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Worlds of Design: Reassessing Tolkien’s Influence
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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9211996" data-attributes="member: 7035894"><p>I'm a fan of genre fiction. I mostly read genre fiction. The vast majority of genre fiction is pedestrian, at best. A lot of popular fantasy fiction is basically YA, and not very good YA. More like comfort food.</p><p></p><p>A lot of this comes from genre conventions that are inherently conservative. Fantasy basically fetishizes medievalism, and a lot of authors seem barely interested in the implications. Let's face it, the notion of all our problems being solved by a really virtuous king or Chosen One is pretty backwards. Tolkien makes it work by having the chops to elevate the material to the level of modern myth. George R.R. Martin stands out partly because he strips medievalism from that fantasy glamour and explores the human, often ugly side of warring houses and dynasties.</p><p></p><p>Science Fiction gets a lot more critical interest because of its speculative nature. As a genre, it is naturally inclined towards new ideas, unlike fantasy. Not that there isn't a ton of bad SF, but I find it <em>much</em> easier to find stimulating SF than to find stimulating fantasy. I find a lot of the most popular fantasy unreadable. I got about a hundred pages into <em>The Name of the Wind</em> and just couldn't continue. It was painful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9211996, member: 7035894"] I'm a fan of genre fiction. I mostly read genre fiction. The vast majority of genre fiction is pedestrian, at best. A lot of popular fantasy fiction is basically YA, and not very good YA. More like comfort food. A lot of this comes from genre conventions that are inherently conservative. Fantasy basically fetishizes medievalism, and a lot of authors seem barely interested in the implications. Let's face it, the notion of all our problems being solved by a really virtuous king or Chosen One is pretty backwards. Tolkien makes it work by having the chops to elevate the material to the level of modern myth. George R.R. Martin stands out partly because he strips medievalism from that fantasy glamour and explores the human, often ugly side of warring houses and dynasties. Science Fiction gets a lot more critical interest because of its speculative nature. As a genre, it is naturally inclined towards new ideas, unlike fantasy. Not that there isn't a ton of bad SF, but I find it [I]much[/I] easier to find stimulating SF than to find stimulating fantasy. I find a lot of the most popular fantasy unreadable. I got about a hundred pages into [I]The Name of the Wind[/I] and just couldn't continue. It was painful. [/QUOTE]
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