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The New York Times reports that Renowned fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin has died at age 88. From the article:
Ursula K. Le Guin, the immensely popular author who brought literary depth and a tough-minded feminist sensibility to science fiction and fantasy with books like "The Left Hand of Darkness" and the Earthsea series, died on Monday at her home in Portland, Ore. She was 88.
Her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin, confirmed the death. He did not specify a cause but said she had been in poor health for several months.
I'm not a fantasy fan (except for Prachett and Tolkien), but she will be missed none the less. I'm sure quite a few Soylents are fans of hers. Any author's loss is a loss to us all.
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Hey, wait a minute!! I want a divorce!! ... you're not Clint Eastwood!!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @12:13PM (4 children)
science fiction: no accepted scientific "truths" are contradicted by the in-story universe, but speculations are made about the unknown. In this sense, worm-holes are hyperspace stuff are still ok, but this may change.
fantasy: the in-story universe has its own set of laws. I like those fantasy universes that have a certain degree of self-consistency, but not all of them do.
For instance "Frankenstein" was sci-fi when written, but it is now fantasy.
Same with "To the Moon and Back" (although it's arguable whether or not scientists would have tolerated those ideas, especially since one of the characters in the story itself says that the bullet will melt and the humans won't survive).
(Score: 2) by Oakenshield on Thursday January 25 2018, @04:27PM (1 child)
I always thought Frankenstein was traditionally considered part of the horror genre.
(Score: 2) by darnkitten on Friday January 26 2018, @07:51PM
For what it's worth--according to Stephen King, horror is a sub-genre of fantasy.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:11PM (1 child)
If a dude can teleport "because science" it's sci-fi. If a dude can teleport "because magic" it's fantasy.
no accepted scientific "truths" are contradicted by the in-story universe,
You think faster-than-light travel doesn't violate accepted scientific principles?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday January 26 2018, @06:57PM
Wormholes and warped space are both theoretically possible. When Star Trek came out, self-opening doors, flip phones, flat screen displays, voice-activated computers with realistic images were all fantasy and are now all commonplace. A real hospital today looks more like science fiction than McCoy's sick bay.
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