In chess, a knight moves two squares in a straight line, then one square sideways. Futuristic sf moves forwards away from the present but also sideways into fictional futures. Thus, we can temporarily forget about, e.g., the current President of the United States or Prime Minister of Great Britain and instead discuss, e.g., the Terran Emperor or the Dennitzan Gospodar - who must administer not only diverse and perverse humanity but also multiple rational species. The Emperor and the Gospodar give us a holiday from the President and the PM - who will still require our attention - but also enable us to reflect on more universal aspects of politics and statecraft.
Glory to the Emperor.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I like that idea, futuristic science fiction giving us both a holiday from current worries and concerns AND enabling "...us to reflect on more universal aspects of politics and statecraft."
Not all SF is like that, true. And that is not necessarily bad. I some SF can be legitimately written purely and simply for fun.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I forgot add that in ENSIGN FLANDRY and A CIRCUS OF HELLS we see the game of chess becoming popular among some non-humans, such as the Merseians. That, along with adopting tea drinking, and the Terran laws and customs of war and diplomacy (the Covenant of Alfzar) shows how even Merseia couldn't avoid being affected by Terran culture.
Sean
A thought I should have included in either of my two previous comments is that the Interbeing League/Hoka stories of Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson would be good examples of science fiction written solely to be fun. But, "furrowed brow" ideas can be found even in these humorous stories, esp. in STAR PRINCE CHARLIE.
Sean
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