Not in the same league as Doris Lessing, but I just finished Andreas Eschbach's "The Carpet Makers" and I wanted to discuss it with you. (For some reason, I can't create topics on your blog, so I have to bring up the topic by way of a reply.) I've had an ongoing interest in the difference between science fiction in English and non-English-language literature. Have you read it? He combines familiar "space opera" and fantasy tropes, yet he produces something very different from the mainstream, very reflective and philosophical. Action matters less than consequences; details are skipped over, assumed, yet there's never a sense that something important was left out. I enjoyed it.

Melinda, you raise many good discussion topics in your post, and I'll try to start a few independent discussions on them in the next few days.

I thought The Carpet Makers was one of the best books I read last year. I spent much of the book thinking that it was pure fantasy, but everything does tie up in the end to make into into pure space opera, I think. It's beautifully woven, a metaphor I obviously use very deliberately.

Science fiction in translation is another topic that deserves considerable discussion. I've been wanting to read Zoran Zivkovic -- have you come across him? And more and more translations are popping up here and there, which I find a very hopeful sign. I'll start a separate discussion area about that, too.

Thanks for the ideas!

Maybe you remember that you were my inspiration for writing a review of a collection of short stories by Collete Fayard, one of France's leading science fiction authors, several years ago (probably more than several, since it was back when we still had a Science Fiction thread on Delphi). I haven't read anything by Zivkovic; I'll keep an eye out. Add Primo Levi to the list of non-English science fiction writers, as unexpected as that may sound. There are two collections of his short stories out: The Monkey's Wrench and The Sixth Day of Creation, which both fit into the genre of science fiction. They are quite humorous, in a dry way.

"Continental" science fiction (French, German, Polish, etc.) has a very different focus from that of Anglo-American and it's worth exploring in a seminar (maybe even a whole course). I define the difference as "philosophical" versus "empirical." Anglo-American is focused on plot and characters while "Continental" seems to be more concerned with ideas. I don't expect I'll become a devoteé of that style; I usually prefer action and story-telling to ideas and themes that create a contemplative reaction on the reader's part. But the Continental stuff is definitely sophisticated.