John C. Wright's Journal

It is popular these days to repeat the cynical slogan that a system is whatever it does, regardless of the stated benefits sought. The slogan is false because it ignores whether the system is succeeding or failing at what it aims at. It conflates costs and drawbacks of the system, unintended consequences, with benefits sought. Nonetheless, I think the slogan applies to story telling. The true moral of the story is not what the author thinks is the moral. The true moral is whatever that whatever behavior is shown as leading to happiness and success is a good; whatever leads to tragedy and failure is bad.

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Below is a reprint of several columns first printed in this space in 2007, with minor changes.

As much as it pains me to say it, my reluctant conclusion is that there is no great Science Fiction literature.

Now, before you get out your crying bags, fanboys, keep in mind that the standard for being a Great Book is extremely, absurdly high. It is the best of the best of the best. There is no Western that makes the cut for being a Great Book; no mystery novel; no horror novel (unless we stretch a point to include HAMLET, because it has a ghost scene). One might even argue that no romance novel that makes the cut, not even GONE WITH THE WIND, and that is a damn fine novel. Genre writing does not reach the stratospheric heights of Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe.

Still, it does not sit well. Let us look further, to see if this unpleasant conclusion can be defended, or if there is some exception or escape from it. For this let us break the question into parts.

• First, what makes a Great Book great?
• Second, what makes a Great Idea?
• Third, what makes Great Literature Great?
• Finally, what makes Good Science Fiction Good?

This final question is of most interest to me (as one might expect, being a science fiction writer) so it also needs to be broken down further:

• What is Science Fiction?
• How does Science Fiction differ from Great Literature?
• Does Science Fiction have a universal, timeless, eternal appeal?
• Is the Best SF good enough to be Great?

Let us examine each of these questions in order.

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In a prior column, I speak of Dungeons and Dragons demystifying magic, but I did not say why a game has to do this. A dice value, a number value, has to be placed on calling fire down from heaven for the same reason a number value has to be placed on incoming bazooka fire or the flame from a dragon’s breath — to know how many knights and goblins and armored tanks and oliphants are damaged or destroyed in round six of combat. This is a perfectly legitimate reason to demystify magic.

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