Would You Still Be a Science Fiction Fan?

[Trekfan12]

ST certainly did get me into Sci Fi, but there were other shows on at the time that kept me in the genre. Lost in Space, Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica and of course Star Wars, among others. So I still would have gotten into Sci Fi, but without Star Trek it wouldn't be the same of course

 

[Timewalker]

In her defense, the Gor novels were sorta packaged as though they were "exotic" sf-fantasy adventures along the lines of ERB or Robert E. Howard. I read the first few books for that reason, expecting more swashbuckling adventure, but, even as a junior-high kid, I kinda picked up on the icky/kinky sexual politics by Book 3 . . . even if I would have had trouble articulating what was troublesome about them back then. Not sure I ever finished the third book . . . .

One of the guys in the science fiction club I belonged to in college introduced himself as "Tarl." I had to ask him if he could please repeat that, so I was sure I was hearing him correctly, and he turned bright red and said his parents had been Gor fans.

 

[GNDN18]

Star Trek led me to reading books. First the Blish adaptations, then the "Making of" books. David Gerrold, more than anyone, turned me onto Heinlein. This led to Asimov, Clarke, and a lot of Golden Age sci-fi. But that's as far I got and haven't read much sci-fi since my mid-twenties. Except that, right now, I'm plowing through James White's Sector General stories. It's a lot like Star Trek set in a hospital; it's also an optimistic tonic for my Twitter-depressed soul.

To finally answer the question, no, I likely wouldn't have been a sci-fi fan but for Star Trek. Even now I gravitate toward stuff that is similar to its tone and structure.

Such as Star Wars: I tend to root for the guys in the uniforms. That's right, because the heroes wear uniforms in Star Trek.

I might delete that last part.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In Junior High we read the Illustrated Man in English Lit. In High School we actually had a class called Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Future. We got to read the Hobbit, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Left Hand of Darkness and a couple of other books. I also found To Your Scattered Bodies Go in the school library which introduced me to Philip Jose Farmer.