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# China Miéville says we shouldn't blame science fiction for its bad readers
- URL: https://werd.io/china-mi-c3-a9ville-says-we-shouldnt-blame-science-fiction-for-its/
- Published: 2025-03-31T13:31:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-03-31T13:31:44.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: Culture, Notable links, #Import 2025-06-11 21:47

\[[Anthony Ha at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/30/author-china-mieville-says-we-shouldnt-blame-science-fiction-for-its-bad-readers/)\]

China Miéville, who is one of the great contemporary science fiction and fantasy authors, is right on the money about Silicon Valley's tendency to [create the Torment Nexus](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/torment-nexus).

This is exactly why I think science fiction is so important, and why it has a lot to contribute:

> "To Miéville, it’s a mistake to read science fiction as if it’s really about the future: “It’s always about now. It’s always a reflection. It’s a kind of fever dream, and it’s always about its own sociological context.”  
>  
> He added that there’s a “societal and personal derangement” at work when the rich and powerful “are more interested in settling Mars than sorting out the world” — but ultimately, it’s not science fiction that’s responsible."

To me, the point and excitement of science fiction is to talk about today through the lens of analogy and extrapolation: not necessarily to warn or celebrate, but to explore. Of course, there's a broad spectrum of stories under that umbrella, and not all of them fit that mold as well as others, but that's what drives me as a reader and a writer. It's up to the reader to decide what to take from that.

I think a lot about *Starship Troopers*. (Really! I do. Some people think about the Roman Empire. I think about Heinlein.) The original book was, at the very least, fascist-adjacent. The movie adaptation was, at least for me, and in intent by its director, a very funny satire at the expense of those ideas. But, of course, some people took away the top-line plot and either decried the fascism or, more worryingly, *freaking loved it*. See also: *Fight Club*, which a certain kind of incel adjacent maladjusted man-child has taken on as something to model, rather than a satirical novel that pokes at them and the country they inhabit.

The reader makes their own interpretation. And if that happens to be a sociopathic world-view bent on world domination, that's on them.

[#Culture](https://werd.io/tag/Culture)

\[[Link](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/30/author-china-mieville-says-we-shouldnt-blame-science-fiction-for-its-bad-readers/)\]