Inducted

Locus, one of the standard bearers of the Brit SF community (new issue out now) reports that the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, part of the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, Washington, USA has inducted several new members as of May 6th.

Chesley Bonestell, one of the artists who shaped the visual look of much SF, from book covers to films such as War of the Worlds is added. Famously Bonestell's work was so detailed and, for the time period, accurate, that he contributed illustrations to leading scientific publications. His Saturn viewed from Titan painting has influenced a generation of astronomers and astronauts - and bear in mind when he was doing much of this work space travel was still science fiction.

Philip K Dick enters the hall like the giant he is. Dick stands alongside Arthur C Clarke and Kurt Vonnegut as a writer of SF that millions of non-SF readers are aware of. Like Bill Burroughs he produced works that were often highly unusual, twisted, even paranoid - and utterly remarkable; there's a reason why the SF Masterworks series features so many of his novels in the range. Enormously influential in SF, film and general literature as well, truly one of the giants of the last century.

One of my favourite people from the world of SF, the great Ray Harryhausen, is added. Influenced by the then-radical special effects for the 1930s King Kong (think how you felt when you first saw Star Wars or the Matrix) he went on to become the world's foremost movie stop-motion animator. The skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts (way back in 1963) still stands as both a fan favourite moment and as an astonishing piece of technical film art; even in this age of CGI it looks amazing.

The fourth person to be honoured is Steven Spielberg. Some will applaud, some will sigh – some consider him a genius while others balk at the often sickly sweetness of some of his film moments, but regardless Spielberg has been enormously influential in the world of big-budget SF movies, from darker, Philip K Dick material like Minority Report to the rather sweeter ET and Jurassic Park (admit it – didn’t your jaded, cynical manner drop for even just a moment when you first saw those dinosaurs on the big screen? Didn't you just marvel and re-discover that thing SF does better than any other genre, the sense of wonder?). And don’t forget his successful films highlight our beloved genre and bring new interest and new fans – how many readers were turned on to his fellow inductee Dick because they were exposed to movie adaptations?

Events like this can only help to further broaden the appeal of SF&F to readers and viewers and I say good on the Museum and more power to them. Although I am moved to say that perhaps for an SF museum new members shouldn't be inducted, but abducted, preferably by small grey aliens?!?! And is it just me, or do the new inductees all look like they are auditioning for the role of the new Holly in Red Dwarf in these pics?