Both silicon and paper are heavily influenced by the other media. Apart from tedious novelisations, there are plenty of books set in the worlds created on the screen. Spin-off books are almost always second rate, but games are a different story. The Star Wars films have spawned a whole industry from the definitive space dogfight game X-Wing, through the more arcade-like Rebel Assault to the Doom clone, Dark Forces - and there's more to come. Star Trek has also had an impact. One of the earliest computer games was a text-based version of Star Trek that was almost a mobile version of battleships, played against computer Klingons. Latterly there have been a number of successful adventure games based around Star Trek stories. These haven't been at the leading edge of the graphical adventure, but the likes of A Final Unity combine a good story with reasonable game play.

    Science fiction has never been more part of culture than today, helped along by the increasing power of the computer in our lives. Often portrayed by the media as an attempt to predict the future, SF is really about the friction and excitement generated by the interface between people and technology. It doesn't pretend to be high art, but good science fiction continues to combine a sense of wonder with a gripping story. Long may it continue.