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Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
Questions about Science and Science Fiction: My Science Blogger Answers
November 18th, 2008
In support of the request for the input for the ScienceOnline09 science fiction panel, and wearing my science blogger hat…
Questions for Science Bloggers
- What is your relationship to science fiction? Do you read it? Watch it? What/who do you like and why?
I read it, watch it, and write it, too. My favorite on TV right now is Battlestar Galactica, although it has its flaws, and I watch Heroes, although the “science” is laughable. Waiting to see if Life on Mars fully hooks me. I haven’t seen what I would consider a really good science fiction film released in many years — Gattaca and Contact are two that come to mind. I have my top ten list of my own favorite sf movies.
As for writers, I have one list posted on my website and happily keep finding others. John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War was my most recent happy discovery. My shortlist of current writers I like would have to include: Scalzi, Vernor Vinge, David Brin, Robert Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, Joe Haldeman, Nancy Kress, Michael Swanwick, Eric Nylund, Robert Reed, Jack McDevitt, and many more.
I don’t need my science fiction to be so-called “hard” science fiction. I just need it not to be blatantly stupid or fantasy without clearly being fantasy. I mean, too many space-based science fiction stories ignore the laws of physics, and common sense, as it is. I enjoy true fantasy from time to time, and read the Harry Potter books with great enthusiasm like many others.
- What do you see as science fiction’s role in promoting science, if any? Can it do more than make people excited about science? Can it harm the cause of science?
People learn from story, too easily. Anecdote trumps science all too often in the minds of many. Why not put out some stories that get the science right? People who are not in a position to take a class, or who won’t pick up a textbook, still turn on their TV. There’s a real opportunity that hasn’t been exploited. We need people to start caring about science in the same way they already care about society. What I mean by that sentence is that if you read a story or watch a TV show in which the characters behave unrealistically, the result is unsatisfying. Right now people read stories or watch shows that are supposed to be realistic, and what we’ve learned from science about how things work has no relationship to what happens. And people shrug, and say, “It’s just a movie, dude. Chill out.”
It’s both a matter of achieving a base level of scientific literacy in the public, and making people care about it. I’m optimistic that people are realizing that we are now living in the future, in a science fiction world, in which cyberspace, cloning, and space tourism are realities. Computers and obscure mathematics control our economics, and basic research and engineering control our prospects for energy alternatives. We had all better care about this stuff.
As for the harm, well, there has been a lot of discussion about that, too, following Buzz Aldrin’s comments that unrealistic and unscientific science fiction has dampened interest in the space program. I don’t think his case is overwhelming, but I agree that science fiction has an effect and it isn’t always positive, at least to the public at large that isn’t already a fan of science and discovery.
I’m trying to do my part by founding the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers. I bring in about a dozen popular writers, mostly but not all science fiction writers, and teach them about modern astronomy. The goal is to have more astronomy, particularly correct astronomy, presented to the public through the works of the authors. Some of the attendees have written very popular media tie-in books and even books that have been made into movies. The potential is there to reach millions with some good science, or at least some material that isn’t as riddled with misconceptions or outright errors.
- Have you used science fiction as a starting point to talk about science? Is it easier to talk about people doing it right or getting it wrong?
I’ve developed and taught an entire course about physical science starting from science fiction. Even good, motivated science students react enthusiastically when science fiction is used to introduce particular topics. On my blog, my most popular posts tend to be science fiction I love or hate because of the quality, or lack thereof, of the science.
I’ve also edited an anthology of science fiction stories featuring astronomy designed to be used in an introductory astronomy class. Diamonds in the Sky is coming to life, and should be all the way live by sometime in December, 2008.
- Are there any specific science or science fiction blogs you would recommend to interested readers or writers?
Mine, www.mikebrotherton.com, for starters, which contains posts like the Hard SF Writer’s Bookshelf and Online Astronomy Resources for Writers, with sidebar links to my favorite useful and interesting blogs. These include astronomy-oriented blogs that also touch on science fiction from time to time: Centauri Dreams, Bad Astronomy, and Cosmic Variance. For one stop-shopping on the science-fiction side, www.sfsignal.com is my pick.
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I think this is an important point. Most people I know who aren’t trained as scientists have nonetheless absorbed a lot of science (good and bad) from the media. Add to the media mix the people who active trying to distort science for political or religious reasons, and many people are understandably confused.
Thanks for adding to the discussion!
November 19th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
[...] Questions about Science and Science Fiction: My Science Blogger Answers [...]
November 19th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
[...] pull in another comment on this subject. This one comes from scientist and science fiction writer Mike Brotherton, one of those responding to the ScienceOnline09 questions. I really don’t mean to pick on [...]
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:41 am
[...] quotes…It’s science fiction, not science class « FROM A SCI-FI STANDPOINT on Questions about Science and Science Fiction: My Science Blogger AnswersQuestions about Science and Science Fiction: My SF Writer Answers | Mike Brotherton: SF Writer on [...]