over

[NoJo]

I would love to see some of you that love the old "hard" science fiction knock out a few "real" science fiction stories. Not these "alien with 12 orifices" spankfests that seem to dominate the SF category.

I tried to sneak in a bit of hard SF in my story Procreation - Part 1 is 25,000 words, and there's waaay too much technical info and too little sex for Lit readers. But I enjoyed writing it

 

[NoJo]

I'll admit to slacking on LIT SciFi reads. Are hyper-genitalized aliens mandatory?

No, but they tend to get to get all the girls at parties, so they kind of hog the limelight

 

[ElectricBlue]

I would love to see some of you that love the old "hard" science fiction knock out a few "real" science fiction stories. Not these "alien with 12 orifices" spankfests that seem to dominate the SF category.

This one of mine is about an astronaut and an alien on Titan, with call-outs to Vonnegut, Ballard, Kubrick and Clarke, and the Apollo 11 landing transcript thrown in:

https://www.literotica.com/s/songs-of-seduction-fire-and-ice

A follow-up is in the works, but parked whilst I get through some distractions.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I don’t know where to start. Just about every post deserves a lengthy response and my poor phone - Im just no good at copying and pasting on an iPhone.

Heinlen bludgeony - oh yeah, he sure is. Even in his children’s books. Red Planet has the big theme on guns to start with. Very topical, speaking of commentary, and as for “Starship Troopers”, enough said. Now I too read “Time Enough ForLove” when I was about 11 or 12 and I was fascinated by all the stuff he threw out there.

All the books listed? I keep being reminded of them, they’re mostly in my collection. The Weapon Shops of Isher. Haven’t read that since forever. How about David Drake and the RCN series - anybody else enjoy those?

Hard SF? You don’t get it like it used to be, but maybe that’s just my tastes. I loved stuff like spoil Anderson’s “World Without Stars” and the old short stories from Analog. There was one author there who wrote all these amazing engineering stories about building stuff on alien planets and how they overcame all the challenges. Can’t remember his name off my head but they were really interesting. And all the Asimov robot ones. He was way ahead of his time with those. I’m going to have to dig my Analog collection out when I unpack - I picked up boxes of them from used book and garage sales.

A hard sci-fi competition sounds like fun, but this is lit. Gotta have the sex. We could probably come up with a good compilation just from stories already written here. Electric blue and Hypoxia have a few, and my “Welcome to Nockatunga Station” .....

Okay I’m officially really enjoying this thread and the boxes of books are going to start coming in from the garage today.

 

[ChloeTzang]

No, but they tend to get to get all the girls at parties, so they kind of hog the limelight

I’ve got this idea now. “Hogging the Limelight.” An Alien pig lookalike with a taste for human girls.....and he just makes a pig of himself

 

[SimonDoom]

I don’t know where to start. Just about every post deserves a lengthy response and my poor phone - Im just no good at copying and pasting on an iPhone.

Heinlen bludgeony - oh yeah, he sure is. Even in his children’s books. Red Planet has the big theme on guns to start with. Very topical, speaking of commentary, and as for “Starship Troopers”, enough said. Now I too read “Time Enough ForLove” when I was about 11 or 12 and I was fascinated by all the stuff he threw out there.

All the books listed? I keep being reminded of them, they’re mostly in my collection. The Weapon Shops of Isher. Haven’t read that since forever. How about David Drake and the RCN series - anybody else enjoy those?

Hard SF? You don’t get it like it used to be, but maybe that’s just my tastes. I loved stuff like spoil Anderson’s “World Without Stars” and the old short stories from Analog. There was one author there who wrote all these amazing engineering stories about building stuff on alien planets and how they overcame all the challenges. Can’t remember his name off my head but they were really interesting. And all the Asimov robot ones. He was way ahead of his time with those. I’m going to have to dig my Analog collection out when I unpack - I picked up boxes of them from used book and garage sales.

A hard sci-fi competition sounds like fun, but this is lit. Gotta have the sex. We could probably come up with a good compilation just from stories already written here. Electric blue and Hypoxia have a few, and my “Welcome to Nockatunga Station” .....

Okay I’m officially really enjoying this thread and the boxes of books are going to start coming in from the garage today.

I like the idea of a "Sci Fi Sex" competition. We've already had that to some degree with the two Geek Events, but I think recasting it in a specifically Sci Fi form would provide some further focus and provide interesting results.

