5 SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS

February is well and truly upon us now, and as we hurtle toward spring we wanted to take a moment to pause and realize that: this month represents more than just our march out of the cold toward new growth—February is also Black History Month in the United States.

Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society—from activists and civil rights pioneers, to leaders in industry, politics, science, culture and more.

Black History Month 2023 Theme

Since 1976, when American president has designated February as Black History Month, they’ve also endorsed a a specific theme for each year.

The Black History Month theme for 2023 is: “Black Resistance.” Which explores how African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, since the nation’s earliest days. 

Could one think of a more powerful way to Resist and be Heard, than through the written word, and the telling of stories that sing in our hearts? After all—as Edward Bulwer-Lytton so aptly put it—”The pen is mightier than the sword.”

Read on to discover some of these voices, in 5 must-read Science Fiction books from Black authors and editors who continue to pull us into their worlds of magic and adventure.

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Who Fears Death

by Nnedi Okorafor

—An award-winning literary author presents her first foray into supernatural fantasy with a novel of post-apocalyptic Africa.

In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny – to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture – and eventually death itself.

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Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from The African Diaspora

Edited by Sheree R. Thomas

—This volume introduces black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers to the generations of readers who have not had the chance to explore the scope and diversity among African-American writers.

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The City We Became: A Novel

by N.K. Jemisin

—Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a “glorious” story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City.

Five New Yorkers must come together in order to defend their city.
Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She’s got five.
But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.

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Africa Risen

Edited by Sheree Renee Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight

—From an award-winning team of editors comes an anthology of thirty-two original stories showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora.

A group of cabinet ministers query a supercomputer containing the minds of the country’s ancestors. A child robot on a dying planet uncovers signs of fragile new life. A descendent of a rain goddess inherits her grandmother’s ability to change her appearance—and perhaps the world.

Created in the legacy of the seminal, award-winning anthology series Dark MatterAfrica Risen celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and reach of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF and reaffirms that Africa is not rising—it’s already here.

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The Black God’s Drums

by P. Djeli Clark

—Rising science fiction and fantasy star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God’s Drums.

Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans. Instead, she wants to soar, and her sights are set on securing passage aboard the smuggler airship Midnight Robber. Her ticket: earning Captain Ann-Marie’s trust using a secret about a kidnapped Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper keeps another secret close to heart–Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, who speaks inside her head and grants her divine powers. And Oya has her own priorities concerning Creeper and Ann-Marie…

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GALAXY’S EDGE REVIEW ROUNDUP: JANUARY 2023

Richard Chwedyk sold his first story in 1990, won a Nebula in 2002, and has been active in the field for the past thirty-two years.

BENDING, BLENDING, AND NEVERENDING

Station Eternity
by Mur Lafferty
Ace
October 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-09811-0

Mallory Viridian, P.I., has moved to a self-aware, alien space station because she happens to be too good at her job of solving murders. Her problem is the collateral damage that comes with her success: people close to her keep getting killed. She sees it as a jinx which she might only beat by living in an alien environment. But more humans arrive at the station, and more murders occur. What’s a private eye to do?

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The Terraformers
by Annalee Newitz
Tor
January 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-22801-7

I’ve been fascinated with the notion of terraforming since I first encountered it as a very young SF reader. Newitz seems to share that fascination at a number of levels: the reasons for doing it, the practical approaches to accomplishing such a task, and the questions more recently bounced around concerning the ethical nature of terraforming: if we make a planet more “earthlike,” do we mess with the natural ecology of the planet we propose to transform? Or even the natural ecology of space itself? We might declare a proposed planet lifeless or barren, but is it? By what standards do we measure the suitability of a planet to be terraformed? There is a great quote from a made-up environmental rescue team handbook used as an epigram: “Rivers might turn out to be people. Don’t make any assumptions.”

And these questions are very much at the heart of the novel, explored mostly from the perspective of Newitz’s protagonist, Destry. Her family has overseen the terraforming of the planet Sask-E for generations, and the responsibility has now fallen upon her. At a crucial moment, it is discovered that a volcano contains more than the usual exogeological “stuff”: a whole city—a populated city, too.

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The Daughter of Dr. Moreau
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Rey
July 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35533-6

I will not pretend that I “understand” this miraculous novel—not yet at least. But I may pay it what Vladimir Nabokov considered the highest compliment any reader can give any novel: I was­—am—enchanted by it.

