[Professional] science-fiction writers have rarely been encouraged to be good stylists…. This is partly because SF publishing and marketing methods make little distinction between the kind of star-schlock in which intergalactic cops battle hypothyroid blobs, and a well-wrought literary work in which far-reaching concepts and social problems are dramatized with intelligence, wit and verbal skill….
More important, critics and reviewers who confer literary status rarely know much about science or technology…. Even journeymen practitioners of SF are likely to know more about literature than most novelists and critics know about science. And in the 20th century, ignorance of the fundamentals—and social implications—of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics constitutes an embarrassing form of illiteracy.
This is a free excerpt of 112 words. There are 382 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Herbert, Frank 1920–: Critical Essay by R. Z. Sheppard Access Pass.