My Sci Fi memories are intertwined with my erotic memories. I think the first movie I ever saw in which I was "turned on" was the sci fi film Logan's Run. Jenny Agutter spent most of the movie running around in a barely-there filmy minidress, and on one occasion actually took it off. I think I spent the entire movie focused on what the dress might reveal, and hoping it would reveal more. It's not a bad movie, but I don't think my on-the-cusp-of-pubescent self would have cared if it had been.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My Sci Fi memories are intertwined with my erotic memories. I think the first movie I ever saw in which I was "turned on" was the sci fi film Logan's Run. Jenny Agutter spent most of the movie running around in a barely-there filmy minidress, and on one occasion actually took it off. I think I spent the entire movie focused on what the dress might reveal, and hoping it would reveal more. It's not a bad movie, but I don't think my on-the-cusp-of-pubescent self would have cared if it had been.

Well. I watched Logan's Run a couple of months ago, and thought exactly the same thing. And of course, in Walkabout, she most famously does take her clothes off.

Suzie looked at EB. "Aww, that's cute, you guys bonding over a hot English actress. From a long time ago." She flounced away, looking as always, adorable.

"Hey Sis," Simon called after her, "is that a barely-there filmy minidress?"

"It might be..."

 

[NoJo]

Thank God nobody mentioned Jenny in "The Railway Children"

The popularity of this thread here reveals what we all knew: SF is a sexy genre.

A lot of my sexual fantasies have their origins in SF stories or characters.

Without even starting on movies (well, I have to mention the incredibly tedious film, but incredibly sexy Jane Fonda in "Barbarella", wank-fodder for much of my formative years):

"Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?" - Sheckley - Best mech-porn 1,500 word story I've read

"Prill" from Ringworld - I spent a week doing a Daz3D render of her

"The Momster" - Another great mech-porn short by John Sladek.

- And, dare I say it, the pretty explicit giantess fantasy in Gulliver's'Travels (including nipple riding and "other tricks, wherein the reader will excuse me for not being over particular")

Because a lot of these writers published in Astounding Tales, Analog, Playboy, etc, they were masters and mistresses of crafting very short stories, too.

 

[MetaBob]

Thank God nobody mentioned Jenny in "The Railway Children"

Yeah, Jenny. Sigh.

I'll add another: Mathilda May in Lifeforce.

In this clip, Steve Railsback and Jean-Luc Picard (possessed by the aforementioned, captivating Mathilda May) share a nice kiss.

Other clips are easily available even though at least some are likely to get taken down for various concerns; Mathilda got nekkid several times in that film, and oh, glory be.

I actually read the book first, impressionable young person that I was: The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson. Silly title. The movie was better, something I rarely say.

Was it SF? Certainly. Was it fantasy? Well, at some level it was certainly one of mine.

 

[vanmyers86]

Sci-fi is very sexy - or can be. I recall a line from Heinlein's Friday, when she notices that low-grav is better than any bra, which made me want to move to the moon at once. No bras! Heaven.
I always thought it would be an interesting challenge to write a low-gravity sex scene. Body parts float - fluids drift - how would that all play out?
Back to books, though. Asimov's idea of the isolated society in The Naked Sun was so intriguing. Touch is so vital to health - would a society really thrive without it? And the sexually functioning robot (Jander?) also captures the imagination. Sex tech seems to head more and more into that direction. I wonder if it will actually happen, or if leaders (government, regulatory, religious) will be so threatened by the idea that they find a way to shut it down.

 

[SimonDoom]

I always thought it would be an interesting challenge to write a low-gravity sex scene. Body parts float - fluids drift - how would that all play out?
.

Loquisordidaadme took up low gravity sex in a creative way in a story published here called Time To Breathe. Let's just say it involved spinning. I recommend it.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I totally would include Neal Stephenson; imho if he’s not sci-fi I don’t think I understand the genre. Not really a fan, but I’ve read Snow Crash and Seveneves, the first two parts of which are still one of the most compelling and frightening things I’ve ever read.

I’m into old/vintage sci-fi short stories. In addition to the ones everyone’s already added, I’m crazy about Jerome Bixby (doesn’t get any better than “It’s a Good Life”) and Aldis Budrys.

