The Istoriaphile’s Corner

Science fiction is just fiction with science.  That was the argument the guys in my generation made in class when they compared the work of Hardy, Thackery or some other school-board sanctioned novelist to a story they preferred.  Despite the teacher’s efforts to introduce us to the literary gems of previous centuries, these fellows found subtly in the characters of Ray Bradberry and ambiguity in the plots of Isaac Asimov.  Remember, these were the guys who ran home from school each day to catch the last half of Star Trek and Twilight Zone reruns because VCRs, DVRs and streaming had not been invented.  Nerds long before Comic-Con and Big Bang Theory gave them a sense of pride.  I didn’t mind them (victims themselves, they tended to avoid picking on others) but on this point, I thought they were wrong.  English instructors implied that Science Fiction stories were obsessed with machinery and sex and the writers couldn’t see beyond those fixations.  I believed this until I read Podkayne of Mars.   I learned, so help me, I learned. Podkayne of Mars is a turning point book in the career of Robert Anson Heinlein, one of the three deans of Science Fiction.  Kid-lit…