In no way is it a sequel or follow-up or updating, or even a retelling, of that darkest of H. G. Wells’s scientific fables, The Island of Dr. Moreau. The skeleton of the novel is there, moved to a different place and time. An eccentric scientist is conducting research on an estate in the secluded jungles, aided by an overseer named Montgomery Laughton. Moreau’s daughter, Carlota, also lives there. Moreau thinks the isolation is good for her nerves, though the evidence argues otherwise. Along with some servants and a couple of occasional visitors, the only other occupants of the estate are the “hybrids.”

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Deathless Gods
by P. C. Hodgell
Baen
October 2022
ISBN: 978-1-9821-9216-7

And in her latest novel, Deathless Gods, you can find yourself recognizing contemporary concerns and attitudes in the midst of a world that otherwise seems so far away from our own, yet does so without conceding to giving characters contemporary idioms or attitudes.

The plot, as usual, is too dense to be summarized here with any justice, but be assured that Hodgell’s storytelling skills will keep you from becoming lost.

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Penric’s Labors
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Baen
November 2022
ISBN: 978-1-9821-9224-2

This book, however, seems a good place to start for uninitiated fantasy readers (science fiction readers will need to look elsewhere). Besides, it’s not a novel, but three novellas, and they’re not tied together like the old “fixups” of days of yore. I love novellas, and these especially.

This is the third collection (if I’m counting correctly) devoted to the sorcerer Learned Penric and his temple demon Desdemona. Penric may be no Miles Vorkosigan (but then who is?) but he is an affable, compelling, and fully engaging character. He doesn’t hold a candle to Desdemona, though. The interplay between them would make enjoyable reading enough, but Bujold has engineered these three novellas with more than requisite thrills and wit. Each novella builds on the previous one to expand upon our understanding and appreciation of “Pen and Des” and their world. I can only imagine new readers becoming thoroughly captivated with her storytelling here.

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Gunfight on Europa Station
edited by David Boop
Baen
November 2022 (mass market; fp November 2021)
ISBN: 978-1-9821-9227-3

David Boop has gathered some fine work here. Funny, exciting, suspenseful, meditative—a great variety of styles and content. All good stuff. I’m especially fond of Boop’s own contribution, “Last Stand at Europa Station A,” and the stories by Elizabeth Moon, Jane Lindskold, Alan Dean Foster, Martin L. Shoemaker, and Alex Shvartsman. Also of note, as a special favorite, is the collaboration by Cat Rambo and J. R. Martin, “Riders of the Endless Void.”

There’s something here for everyone.

Except my mom.

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Sword and Planet
edited by Christopher Ruocchio
Baen
September 2022 (mass market; first printing December 2021)
ISBN: 978-1-9821-9214-3

I started teaching a science fiction litf class last fall. Better late than never. One of the things I’ve discovered is that a significant contingent of my students believe that the term “science fiction” is indistinguishable, nay synonymous, with “space opera.” It has been my goal all term to disabuse them of this erroneous simplification.

However, if they’re going to read space opera, or a brand of it that resembles heroic fantasy with warp drives, and a copy of the David Hartwell- Kathryn Cramer-edited The Space Opera Renaissance isn’t handy, they can do worse than to dig into this compact and absorbing collection of original stories.

Yes, they are mashups of science and magic, but more often than not the science comes out on top, and in a satisfying (and often witty) way.

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The Dabare Snake Launcher
by Joelle Presby
Baen
November 2022
ISBN: 978-1-9821-9225-9

Joelle Presby’s novel is about the construction and initial operation of the first space elevator, and it’s located in west Africa. “Dabarre,” we are told at the outset, is a Fulani term that means a piece of machinery fashioned from repurposed parts that either works perfectly—or not at all. So, some sense of the “stakes” is pretty clear as well. The voice and structure of the novel are fairly traditional, but it has a great cast of characters and is an exciting story, filled with all the wit and neat ideas we love to find in good science fiction. This novel left me feeling very optimistic. If not for the planet, then for the form of literature we love so much.

Copyright © 2022 by Richard Chwedyk.

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Find the entire article at Galaxy’s Edge Magazine — where you can read for free until February 28th, 2023.

