"There's certainly more new SF available than when I started writing. That means there's also more bad SF available. Whether there is also more good is a matter for future historians of the field"
About this Quote
Abundance is not a victory lap; its just a bigger room with louder echoes. Alan Dean Foster, a career-long working writer with one foot in fandom and the other in mass-market publishing, lands a dry, almost bureaucratic punchline: more science fiction on the shelves inevitably means more dreck on the shelves. The joke is statistical, but the barb is cultural. SF has spent decades arguing about legitimacy and “golden ages,” and Foster sidesteps the prestige fight by treating the genre like an ecosystem: scale changes the noise floor before it changes the signal.
The subtext is a quiet warning against mistaking visibility for quality. In an era of expanding imprints, media tie-ins, self-publishing, and algorithm-fed recommendation loops, “more” becomes a kind of propaganda. Readers feel overwhelmed; writers feel pressured to ship; publishers hedge by chasing trends. Foster’s line punctures the idea that the market is a meritocracy that reliably elevates the best. If anything, the flood can bury it.
His final move - punting judgment to “future historians of the field” - reads modest on the surface, but its also a refusal to play critic from inside the factory. Canon formation takes time: it requires rereading, influence, and endurance, not launch-week buzz. Foster’s intent is less to lament the bad than to remind you that “good SF” is always partially invisible in the moment, and that the genre’s real scoreboard is longevity, not volume.
The subtext is a quiet warning against mistaking visibility for quality. In an era of expanding imprints, media tie-ins, self-publishing, and algorithm-fed recommendation loops, “more” becomes a kind of propaganda. Readers feel overwhelmed; writers feel pressured to ship; publishers hedge by chasing trends. Foster’s line punctures the idea that the market is a meritocracy that reliably elevates the best. If anything, the flood can bury it.
His final move - punting judgment to “future historians of the field” - reads modest on the surface, but its also a refusal to play critic from inside the factory. Canon formation takes time: it requires rereading, influence, and endurance, not launch-week buzz. Foster’s intent is less to lament the bad than to remind you that “good SF” is always partially invisible in the moment, and that the genre’s real scoreboard is longevity, not volume.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|
More Quotes by Alan
Add to List
