A New Genre??????

Glenda Larke — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:23:00 +0000

This is either hysterically funny, or excruciatingly wince-making.

A tweet from Terry of BabelClash fame (see Borders.com) sent me to have a look at the NPR site and Librarian Nancy Pearl talking about “under the radar reads”.

One of the books she talks about is Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven and one of the things she says is:

It’s a shame this book will be shelved in the fantasy and science-fiction section of bookstores and libraries, because that inevitably makes it highly unlikely that fans of historical fiction will find it on their own. (That’s a good example of one of the many reasons that I dislike our reliance on genre divisions in describing fiction)…

Which comment I might just shrug off, except that elsewhere in the same article she says she wants to name a new genre:

I only recently realized that many of the works of fiction that I most enjoy are those that push genre boundaries. I especially like fiction that is mostly realistic, but every once in a while zigs confidently into fantasy. We tend to call such works “magical realism”

…

I’d love to come up with a one- or two- or possibly three-word label for such works that captures their essence (something other than “unclassifiable”), but so far I’ve drawn a blank. Anyone care to help? Have at it — I’ll give you some examples of books that fit what I have in mind — Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker, Under Heaven or The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Yeah. This is where I give a heavy sigh, as I suspect she wants to rename the fantasy novels – the ones she likes, that is – because well, respectable mainstream readers don’t want it known that they (gasp) read fantasy. Because we all know fantasy is trashy.

Ms Pearl, we have a name for these novels already. We call them fantasy. Or SF. Or, if you must, speculative fiction. We don’t need another name to hide the fact that we write fantasy, ok? We aren’t ashamed of writing it, why should you be ashamed of reading it?

If that’s not the reason you want a new genre, I still say forget it. It’s fantasy. The moment you start dividing it up into sub-genres, you are going to hit a minefield, and I bet one of the first things you’ll do is throw up your hands in horror when someone tells you that urban paranormals fit the definition of your new genre.

You, as a reviewer/librarian, can point people in the right direction to get books you think they may like. Come to think of it, you don’t have to call them anything except great reads.

An author answers [3]

Glenda Larke — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:12:00 +0000

KAREN MILLER , a talented and successful sff writer, asked the following:

What’s the most powerful thing about the fantasy genre?

I haven’t a clue what it is for most people. But as a reader, the most powerful thing about the genre for me is its ability to offer me so much in one package, so much between the covers of the one book.

Fascinating characters, good writing, great plot, action, intriguing background, thought-provoking issues – all those things you can find in many novels about today’s world, but fantasy offers more. It can be a war story, a crime novel, a romance, an epic, a history, all at one and the same time. It’s the sheer challenge of reading a fantasy that blows me away if it is done well.

I don’t mean challenge as in something that is hard to understand, but challenge as in something that expands your view of this world even as it describes another world, that makes you think, that surprises you with every turn, that challenges your imagination, even as it tells a great tale about great characters. A good fantasy is a total immersion. Powerful stuff.

There aren’t too many mainstream novels that can do all those things in one book. But then again, fantasy & sci fi readers are the most intelligent of readers. They can take it!

As a writer, the most powerful thing is the possibility of saying so much without being boring. I am a great believer in writing good entertainment, but I do like to say important stuff at the same time. In a mainstream novel this can come across as preachy or just plain dull because the setting is so close to home. In a fantasy, it’s easier to make the story make the point, if you have one.

Ooo, I love writing fantasy.

genre –

A New Genre??????

An author answers [3]