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HOLIDAY READS: 5 SPECULATIVE BOOKS TO KICK OFF THE SEASON

Tis the Season here at Signals From the Edge, and since it’s the start of December (and several holiday celebrations), we figured what better to go with those twinkling lights than a few books full of wonder and speculation. So grab a gingerbread cookie or two, toss some marshmallows in your hot cocoa, wrap yourself up in your favorite blanket, and prepare to dive in …

Continue reading “HOLIDAY READS: 5 SPECULATIVE BOOKS TO KICK OFF THE SEASON”

Interview with Author Mica Scotti Kole

An award-winning author, and a regular to the pages of Galaxy’s Edge Magazine, writer and editor Mica Scotti Kole gave us the chance to peal back the pages and get a glimpse inside the life of a dreamer, artist, and someone who has followed her dreams straight into a reality …

Continue reading “Interview with Author Mica Scotti Kole”

5 SFF Books About Pyromancy

Pyromancy, as it was originally described, is the act of divining the future by looking at flames. Similar to other methods of divination that date back to ancient Greece, like knissomancy (using incense smoke) or osteomancy (using arrangements of bones).

But, in today’s SFF scene, pyromancy often refers to the ability to control fire, and pyromancy appears in countless sword-and-sorcery novels.

We’ve compiled a short list of some of the most prominent books that involve fire magic!

Pyromancer by Don Callander

pyromancer by don callander

While it’s a bit on the nose, Pyromancer is, in fact, about fire magic. As the first book of Callander’s Mancer series, the book follows Douglas Brightglade as he comes to master his abilities over fire. Along his journey, Brightglade makes many friends, animal and human, who help him take on the Ice King.

This story has often been described as simple, with a fairly basic plot of good against evil, but it’s a quick, fun read for anyone that loves old sword and sorcery fiction.

This classic fire vs. ice story was first published in 1992 by Ace, and reprinted again fairly recently. If you’re looking to read this story, I suggest finding an older printing, because the new edition is full of typographical errors.

Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher

beyond redemption micheal r fletcher

While this book sparked some controversy over it’s use of mental health issues as fundaments of magical power, it does feature pyromancy.

In Fletcher’s world, there are two kinds of people: the “normal”, sane people, and the Geisteskranken, which translates to The Insane from German. Within the second group, there are various different people who gain power from their relative insanity. The Hassebrands in particular, are adept at fire magic.

This grimdark SFF book follows a group of murderers as they attempt to capture and kill a young boy Morgen, who they believe will become a new god. This book isn’t for the faint of heart, as Fletcher goes into very dark territory. If you’re looking for some wicked fire magic, this book is for you, but make sure you read something more lighthearted—like Pyromancer—after you finish it.

The Castes and the OutCastes by David Ashura

a warrior's path davis ashura

This trilogy consists of A Warrior’s Path, A Warrior’s Knowledge, and A Warrior’s Penance. The first book won the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award for fantasy, and was a finalist for multiple other awards.

In this series, which is loosely based on Indian mythology, there are the castes, and the outcastes. The main character, Rukh Shektan, is born into the Caste Kumma, and becomes a renowned warrior, skilled with both fire magic and the blade.

The characters are well-developed, and the world presents enough similarities to traditional fantasy books that it feels familiar, but has aspects of political intrigue, deception, and action that make it unique.

This sword-and-sorcery series has been likened to The Wheel of Time, the works of Zelazney, and other big-name fantasy series.

The Fire Mages by Pauline M. Ross

the fire mages pauline m ross

Even thought The Fire Mages is part of the Brightmoon series, it can be read as a standalone book. The story follows Kyra as she navigates a world of magic and deception. Magic in this world requires specific symbology written on magic paper, with very few magicians capable of using their powers without these things.

As such, fire magic is pretty dangerous, seeing as how the mode for power is flammable paper.

The book reminds me of a mix between The Name of the Wind (thinking about Kvothe’s struggle with money and school) and The Armored Saint by Myke Cole.

It’s a fun ride, and the characters are well-thought out and the world is full of rich details. Definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of traditional fantasy magic.

Firestarter by Stephen King

firestarter stephen king

Moving out of the realm of fantastical magic-wielders, Firestarter imagines a world where experimental drug trials leave some individuals with psychic abilities. The main character, Charlie McGee, has a very strong pyrokinetic ability, which she often uses to protect her and her father from secret government agents who are hunting them down.

Firestarter is a sci-fi horror story, typical of King’s style as a writer. The book was first published in 1980, and was adapted as a film in 1984. The reboot of the film comes out later this year, starring Zac Efron as Charlie’s father, Andy, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Charlie.

