Public Service Announcement: Fantasy and science fiction novels have as much, if not more literary merit than most genres of literature. So back up off my genre, book snobs!
Here are ten reasons fantasy and sci-fi should have more street cred in the literary community:
1. Great literature touches on the human condition. Fantasy and science fiction do this perhaps better than any other genre. While story lines may be out of this world (literally), the big, overarching questions about what it means to be human, how we should function as a society, relate to the “other”, adapt to technological advancements, coexist with the environment, explore responsibly, and even “the meaning to life the universe and everything” are brought to the forefront of the work as a whole. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, don’t panic. Just make sure you have a towel handy.
2. Because non-existent races and species exist in fantasy and science fiction, it’s easier to comment on social issues without raising people’s hackles. Bigots and racists hate on centaurs, muggle-borns and house elves, instead of homosexuals, African-Americans, and the impoverished; the ostracization and inequality can perhaps be seen in a different light by the perpetrators here in the real world… at least until they find out Dumbledore is gay.
3. Fantasy and science-fiction novels are epic, meaning everything is expanded to epic proportions. Epic settings, epic themes, epic character development, epic conflicts, etc. etc. There’s so much to see on the way “there and back again”! As a Texan who knows bigger is better, I appreciate this.
4. Character development is extreme, due to the extreme environments and situations characters face. Who among those who have read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series didn’t go from hating Jaime Lannister to loving him? Martin first paints the Kingslayer as a poisonous, despicable man of no honor; a man who commits incest, fathers the devil (basically), and attempts to murder children. And as the story progresses, Jaime, too, progresses – into a man of integrity of all things!
5. Symbolism, motifs, allegory, irony, transportational imagery and figurative language, among a plethora of other literary devices, are all just as prevalent in most fantasy and science fiction novels as they are in classics like The Great Gatsby. Find allegory to World War II in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, motifs strewn across Westeros in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, irony in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series, symbols in The Lord of the Rings, and rich examples of imagery and figurative language in all of the above, as well as many, many other wonderful works.
6. Nuggets of life wisdom are everywhere. Because so many of our books are epic and feature archetypes, we almost always have at least one sage present. With wise old wizards and Jedi masters popping up left and right, one can’t help but take away some of the best advice dropped in literature.
- “Try not! Do! Or do not! There is no try.” – Yoda
- “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I’ve found. I found it is the small things. Every day deeds by ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay.” –Gandalf
- “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – Dumbledore
- “Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” – Tyrion Lannister
- “The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them.” – Ender Wiggin
7. You’ll find author’s purpose in writing with a specific style to convey meaning. I’m just going to leave this little bit of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 here for you. Here’s Montag describing what the media experience is like in his time without books:
“A great thunderstorm of sound gushed from the walls. Music bombarded him at such an immense volume that his bones were almost shaken from their tendons; he felt his jaw vibrate, his eyes wobble in his head. He was a victim of concussion. When it was all over he felt like a man who had been thrown from a cliff, whirled in a centrifuge, and spat out over a waterfall that fell and fell into emptiness and emptiness and never – quite – touched – bottom – never – never – quite – no not quite – touched – bottom… and you fell so fast you didn’t touch the sides either… never… quite… touched… anything. The thunder faded. The music died.”
8. Fantasy and science fiction authors make the world a better place through their writing – fantasy authors do this by often reflecting on our relationship with the earth, such as J.R.R. Tolkien does in The Two Towers, where we see forests being destroyed for fuel. Tolkien adeptly handles the conflict between industrialization and environmentalism. Science fiction authors envision technologies previously undreamt of, which then inspire innovators to find a way to create them. Again, to reference Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the “seashells” everyone uses are essentially wireless ear buds. Fahrenheit 451 was written in 1953. Revisit points 1 and 2 for more on the genre’s mad skills at dealing with social commentary.
9. Even though often terrible conflicts are raging, fantasy and science fiction authors are excellent at deftly weaving levity into the story. This genre without a doubt provides more laugh out loud moments than any other. Fred and George Weasley defy your disagreement.
10. There is no better outlet for armchair adventurers. Let’s all be honest with one another. One of the main reasons we read is for escape from the pressures of our own daily lives. Whether we’re in a galaxy far, far away, at Hogwarts or in the Shire, fighting the Buggers with Ender, protecting the Wall from white walkers, or just having your towel at the ready in case our planet is bull-dozed in an untimely manner, you can’t ask for a better adventure than what you find when you open the cover of a fantasy or science fiction novel.
Lastly, I leave you with a poem:
Some will always knock our genre
We will just recite our mantra
The force, the hallows, the one ring
Those epic stories make us sing
As always haters gonna hate
But we’ve got fans who get irate
So watch out or you’ll get beat down
By fright’ning mobs in costumed gown
See, we nerd out like no one else
So please respect our genre’s shelf!
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