Challenging reality.

Fantasy did not start and will not end with Tolkien, black-and-white morality, escapism and nostalgia for fairy-tale feudalism. There are very different traditions: Surrealism; the populist modernism of the pulps; Peake's Gormenghast; Borge's dreams. For them, fantasy doesn't fall back on a stock of clichés – it estranges, it undermines and challenges reality.

- China Miéville

In spite of the fact that this blog claims to deal with both genres, I'm probably more of a fan of science fiction than fantasy. However, they're both well represented in my little library here, even if my fantasy collection leans more toward the classics than that of most readers: The Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series of course, but also lesser-known older books like The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison, the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake, Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter, and so on.

I also have my share of the adventures of heroic (or anti-heroic) fantasy characters: Conan, Elric, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Prester John, Brak, Kane, and a few other of their sword-toting brethren - or sisters, in the case of C. L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry.

But, as Mr. Miéville's introductory quote quite accurately points out, any attempt to limit the boundaries of fantasy is futile. Many of the examples I've listed above are well-known standards or classics as far as fantasy publishing goes, but let's not ignore Neil Gaiman's urban fantasies, China Miéville's own tales of New Crobuzon and its mixed bag of denizens, Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books, Tanith Lee's dark, sexually oriented tales, Ursula K. LeGuin's thoughtful Earthsea series, Roger Zelazny's brilliant Amber novels, or Jack Vance's quirky storytelling.

But in spite of having all this source material to draw upon, it took me a surprisingly long time to write this post. I had all these bits and pieces, all these observations and fragments regarding fantasy, but I couldn't find the hook, the connecting element that would get it all to make sense together.

In an attempt to further the progress of things, I did what I consider to be the equivalent of free association - I went to Google™ and typed in "fantasy". After moving past a lot of admittedly intriguing offers by buxom young women regarding my fantasies and their willing if expensive fulfillment thereof, I made my way to the Wikipedia entry regarding Fantasy, which contains the following statement:

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes.

My first thought was, "No, that's not what distinguishes fantasy from science fiction, that's like saying that the ocean is generally distinguished from dry land by its lack of trees and grass. " Sadly, as a definition the Wikipedia entry seems to be far too close to the sort of narrow viewpoint that Mr. Miéville derides in his statement.

In my opinion, I think that at some very basic level the creative desires of the science fiction author and the fantasy author are completely different. The science fiction author accepts the rules, however much he may then proceed to bend them. If an SF author wishes to have his starships travel faster than light, they have to be able to provide some explanation of how this violation of current physics is possible. This explanation may not be a scientific possibility under current state of the art, but the author recognizes the need to acknowledge the limiting factor of c as a constant.

The fantasy author approaches things from the other direction. They create a world in which they make the rules, with no need to explain or justify them. Floating cities, talking trees, seven league boots, the author has complete freedom, unhampered by any need for explanation or logic - as in the opening quote, challenging reality.

To illustrate what I mean, if a science fiction author wants to include a flying horse as an element in their story, they have to consider the physics of flight: the surface area required to lift the weight of a horse, the question of how wing muscles would be integrated into a horse's physical structure, and whether or not a flying horse would need to be hollow-boned, like a bird.

A fantasy writer may have an explanation for the existence of flying horses in their story, but it doesn't need to be rooted in science. It might involve a drunken dalliance between a stallion and a roc (giant bird for those of you who don't follow these things); a magical cantrip that keeps the horses aloft; or it might simply be by decree, as this scene from The Magician's Nephew, the first book in the Narnia series: *

"Be winged. Be the father of all flying horses," roared Aslan in a voice that shook the ground. "Your name is Fledge."

The horse shied, just as it might have shied in the old, miserable days when it pulled a hansom. Then it reared. It strained its neck back as if there were a fly biting its shoulders and it wanted to scratch them. And then, just as the beasts has burst out of the earth, there burst out from the shoulders of Fledge wings that spread and grew, larger than eagles', larger than swans', larger than angels' wings in church windows.

Voilà - a flying horse, literally on demand. What better symbol could Fantasy have?

- Sid

* Not everyone is aware that the Narnia books were written out of sequence. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was written first, and then in later years some person, possibly from Porlock, demanded an explanation from C. S. Lewis: why a wardrobe? Why is there a lamppost in Lamppost Waste? The result was The Magician's Nephew, a prequel novel which is probably the weakest of the books due to its dutiful filling in of the gaps. Thanks to my mother's wisdom, I read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe first, and never for a moment wondered why there was a lamppost flickering away in the middle of the forest on the other side of a wardrobe - for me, it was just part of the author's world and I accepted it. Interesting that Disney made the same decision in terms of filming the adaptations.