If you like stories about powered people hunted down by shadow organizations, then Firestarter is a must read.

If you liked this post, consider checking out some of our other Top 5 book lists!

Top 5 Desert Fantasy Books With Sandy Cities

For a long time, the fantasy genre was dominated by stories about tall stone castles, misty forests, and knights in medieval armor. This intense focus on the medieval European landscape kind of defined fantasy as a genre. Just saying the word “fantasy” inspires thoughts of dragons, knights, and maidens in despair.

But there are plenty of other kinds of fantasy out there that don’t take such heavy inspiration from the Middle Ages. One of the most interesting fantasy genres is desert fantasy. Authors of desert fantasy replace the mountains and ancient forests with vast seas of sand and massive trade-center cities.

Here are the top 5 desert fantasy books that feature sandy dunes, complex cities, and a fresh take on the fantasy genre.

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

When this book first came out in 2012, it was a big hit. It was one of the most popular desert fantasy books by far, and it still stands as a great example of non-European fantasy.

But it was planned as a series—The Crescent Moon Kingdoms. But it’s been 10 years and we haven’t seen a second book released. It has a title and a description on Goodreads, but no official news about its publication date.

The story follows a number of interesting characters, including a ghul hunter, a holy warrior, and a shapeshifter. All the characters are investigating a series of murders that are all connected, and when they end up banding together, they realize there’s a plot much bigger than anyone realized. In the kingdom of Dhamsawaat, the Falcon Prince is brewing up a revolution, and it’s up to the ragtag band to stop him.

The author, Saladin Ahmed, is a quite prominent writer for Marvel, working on numerous Spider-Man comics.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame is part of the Sands of Arawiya series, and is succeeded by the book, We Free the Stars. This book was published in 2019 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The kingdom of Arawiya was inspired by ancient Arabia,

The story follows Zafira, a hunter of rare artifacts. She disguises herself as a man to avoid scrutiny as she acts as a champion for her people. When she sets out to find a precious artifact that can heal her people, the Prince of Death, right hand of the sultan, is put onto her trail. During the course of their hunt, the two champions realize that something much bigger is stirring in the world, something neither of them can control.

We Hunt the Flame is often considered a young adult series, but it stands on the line between adult fantasy and young adult desert fantasy.

The Eyes of the Tamburah by Maria V. Snyder

The Eyes of the Tamburah is the first book in the Archives of the Invisible Sword series, and is often considered a young adult novel. The book was published in 2019, so it’s a fairly new addition to the desert fantasy genre.

The story follows Shyla, an 18-year-old outcast. Her sun-colored eyes maker her a sun-kissed, a child marked by the Sun Goddess as a sacrifice. But instead of meeting a gruesome death, Shyla was raised by monks.

Soon after leaving the monks, Shyla ventures into the underground desert city of Zirdai and starts working as a kind of Tomb-Raider-esque archaeologist. When a precious religious artifact is stolen, Shyla is blackmailed into finding it, but ends up getting caught in the middle of a deadly turf war.

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu

As the first book in The Song of Shattered Sands series, Twelve Kings in Sharakhai sets up the whole desert environment. From the tallest spire of the desert city’s towers to the gnarled, magical trees that pepper the windswept plains outside the city walls.

In this book, we meet Ceda, a pit fighter and a rogue, trying to unravel the mysteries in her late mother’s diary. Little does she know; she holds the secrets that the Twelve Kings tried to purge from existence. Finding foes at almost every turn, Ceda must navigate the dark streets of Sharakhai to finish what her mother started and free the people of the desert from the kings’ tyranny.

This book is one of my favorites, and it has such rich lore and backstory. Many of the elements are inspired by Arabic folklore, specifically Egyptian. The Song of Shattered Sands includes 6 full-length novels, a prequel novella, and a handful of other novellas/short stories.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

The Blue Sword is the oldest book on this list, having been first published in 1982. The book is first of the Damar series, which includes four other books.

The Blue Sword takes place in the desert land populated by Homelanders and Hillfolk. The protagonist, Angharad “Harry” Crewe, is captured by the Hillfolk King and taken deep into the desert. Harry is then trained to be a master warrior, and develops a keen sense of respect for the Hillfolk. As Northern invaders threaten their sovereignty, Harry must be the bridge that brings the Homelanders and the Hillfolk together.  

