Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
Which genre are you eager to jump into more this year, and what draws you to it? Do you think fantasy still isn’t taken “seriously” as literature by some people or in some circles? What response do you have to that?
Oh, I know it isn’t. There are just some snobs that have a hard time recognizing genre fiction at all as “serious.” They’ll glance at something like A Song of Ice and Fire because no one can stop talking about the show—and mostly cover their sneer. What was that hit piece that someone did on Sanderson a year or so ago? Look at the response to Romantasy trend—or think back to responses of Pottermania.
What’s my reaction to that lack of recognition? I ignore it. They’re not going to change—at least by and large. It’s not my job to convince anyone to read a book or a genre they’re not interested in. I have a good friend who wanted to try the Dresden Files, but couldn’t handle the magic—as much as he was enjoying Harry and the other characters. Now, he’s not disdainful of the genre—but the same principle can apply to others, there’s just something about Fantasy that turns them off and for many people that will result in belittling. These people, by and large, are not worth wasting time and ink on (even if the ink is made up of bits on a screen).
I think if I’d decided to try to convince someone to give Fantasy a try, or at the very least, to consider that some works could have literary merit—I wouldn’t try for the genre as a whole. I’d pick a book that I think would appeal to them. And then, an other. And another after that. Take down the prejudice down one brick at a time. Does it work? Well, with my friend and the Dresden Files, nope. But it has with others. And I’m coming up with another way to trick him into giving Fantasy a shot. It’ll just be in a few months after he’s read that I’m planning on tricking him.
I’m sure some of the other posts in response to this prompt will be more thoughtful. I’m looking forward to reading them. Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)
