Three short steps into the New Millennium, written SF is paradoxically in sharp decline. …. And the reason is depressingly clear: Those few readers who haven’t defected to Tolkienesque fantasy cling only to Star Trek, Star Wars, and other Sci Fi franchises. | Incredibly, young people no longer find the real future exciting. They no longer find science admirable. They no longer instinctively lust to go to space. —Spider Robinson
—Forward, into the Past (Globe and Mail)

Via Slashdot and KairosNews.

Update: Torill responds to Spider Robinson: “Personally, I’d rather have a hero who decided to try and find out what the problem is and do something about it, than a hero that builds more fantastic technology to solve it.”

While there can be plenty of bad SF that centers around the creation of/response to technology, isn’t there also plenty of bad fantasy that centers around The Chosen One who must use a Gift undo Evil Magic? Torill, help me understand… how is technology in SF intrinsically different from magic in fantasy?

Update: 11 Sep. Torill responds. Thanks, Torill.