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From: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (jagardner)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Robots of Dawn -> -> tieins
Message-ID: <9863@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Nov-84 11:58:58 EST
Article-I.D.: watmath.9863
Posted: Thu Nov 15 11:58:58 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 16-Nov-84 04:46:58 EST
References: <558@rayssd.UUCP> <2471@ihuxf.UUCP> <353@mhuxt.UUCP>, <2130@usceast.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 36

One of the great strengths and weaknesses of SF is how much it is a
literature of ideas.  Of course there are many authors who also handle
character, plot, and language well, but there are a large number of SF
writers who simply come up with interesting ideas and write cardboard
characters and plots as an excuse to present the ideas.

Given this, tie-ins make a good deal more sense in SF than in many other
genres.  When a book is written in some other genre, it follows a character
or a story and ends when the character has passed some significant turning
point or when the story comes to an end.  In SF, on the other hand, things
aren't so cleanly tied off.  Characters may die or pass their turning point,
and stories may end, but the ideas go on.  They also go on percolating in
the author's mind and also in the minds of fans who may suggest new ideas
to the author.  At any rate, the ideas spawn new ideas and eventually one
gets spin-off novels and stories.  It doesn't hurt that the SF-buying public
encourages this trend by clamouring for sequels and by gobbling up books
that are related to previous scenarios.

Furthermore, there is the pure intellectual challenge of tying a set of
ideas together.  This makes for a sort of meta-idea that appeals greatly
to the average SF writer.
Remember that SF writers often have strong science backgrounds and that
one of the foremost goals of scientists is to tie a large number of
observations together into a single simple system.  The same impulse
leads writers to strive to tie everything together into one glorious
consistency.  Most readers (me included) also enjoy this tying together,
even though it's annoying if you haven't read all the preceding books.
To paraphrase Hannibal on the A-Team, "I love it when a universe comes
together."
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			    Jim Gardner, UW Software Development Group

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