"Hello, my name is Sid..."

This post is respectfully dedicated to 15th century Dutch humanist scholar and theologian Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, whose famous quote:

"When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food and clothes."

is an inspiration to us all.

My god - I've just been sorting through books as a start to the process of cleaning up the study in preparation for my sister Dorothy's Thanksgiving visit next weekend, and okay, I admit it, I have a problem. (Which I gather is the first step in dealing with addiction.)

Books, books, books! People are startled to discover that I re-read books - and frankly, I'm equally startled to find out that other people don't! What, did you memorize The Lord of the Rings first time through? Impressive, that. But sadly the question of books as reading material is not the issue.

No, at some point I started to take an academic interest in science fiction and fantasy, and I think that was the beginning of the end, or possibly the end of the beginning, as Churchill put it. As a result, I have to confess to owning books that aren't necessarily all that good and that I don't like very much. (These are not always related issues, but we'll talk about the Lensman series another time.) Then why am I still finding - or trying to find - shelf space for these literary dogs, you ask? Ah, that's because of the importance of their position within their genres...

As an example, let's talk about Stanley G. Weinbaum for a moment. (And everybody except Dorothy says, "Who?") Stanley Grauman Weinbaum, (1902-1935) is best known for his short story A Martian Odyssey, first published in the July 1934 edition of Wonder Stories. The story deals with the meeting between a shipwrecked human astronaut and a Martian, and is widely considered to be groundbreaking in its portrayal of a sympathetic alien character. Personally, I've always liked the way it handles the difficulties of communication with aliens.

All well and good, but most fans only know Weinbaum through that one story. However, during his brief career he wrote a selection of short fiction and a couple of novels, one of which, The New Adam, was published posthumously in 1939. I own a later edition - 1969 - and you know, I really didn't enjoy it, and frankly I found it a bit derivative and unoriginal.* But I have to keep the damn thing, Weinbaum is one of those roadmark writers in science fiction.

And it gets worse. The second of the two hardcover omnibus editions of Michael Moorcock's Elric novels that I purchased from The Science Fiction Book of the Month Club is missing a paragraph in Stormbringer, the final book in the series, when compared to my Lancer edition.** (Page 100 in the Lancer version, if you must know.) But the SFBOTMC editions contain a novel that I don't have in paperback, so I can't in good conscience get rid of them.

And so on and so on. Sigh...it must be easy for alcoholics, at least they can throw out their empties. In my case, in spite of the fact that I have six bookshelves in this room, there are still books stacked up that have never been properly shelved even once, there's just no room at the inn.

But hey, there's still hope. As I said, my sister is coming for a Thanksgiving visit, and she mentioned a desire to visit IKEA. Hmmm...I'm pretty sure I can fit in a 24 inch BILLY shelf over there behind the door...

- Sid

* In comparison to his peers, whose books I also have.

** At this point, most people say, "You're kidding." I know, I'm as surprised as you are that they'd leave out a whole paragraph like that.

"Collect the whole set!"

Just back from the post office, where I picked up an early birthday gift from my friend Colin, in Toronto: a copy of The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, by John Clute and John Grant. It's the companion text to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, which I purchased several years ago.

Sadly, I lacked the foresight (and the extra cash) to buy them both at once, and when I decided that it was time to fill the gap in my little reference library, both the books had gone out of print. Colin managed to hunt down a copy of the missing volume online, and as such deserves a large vote of gratitude.

It's always a good sign when you open a book at random - I'm sorry, it's a reference text, I don't plan to sit down and read my Concise Oxford Dictionary from the start either - and the first thing you read makes you laugh out loud. The entry in question dealt with "quest coupons", which is a not terribly flattering but sadly accurate description of a certain approach to writing fantasy novels. It's also pretty much the entire raison d'être for World of Warcraft - go here, get this item, and that will allow you to go there and get that item, and so on. I was also amused to see that Monty Python deserved an entry - but, ignoring the surreal nature of the TV shows, what is Monty Python and the Holy Grail but an Arthurian fantasy?* Not to mention much of Terry Gilliam's oeuvre...

But I digress. I haven't discussed fantasy very much on here, so perhaps I'll take advantage of this opportunity and do a few posts on the topic. And Colin? Thanks again. Your choice of gifts was, well, fantastic.

- Sid

* I recall when the movie first came out, Baird Searles, the movie reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, commented that in terms of art direction and style, Holy Grail would be a marvellous fantasy film - except for the coconut shells and so on.