A well-written and interesting article, but I wish to put some questions to you regarding this science fiction business:

1) Do you ignore science fiction only in print, or are you happy to watch it on television or at the cinema? For example, do you consider films like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey - both of which are based on literature - to have nothing to say about issues like increasingly relevant AI concerns, or the deeper issue of what it means to be human (which lies at the core of much great sci-fi)?

2) Do you have a similar dismissive attitude to animal fiction classics like Watership Down or Animal Farm? After all, you're not a rabbit or farm animal, but does that mean those novels have nothing of interest to tell you about, say, totalitarian, Stalin-esque regimes? Assuming you see value in animal fiction classics of this kind, how is that different to a science fiction classic Dune, which also contains much of allegorical interest about oil, geopolitics, the Middle East, and more?

3) How do you feel about fantasy novels? I put it to you that the very best works in the genre aren't really concerned with elves, wizards, or the minutiae of how many mana points it takes to slay a troll, but universally relatable concerns and themes. Example: The Lord of the Rings is about friendship, courage, loyalty, temptation, betrayal, sacrifice, difficult family relationships, environmental concerns such as the creeping threat of industrialisation (in allegorical terms, with Saruman/Isengard and the Ents), war (you can tell Tolkien fought in the First World War just by the way he describes the battles), religious beliefs (Tolkien's Catholicism is also inherent in the text), and obviously good versus evil - not just external evil, but the evil in oneself. Most of all, The Lord of the Rings is about growing up and the universally relatable bittersweet melancholia at the passing of an era. All of this is why it has endured as a classic. Anyone who won't give it the time of day because they don't literally live in Middle Earth I frankly feel sorry for.

I will conclude this rather lengthy comment by saying: 1) Each to their own, and I intend no disrespect, and 2) I would be genuinely interested to hear your thoughts on the above three questions.

Thank you again for the article. :)