纸媒时代的科幻幸存者:《科幻世界》的坚持与挑战

科幻小说一直是文学作品中最引人入胜的类型之一。这种魅力源于人类与生俱来的好奇心和对未知的向往。过去已成定局,无法改变;而未来却是一片未知的混沌,蕴含着无限的可能性。正是这种未知,激发了人们的想象力,既带来了对未来的恐惧,也孕育了无限的希望。进化赋予人类的本能使我们天生就被未知和神秘的事物所吸引。科幻小说正好满足了这种渴望,让读者在想象中探索未来,体验各种可能性,这也是科幻小说如此受欢迎的原因。

提到中国的科幻文学,就不得不提及《科幻世界》这本杂志。它是中国科幻界的一面旗帜,为众多科幻作家提供了展示才华的平台。如今在中国科幻界享有盛誉的刘慈欣,他的许多科幻小说最初都是在这本杂志上发表的。《科幻世界》不仅是作家们的创作园地,也是科幻爱好者的精神乐园。在我的中学时代,这本杂志是我经常借阅的读物之一,它开启了我对科幻世界的想象,激发了我对未来科技的思考。在当今这个互联网已经取代大多数传统纸质媒体的时代,《科幻世界》仍然坚持出版,这种坚持精神实属难得,也体现了科幻文学在中国读者心中的地位。

既然《科幻世界》至今仍在出版,那么它的当前水平如何呢?是否已经孕育出新一代的刘慈欣?这些问题一直萦绕在我的心头。虽然我已经很久没有阅读这本杂志了,但最近我在B站上看到了一位UP主的视频,他介绍了最新一期《科幻世界》中的几个故事。通过这个视频,我得以一窥当代《科幻世界》的创作水平。

让人遗憾的是,从UP主介绍的几个故事来看,它们的创作架构显得有些重复和老套。这些故事大多采用了所谓的"爽文"路线,讲述的是一个有缺陷的主角突然发现自己拥有过人天赋,然后一路走向人生巅峰的故事。其中一个故事讲述了一个患有自闭症的孩子,突然展现出驾驶挖掘机的天赋。他一边开挖掘机一边直播,成为了网红,获得了名利双收。这个设定本身并没有太多科幻元素,为了增加"科幻感",作者硬生生地加入了一个转折:主角患上了绝症。
为了延续故事,作者又引入了赛博朋克的元素,将主角的意识上传到了数字世界。恰好人类正在进行月球大开发,于是主角的意识被上传到了上百万台挖掘机中。他再次成为了世界网红,继续他的"开挖掘机"事业。这个故事的构思显得有些幼稚和牵强。而且从现实角度来看,按照当前的科技发展水平,训练AI操控挖掘机远比实现意识上传容易得多。这种不切实际的设定,反而削弱了科幻小说应有的前瞻性和可信度。

另一个故事的背景设定在未来的杭州。由于海平面上升,杭州变成了一座水城。在这座未来城市中,富人们生活在高科技的天空之城,过着奢华舒适的生活。而底层民众则生活在被海水困扰的地面,靠为天空之城提供各种服务来维持生计。故事的主角是一名底层快递员,在一次送货任务中,他从一个神秘的触手怪物手中救出了一位千金小姐。作为回报,富人们对他进行了身体改造,给他装上了一对翅膀,让他能够自由地飞到天空之城。然而,故事并未就此结束。那个曾经攻击千金小姐的触手怪找到了主角,原来它们是利用生物改造技术在海底建立的乌托邦居民,也来邀请主角加入他们的世界。
这个故事的设定反映了社会中的阶级矛盾,具有一定的现实意义。它描绘了一个贫富悬殊的未来世界,富人生活在高空,穷人挣扎在水中,而海底则另有一番天地。这种三重世界的构想颇具创意,但遗憾的是,由于篇幅限制,水下乌托邦的故事并没有得到充分展开。此外,细心的读者可能会发现,这个故事的基本框架与《铳梦》(即电影《阿丽塔:战斗天使》的原著漫画)中塞勒姆与钢铁城的设定有些相似。

总的来说,虽然《科幻世界》作为一本传统纸质杂志在互联网时代仍然坚持出版,这种精神值得赞赏,但从它刊载的故事来看,创意似乎有些匮乏,甚至显得有些无聊。这可能是因为在成为小众杂志后,创作圈子变得相对封闭,导致思想交流不够活跃,创意也随之枯竭。

然而,我们不应该因此就对中国的科幻文学失去信心。《科幻世界》曾经培养出刘慈欣这样的科幻大师,今天的低谷可能正是明天腾飞的起点。也许,新一代的科幻作家正在某个角落默默创作,等待着被发现的那一天。作为读者和科幻爱好者,我们应该继续支持本土科幻创作,为中国科幻文学的发展贡献自己的力量。同时,《科幻世界》也应该积极拓展作者队伍,引入新鲜血液,激发更多创新思维,重新点燃中国科幻文学的火花。

