I
got the loveliest Christmas/birthday present this year: A bound volume of the
three books of the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant trilogy by Stephen R.
Donaldson. I haven't read Donaldson since I was in high school when I read the
first three books of his Thomas Covenant series as well as the two books of his
Mordant’s Need series and it was a real treat to be taken back. He represented
my first real introduction to fantasy that sought to go beyond genre
conventions.
Now,
mind you it hasn't been quite the same. I find his language a little too florid
and his plot a bit too plodding for my current tastes, but reading him again, I
realise that he was always more interested in characters – in their struggle
for redemption and acceptance – than in the magic of the world. And I think
that as I get older, I am too.
See,
I believe good literature cannot be circumscribed by genre. Even though right
now literary fiction tends to win the biggest prizes, Some of the best
speculative fiction I've read recently didn't rely on a special “hook” to drive
their stories forward. In fact, some of
it – like David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas – would be indistinguishable from the
best literary fiction.
And
it’s nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this. In a Guardian
article last month, Damien
Walter predicted that Science fiction would continue to move into the
mainstream, an acceleration of a phenomenon that caught the Guardian’s
attention in 2011
as well.
I'm going to jump on Damien’s bandwagon and predict that
speculative fiction will also continue to get “browner” as well. More non-Western
writers are showing a growing interest in the genre, challenging the notion
that it is the home of the “bearded white male”. In December, I was privileged
to be featured in the first anthology of African Science fiction, AfroSF,
a collection put together by writer and editor, Ivor Hartmann. And as an
editor, I'm seeing some exciting science fiction and fantasy coming out of
Africa and the Middle East that’s making me super excited. Blogs like indi-gene-nous.blogspot.co.uk
just warm my heart.
It’s going to be an exciting 2013 – I can’t wait to read all
about it!
1- i loved reading your article, gave me more hope for my own writing (writing as a non-white science-fiction/ fantasy writer)
ReplyDelete2- you are inspiring!
3- loved your point on how good writing isn't based on genre
I'd love to point out even bestsellers may not be "good literature"/ good writing...
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Congrats on being featured in AfroSF! Looking forward to reading that myself and the myriad of amazing non-western SpecFic that I sense would be coming out this year.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for mentioning my blog, it warms my own heart more than you know.
PS: LOve your articles. Always got your blog on my radar.
@Pree, I agree there are a number of bestsellers out there that are terrible writing - even in genre circles. "50 Shades of Grey" anyone?
ReplyDelete@Gene, Thank you for the love, I love your blog, man!
Agreed ! Looking forward to it becoming more mainstream. Congrats on your publication!
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