What does Delany mean when he says “everything in a science-fiction novel should be mentioned at least twice”?
Full quote is “Everything in a science-fiction novel should be mentioned at least twice (in at least two different contexts).” from Triton.
- passingby
Tags: Different Contexts, Quote, Science Fiction Novel, Triton
April 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Maybe this is a reference to Chekhov’s dictum, that if a gun appears on the wall in Act !, someone is getting shot in Act 3. (eh, I’m quoting a half remembered quote here, don’t hold me to this being his words.)
Or it could just be a good rule against authors using throw away technology to resolve a plot point in sci-fi. A special technology that only gets used once is a surprise and doesn’t help to build up the “world”. Which kind of works out to the same as Chekhov as well.