Mark Hall wrote:
> | No, I was just wondering if the 21st century will have someone as
> | influential in the pulp adventure genre as Howard was for the 20th
> | century. Or will Howard, Lovecraft, and a few others continue to define
> | the genre for the next few generations? It's not like people don't keep
> | trying to add to the genre or expand it. But we still have a very old
> | measuring stick, so to speak.
> |
> | Is that because this readership is aging and the younger pulp fans are
> | involved elsewhere?
>
> While we may have an old measuring stick, maybe its an issue like brand
> recognition?
> Why is it we see so many CONAN pastiches or other REH pastiches?
>
> | Short story fiction is certainly different from novel fiction. But short
> | story fiction is alive and well. The expectations of the publishing
> field,
> | however, seem to have changed.
>
> The publishing field, from what I read in the newspapers, for the most part
> wants things that
> will sell well over 30,000 copies in hardback.
>
> Also, lets face it, reading is currently down in the USA, given television,
> video and now DVD.
>
> Just some thoughts from snowy Niigata,
> MEH
Possibly we just don't spend a lot of effort on the accidental hero of the
former age of fiction -- in real life or fantasy life, if there is that strong
a divide between the two. Therefore, pulp is harder to do?
Without belaboring the point, almost all credible action since Viet Nam has
used lengthy, huge and extensive preparation for it's main strength and point
of departure. Swat, Delta, Stealth. When force is used, the style for a long
time, for the side we identify with, our side, has been to massively overmatch
irregular force in every way possible. It has been as effective in the field,
this vast preparation, as it has been iffy in intelligence work.
To bomb Belgrade, by this model, you first invent rocketry, then digital
electronics, then geostationery satellites, then smart munitions, then global
positioning, then stealth aircraft, and train pilots for twenty years. Then
whammo, you blow the Chinese trade mission, defended by morons with zip guns,
to flinders. It only takes a million men half a century and a trillion dollars,
and it's reusable. Not much of a model for heroic fiction. It's about the same
in all fields, or appears to be, although inside it is as always individuals
shouldering the load to make gaps close and things happen.
Larry
