Literature comes in all forms and lengths. From the shortest poem to the longest dramatic epic, it covers an array of genres and sub-genres and sometimes pulls together diverse ones into new types. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” anyone?
We’re not going that far afield here. We are concerned with taking a look at the genre of science fiction, which comes in two varieties that can be categorized as hard and soft.
Soft science fiction deals mainly with themes based on fields such as anthropology, sociology, and psychology. It looks at human behavior and centers the story on that pivot point.
Hard science fiction, which you will find in the novella “Cosmic Swan,” for instance, is based on the principles of disciplines such as geology, physics, chemistry, and astronomy. It is often written by scientists, so it speaks with the ring of truth, parallels real-life research, and sometimes even accurately predicts future scientific developments.
Bill Copeland, the author of “Cosmic Swan,” comes to writing with a solid grounding in science, due to his career at one of the most science-driven organizations in the world — NASA. Thanks to years of being immersed in the importance of facts and figures, his work speaks with the ring of truth. But, and here’s where the art comes in, he crafts the story so it’s thoroughly entertaining and engaging, without any dryness that some hard science fiction is known for. It’s a ripping good yarn that appeals to all readers.
