My “nerdiness” is due to my older brother who had a ton of golden age Sci fi books that I would read (first being the new hope novelization). He now has three girls (two teens) so he has been out of the loop. He said he recently bought some new sci fi book and said it was woke garbage. I told him about what has happened to mainstream sci-fi/fantasy publishing and a brief overview of the sad puppies thing.
I told him to avoid any book that has won the Hugo, nebula, etc in the past few years because all it takes is that you need to be a woman who hates white men.
Anyway, he asked me if there are any videos or articles that breaks down what happened to sci-fi. Can y’all recommend any? Thanks.
The sad puppies/rabid puppies debacle is probably a good starting point. See if you can find an article that explains clearly why "Space Raptors: Butt Invasion" got nominated for a Hugo.
As for actual sci-fi and fantasy, I'd say to look up books written by people who happened to write books, but aren't initially focused on "books" as an occupation. Reading something because the author is famous for being an author, is like watching a celebrity who is famous because they're a celebrity, it's a tautology that tells you that they don't have anything of substance to offer you. Why are they famous? Because they're famous. Counterpoints: Shad of Shadiversity writes fantasy with "hard" historical rules and setups because he's a historic weapons nerd. Correia writes Monster Hunter International as an accountant/gun store owner (and firearms trainer), and his knowledge of combat really shines through. They have things outside of "I write stuff" to draw upon and make their works more alive, more engaging.
I know it sucks needing to research an author before buying their book, but it's equivalent to looking up a manufacturer before buying their products.
Thanks. With books I just have a rule to read stuff from 14 or prior
Agreed. Heinlein is my favorite