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Science fiction has always been one of the most fascinating genres in literature. This fascination comes from the innate human curiosity and yearning for the unknown. The past is fixed and cannot be changed. But the future is an unknown chaos, containing infinite possibilities. It is this unknown that fuels people's imagination, bringing both fear for the future and boundless hope. Evolution has endowed humans with an instinct that makes us naturally attracted to the unknown and the mysterious. Science fiction just satisfies this desire, allowing readers to explore the future in their imagination and experience various possibilities, which is why science fiction is so popular.

When it comes to Chinese science fiction literature, we have to mention the magazine Science Fiction World. It is a banner of the Chinese science fiction community and provides a platform for many science fiction writers to show their talents. Liu Cixin, who is now renowned in the Chinese science fiction community, first published many of his science fiction novels in this magazine. Science Fiction World is not only a creative garden for writers, but also a spiritual paradise for science fiction lovers. In my middle school years, this magazine was one of the books I often borrowed, which opened my imagination of the science fiction world and stimulated my thinking about the future technology. In an era when the Internet has replaced most traditional print media, the persistence of Science Fiction World is rare and reflects the status of science fiction in the hearts of Chinese readers.

Since Science Fiction World is still published today, what is its current state? Has a new generation of Liu Cixin been born? These questions are always on my mind. Although it has been a long time since I read the magazine, I recently saw a video on B site from an UP master who introduced several stories in the latest issue of SF World. Through this video, I was able to get a glimpse into the creative level of the contemporary science fiction world.

Unfortunately, judging from the several stories introduced by the UP master, their creative structure seems to be a little repetitive and old-fashioned. Most of these stories take the so-called "cool" route, telling the story of a flawed protagonist who suddenly discovers he has an extraordinary talent and then goes all the way to the top of his life. One story tells of a child with autism who suddenly develops a talent for driving an excavator. He streamed live while driving an excavator, becoming an Internet celebrity and earning fame and fortune. This setting itself does not have much science fiction elements, in order to increase the "science fiction sense ", the author forcibly added a twist: the protagonist suffers from a terminal illness.
In order to continue the story, the author also introduced cyberpunk elements, uploading the protagonist's consciousness into the digital world. Just as humans are developing the moon, the protagonist's consciousness is uploaded to millions of excavators. He has once again become a global Internet celebrity and continues his career as a digger driver. The idea of this story seems childish and far-fetched. And from a practical point of view, according to the current level of technological development, training AI to control excavators is far easier than realizing consciousness uploading. This unrealistic setting, on the contrary, weakens the foresight and credibility that science fiction should be.

Another story is set in a future Hangzhou. Due to the rising sea level, Hangzhou has become a water city. In this futuristic city, the rich live in luxury and comfort in the high-tech sky city. The people below live on the ground, where the sea is troubled, and make a living by providing various services to the Sky City. The protagonist of the story is a low-level Courier who, during a delivery mission, saves a young lady from a mysterious tentacle monster. In return, the rich people physically modify him and give him a pair of wings so that he can fly freely to the sky City. However, the story does not end there. The tentacle monster that once attacked Miss Qianjin found the protagonist, it turns out that they are the utopian residents who use biological modification technology to build on the seabed, and also invited the protagonist to join their world.
The setting of this story reflects the class contradictions in the society and has certain practical significance. It depicts a future world where the rich live in the sky, the poor struggle in the water, and the bottom of the sea is a different place. The idea of this triple world is quite creative, but unfortunately, due to space constraints, the story of the underwater utopia is not fully developed. In addition, careful readers may notice that the basic framework of the story is somewhat similar to the setting of Salem and Steel City in Blunderdream (the comic book on which the film Alita: Battle Angel is based).

All in all, while the spirit of Science Fiction World as a traditional print magazine that has persisted in publishing in the Internet age is commendable, the stories it publishes seem a little lacking in creativity, even a little boring. This may be because after becoming a niche magazine, the creative circle became relatively closed, resulting in less active exchange of ideas, and creative ideas dried up.

However, we should not lose faith in Chinese science fiction because of this. "Science Fiction World" has cultivated such science fiction masters as Liu Cixin, and today's trough may be the starting point of tomorrow's take-off. Perhaps a new generation of science fiction writers is quietly writing somewhere, waiting to be discovered. As readers and science fiction lovers, we should continue to support local science fiction creation and contribute to the development of Chinese science fiction literature. At the same time, Science Fiction World should also actively expand the team of authors, introduce new blood, stimulate more innovative thinking, and re-ignite the spark of Chinese science fiction literature.