Seveneves really should have been two books. He rushed the crap out of the end. Overall a pretty good read. Snow Crash is a classic

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Okay here we go. For those of us that love and adore Science Fiction (not that wish washy Fantasy stuff lol ) here we go. Our very own thread. EE Doc Smith. Frederick Pohl. AE Van Vogt. Roger Zealazny. Robert Heinlein (I want his babies) REAL SF. Not that crap by Scalzi. THAT kind of SF. Topics now open.

Thank you for getting the party started! Life has been coming from all directions lately

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Egad! All the old memories are coming back. Of all the time I spent in my room reading the SF of the day...

Heilein, Lumar, Asimov, Reynolds, Dickson, etc.

The very first story I read was in an Analog mag. It was by Christopher Anvil and was called The Interstellar Patrol. I really enjoyed that and the subsequent novella he published.

Reynolds also had a few "political" novels out there. I don't remember the titles, maybe I'll look them up.

Best novel I ever read...

Heilein - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers.

The movie they mad of ST was horrible and absolutely nothing like the book at all. It was more a comedy of the book.

Now... when I first read this book - Dragonriders of Pern, I thought to myself, fantasy why was it in the sci-fi section? Of course the preamble tried to make it more sci-fi'y and yet I did enjoy it very much. I went on to read all of Anne's novels about the people of Pern.

And if anyone hasn't read my Sci-Fi, I have quiet a few, check them out. In my sig is a ling to my lit stuff.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

The reason I write very little SF is I read so much in my younger days. Now when I start to write a SF story, I keep thinking, didn't I read this somewhere years ago? From the early 60's to the late 90's, I read every SF story I could get my hands on. Now it is all mixed up in one big pile.

That very thing stunted me for years. I live in the same city as John Ringo and volunteer at his favorite con. He told me something that kick started me writing, which he says is hardly original to him. "There are really no new stories. There are just new ways of telling them. Good writers copy those who came before. Great writers STEAL without plagiarizing and telling the story in your own style."

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Related question: what's science fiction? What are its boundaries? Are there works that are sometimes described as science fiction that you don't think are properly called science fiction?

For example, I don't think Star Wars is science fiction. It's fantasy with space ships. There's lots of magic, but no science. In contrast, say, to Star Trek, the episodes of which present many interesting science fiction questions and issues, Stars Wars doesn't raise any interesting scientific issues I can think of.

FWIW, Star Wars fits, barely, within Space Opera.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was a canvas tote bag filled with paperbacks from several sci-fi authors: Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, McCaffrey and LeGuin. I was 12, and had never read any of those authors before. Heaven! Every one of them knew how to craft a good yarn and tell it well. Heinlein (sign me up for a baby too - such a shame he and Ginny could not have children) and McCaffrey in particular influenced (and challenged) my thinking and writing.

Who has a nomination for all-time top sci-fi novels?

"The Moonis a Harsh Mistress" by RAH

"The Mote in God's Eye" by Pornelle and Niven

 

[Javahead]

"The Moonis a Harsh Mistress" by RAH

"The Mote in God's Eye" by Pornelle and Niven

And you beat me to my own top contenders.

What's embarrassing is that I've read a *lot* of science fiction over the years, and there are many authors that I'll buy on sight - but very few who have a book that I'd consider putting on this list.

That includes many of the greats, overall.

I love Doc Smith, but though I could argue that his Lensman books belong on a "Top 10" list in aggregate, I don't think that any individual books would rank that high.

Ditto Laumer, Dickson (though his Dorsai books also belong in the top 10). Weber, and many others. Maybe Poul Anderson? The problem is picking *which* of his many books belongs there.

Overall, I'd be more comfortable with a "Top 50" or "Top 100" list, where we could add Modesitt, Randal Garrett, Norton, Brust, Schmitz, Nourse, ...

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

As mentioned, SF (science-, speculative-, space-, or spooky-fiction), as well as other genres, have covered vicious political-social-religious satire for quite awhile. Cf Dante's INFERNO. Every fantastic bit works as metaphor for human frailty and obscenity. Every alien-demon-mutant-angel-robot-supergal-wizard-slave-foreigner-cabal-empire-etc is an entity or group targeted for the creator's attention.

