Fantasy Literature
Related: About this forumSci-Fi and Fantasy Have Infiltrated the Literary Mainstream
At Long Last...
Science fiction and fantasy writing has long been disparaged within the literary world. While older works like Frankenstein and 1984 have gained classic status, many critics deride contemporary sci-fi and fantasytypically without actually reading it. The prestigious anthology series The Best American Short Stories tends to eschew science fiction and fantasy, except at the behest of unusually sympathetic guest editors like Michael Chabon or Stephen King.
But things are changing fast. The genre took a major step toward respectability this year with the release of the first-ever Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by John Joseph Adams. Adams feels the book is long overdue. I and other science fiction fans believe that the best science fiction and fantasy is on par with or better than any other genre, he says in Episode 177 of the Geeks Guide to the Galaxy podcast. My goal with The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy was to prove that.
Horror author Joe Hill served as this years guest editor. His job was to select the final 20 storiesfrom the 80 chosen by Adamsto be included in the book. In recent years hes seen a shift in the way that people view the genre. The instruments of science fiction and fantasythe tools in that genre toolboxhave been out there in the literary world and being explored for at least a decade now, in work by people like Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Margaret Atwood, and Cormac McCarthy, he says. Science fiction and fantasy is part of the literary mainstream, and has been for a while now.
Adams hopes The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy will prove that readers dont have to choose between wild concepts and literary quality. Good sci-fi and fantasy deliver both, which is what makes them so hard to write.
Read more:
https://www.wired.com/2015/11/geeks-guide-sci-fi-fantasy-mainstream/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare
(cross-posted in Science Fiction Group)
bagelsforbreakfast
(1,427 posts)Ohiya
(2,432 posts)I think that the best science fiction is also good literary fiction. However I know people like, (cough, cough) my wife who absolutely will not read Sci-fi. When I was in college I was able to satisfy part of my English requirement by taking "Introduction to Science Fiction". Ten books in ten weeks, luckily I had already read most of the selections.