In case anyone aspires to write Science Fiction, here's a tip from David Langford....

'One of the embarrassments of SF is that at core it's an intellectual sort of fiction -- "a literature of ideas". No harm in that, except that a gripping story often isn't the best way to put across a logical argument. (Emotional arguments are another kettle of fish: Uncle Tom's Cabin packed more of a wallop than whole libraries of statistics on slavery.) You know how it goes: some character foolishly asks "Gee, Professor, how does the quongo ray projector work, exactly?" and the action stops dead for three pages of indigestible lecturing, not counting the equations....'

from: David Langford's review of Arthur C.Clarke's 1984: Spring -- A Choice of Futures reviewed in 1985 www.ansible.demon.co.uk/writing/shortrev.html#clarke1