Current rulers treat human refugees as inhuman parasites, weevils, germs. I've not looked at alt.right SF; I know lefty literature may show owners-rulers as such. I admit some of my LIT pieces are political but I omit actual names. I'm not yet tempted to write obvious attack satire pr0n... don't know if I have the gutz. Our reality is almost beyond satire. But I digress.

Don't forget: prominent (or less so) SF writers worked for money. Or they were nutz, like Lovecraft. But to make their livings, they told tales people would buy. Literature always reflects the moods and economy of its time. By 'moods' I mean fetishes, fears, longings, greeds. Fear and greed rule.

have you read Niven and Pournelle's retelling of INFERNO

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Baen is definitely by far and away my favourite SF publisher.

Indeed

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

With the exception of Baen, most trad. pub SF is subpar at best. That said, indie publishing is picking up the slack quite nicely. Writers like Sarah Hoyt, Cedar Sanderson, Terry Mixon, Glynn Stewart, Mark Wandry, and Peter Grant are telling stories. Then in trand publisjing you have Brad Torgerson, Larry Coreia, Mike Massa and otehr Baen writers.

 

[Hypoxia]

have you read Niven and Pournelle's retelling of INFERNO

Long ago. It's in the queue on my tablet, soon as I re-finish that fat 54 Books -RA.Heinlein.pdf file which omits a few pieces, alas. My Niven-Pournelle folders overflow but they're almost lost among zillions. My shelves droop too. Yes, one of my job titles included 'librarian'.

BTW a current INFERNO retelling would get damn ugly. Better avoid that? But almost any pseudo-biblical or other mythological stuff can be SciFi'ed, sexified, psyched. Fantasy? Clarke's Law II: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." How to defeat High Magick? Sex, of course. With 11th-gen dildos.

 

[MetaBob]

BTW a current INFERNO retelling would get damn ugly. Better avoid that? But almost any pseudo-biblical or other mythological stuff can be SciFi'ed, sexified, psyched. Fantasy? Clarke's Law II: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." How to defeat High Magick? Sex, of course. With 11th-gen dildos.

In one of my pieces, I included Clarke's Third "Law" (not II) from 1973:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

But I also included Agatha Christie's earlier (1933) version, which I think infinitely better:

The supernatural is only the natural of which the laws are not yet understood.

BTW, Niven and Pournelle have a sequel to their Inferno: Escape From Hell.

Is 10 years ago recent enough to fit your "damn ugly" characterization?

 

[Hypoxia]

Sorry about miscounting Clarke's Laws.

But I also included Agatha Christie's earlier (1933) version, which I think infinitely better:

The supernatural is only the natural of which the laws are not yet understood.

Fun, but misleading. My take: Entities may exist, as far superior to humans as we are to ants. But that doesn't make such superiors 'gods'. Have you created any ants lately?

We know intense religious feelings signal certain brain ailments -- the 'natural' aspect of supernatural awe. I witnessed writhing horrors in my last hospital stay. My eyes relaxed a bit... and tendrils crawled from ventilators. *Things* scuttled along the walls. The ceiling tiles crawled. I focused more closely... and everything normalized. Then a nurse arrived with more painkillers. I awoke to visions. Yikes.

Anyway, we can create all the fantasies we like. Link them to some reality if we wish. Erotic tentacle monsters FTW!

Is 10 years ago recent enough to fit your "damn ugly" characterization?

I meant writing an updated INFERNO featuring current prominent people. Which contemporary scumbags and shitstains should be sent to which lower levels? Won't naming them be fun?

 

[MetaBob]

Sorry about miscounting Clarke's Laws.

Fun, but misleading. My take: Entities may exist, as far superior to humans as we are to ants. But that doesn't make such superiors 'gods'.

Ah, but I don't mean supernatural = "gods."

I meant Agatha Christie's version of Arthur Clarke's Third "Law", which he wrote 40 years later:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

Agatha Christie's version, substituting "magic" for "the supernatural" (because that's what we consider it to be, right?) and you get:

[Magic] is only the natural of which the laws are not yet understood.

Arthur, a technologist, effectively flipped perspectives on Agatha's statement, using "advanced technology" rather than "natural laws", but they're really saying the same thing.

The paragraph where I used both, in the context of a story where magic is unexpectedly real:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," I said. "I've read it many times and even repeated it myself, but I'm thinking Agatha Christie said it better 40 years earlier: 'The supernatural is only the natural of which the laws are not yet understood.'"