[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

No, I’ve never «gone off» science fiction – it’s been my favorite genre basically all my life, or at least since my early teens. That goes for movies and TV shows as well as books. But sure, my preferences have changed over time. Mindless action is of very little interest now. Stories should offer something else – philosophical reflections, address current-day issues from a sci-fi angle, or tell of an engaging personal or societal journey. Or any combination of these. Sure, I love well-done and dazzling special effects, too, and I don’t mind a good action sequence, but there has to be some motivation behind it.

… I’ve always wanted to visit one of those niche festivals. There’s a sci fi film festival in Oslo too, called Ravenheart, and one in the west of Norway about horror called Ramaskrik. One of these days!

There used to be a yearly sci-fi convention at the University of Oslo, organized by the science fiction club there (Aniara). I went to several of them, but I’m not sure if they’re doing them any longer, or if the club still exists. The conventions were a mix of talks and discussion panels, TV and movie showings, and even cosplay competitions. I remember some tension between older fans, who were mostly interested in SF literature, preferably by classic authors like Robert A Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance etc., and the «neo-fans», who were more into movies and TV shows. I was probaby somewhere in the middle. But the conventions were fun, and nerdy enough. 🙂