Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvolo  But to a reader like me, if setting takes its place above character then I'm not interested in reading it too much. |
One of the characteristics of SF is that the setting and the plot can both be far more important than in most other types of fiction. That "sense of wonder", of having one's imagination stretched, is what pulled many readers (including me) into the genre in the first place.
A quote from Bob Shaw's book on writing science fiction (attributed to a friend of his): "Why should I turn to science fiction for character studies when I still haven't read all of Dostoevsky?"
Of course, there should be characterisation which is adequate for the purpose - but I have stopped reading, out of boredom, SF books which have devoted so much time to building up the personalities of the characters that the plot has ground to a halt.