Mark Chadbourn talks about SF burn out

Mark Chadbourn, a UK writer has a new(ish) blog Jack of Ravens. In his latest post he discusses why he thinks that we are on the brink of another golden age of commercial fantasy publishing and why we're not for SF.

"Conversely, I don’t believe this is a very good time for science fiction, which has seen quite significant falls in sales. We’re living through another industrial revolution. Techonological changes are increasing exponentially, with the accompanying societal and cultural transformations. People are burned out by science or blase about it. They see its effect in every aspect of their lives, 24/7. They (and I’m talking here about the wider reading market, not the dedicated fan) don’t want to spend their time reading about it. Of course, SF isn’t just about science, but unfortunately it’s that aspect that the non-hardcore fan focuses on."

Interesting. Mark was at Alt Fiction (wish I'd said hello now) where Justina Robson answered a question along similar lines about whether current SF all gloom and dystopia (reflecting the world). Her reply was that she thought authros were going the other way, as she has done, into fun SF. And maybe that is the way that SF can capture more readers in a science overloaded world?