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Embrace the Gray Area


In the big field of speculative fiction there are two major genres fantasy and science fiction. Of course there are all their related sub-genres. There are readers who only read science fiction and refuse to read fantasy, and then there are readers who will only read fantasy. Those purists might have trouble with this article, because I want to talk about the stories that are both, the novels that fall into that gray area. There is a gradient that exist between fantasy and science fiction. Some stories are 100% science fiction and some are 100% fantasy. But some are maybe 15% science fiction and the rest fantasy. Some are mostly science fiction but have a little fantasy to them. Then there are some where you just don’t know. There is a commonality between science fiction and fantasy. In either case there is some aspect of the story that is not to be found in our world as we currently know it. This is why both fall under the heading of ‘speculative fiction’.

Consider Game of Thrones. Of course it is pure fantasy you say . . . or is it? No, as I see it there is a bit of science fiction in there too. It takes place on a planet with an eccentric orbit around its star (or stars) which makes for wildly unpredictable seasons. The Starks may be fond of reminding everyone that “Winter is coming”, but nobody really knows when that is going to happen or how long it will last (Not that anyone pays attention to the warning. They are all too busy fighting.) And then there is the substance known as wildfire. Is it magic, or is it some highly energetic unstable chemical compound that is unknown on our Earth?

Sometimes it may be hard to quantify exactly how much of one of these novels is science fiction and how much is fantasy. But sometimes it’s easy. In Piers Anthony’s Split Infinity novels, it is exactly 50/50. It takes place on a world that exists is two parallel dimensions. One moment the main character, Stile, is on the world that is ruled by technology, and the next he finds himself on the same world, but this one is ruled by magic. As Stile unexpectedly pops back and forth between worlds he has to readjust his brain to accept the world he is in, just as the readers have to readjust our brains.

 Arthur C. Clarke had a famous rule “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So something like The Book of the New Sun novels by Gene Wolfe are hard to categorize. The books in the series are: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch. (By the way, I think The Claw of the Conciliator may be my favorite title for a book ever.) These books certainly have the feel of fantasy in every fiber of their being, yet they take place thousands of years in a dystopian future where the all of the magical elements are probably just advanced technology.

 

From 2015 to 2017, N. K. Jemisin wrote her amazing Broken Earth trilogy (The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky). This is another series set thousands of years in the future with technology that at times masquerades as magic. But it all comes down to the characters coming to terms with who they are and how they are going to survive. This series has won more awards than any other in recent memory, winning both Hugo and Nebula awards. Jemisin is a powerful writer whatever genre she is in.

I understand that some people are drawn to science fiction and find fantasy frivolous. Others are drawn to fantasy and find science fiction cold and off-putting. To me, I probably lean a bit more toward science fiction, but really, a good story is a good story. As long as the characters draw me in and the plot is engaging, I don’t care what genre it is.

(My novel Starliner, is now available as an ebook through Copypastapublishing.com, or Amazon.com. For those who like to turn physical pages, the paperback will be out in October).




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