There are plenty of other desert fantasy books out there that we didn’t mention, and the genre is still growing! If you have a favorite book that wasn’t mentioned here, feel free to leave a comment below!

And if you liked this blog, consider checking out some of our other content:

The Ups and Downs of Low Fantasy vs. High Fantasy

For many people, when they think of “fantasy”, pictures of massive castles, dragons, and knights come to mind. For other people, they think of monsters and heroes walking in our city streets, an addition to our mundane world.

The distinction there is low fantasy vs. high fantasy, and it’s one of the most interesting concepts in genre-fiction.

In this article, I want to try to understand how one genre of fantasy fiction has gotten to be considered “low”, while alternate world works like The Lord of the Rings have attained a lofty “high” fantasy title.

Low Fantasy vs. High Fantasy: Definitions

In the general sense, high fantasy differs from low fantasy primarily because of the setting. High fantasy novels are set in a secondary world, with very little that links them to your present Earth timeline.

When thinking of high fantasy, think Middle Earth, Roshar, or Temerant. These places are so unlike our own that there’s no way they could be mistaken for such.

Low fantasy, on the other hand, brings fantastical elements into our world. Urban fantasy, superhero movies, paranormal fiction—all of these genres could be lumped into the low fantasy basket. Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Supernatural—low fantasy.

Now, there is a bit more depth to the distinction between low fantasy and high fantasy that I want to discuss, and that’s literary intent.

low fantasy vs. high fantasy
A Lord of the Rings illustration by John Howe

Agents of Change

Lori Campbell, author of the literary criticism Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy, believes that low fantasy provides a better opportunity to enact social change because of the close alignment to our real world.

And in some ways, she’s correct. It’s much easier to draw comparisons to real-life problems/events when their metaphors occur in a world we understand. For example, in Harry Potter, the Death Eaters represent a rise in alt-right extremism across the world, and the whole conflict might be seen as an analogy for the fight against racism and fascism.

For some people, this metaphor is easier to digest than the real-life situations were white supremacists commit acts of domestic terrorism in the name of a defunct ideology.

But can we really say that Harry Potter is heralding the anti-fascism banner as it’s sole literary intent? Not really. Can we even say that Harry Potter succeeds in taking a firm stance against discrimination because the low fantasy classification makes the stance more digestible? Maybe, but J.K. Rowling’s recent stint of transphobia and bigotry makes her anti-extremism argument less compelling.

However, Campbell’s argument hinges upon the premise that readers are ill-equipped to draw high-level connections between high fantasy and our real world. That’s certainly not the case.

While low fantasy might outwardly present real-life issues because of its proximity to our reality, high fantasy isn’t “high” fantasy because it’s something only the elite can understand. You might have to dig a bit deeper to get to the point of social contention in a high fantasy novel, but if it’s there, you’ll find it. Readers aren’t dumb, and I feel like that’s what Campbell as implied.

How High is High Fantasy?

What I find really interesting about the classification of low vs high fantasy is that one is held in a “higher” regard than the other.

The implication of the term high fantasy is that it’s an elite genre, that it’s held above low fantasy for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the creation of a wholly unique secondary world ranks above the alteration of our own reality present in low fantasy. Or perhaps the sliding scale of low fantasy vs. high fantasy favors the wildly fantastical over all else.

I think this is where we run into the many problems with classifying fiction. There’s no real way to make a checklist that can accommodate every novel, movie, short story, or video game. Instead of getting micro-specific, we have to draw back and become far more general.

Does this story take place in a secondary world? Yes. Then it’s high fantasy.

That just doesn’t seem like an accurate qualifier, in all honesty. There’s so much distinction between high fantasy work, that there almost needs to have a slide scale all unto itself.

For example, The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss are in a secondary world, Temerant, which makes it a high fantasy. But, contrary to other high fantasy novels, The Name of the Wind doesn’t contain dragons, orcs, goblins, elves, or any other manner of typical fantasy creatures.

The story focuses on human interactions, and with the addition of magic, it seeks to explore how that impacts human relationships and character development.

This kind of high fantasy contrasts starkly to the high fantasy that’s been popularized by works like The Lord of the Rings, The Inheritance Cycle, and The Stormlight Archives.

low vs high fantasy
A cover variation of Words of Radiance from Michael Whelan

I do think that we have moved away from such strict standards for identifying genres. With the rise of Game of Thrones-like fantasy, people are more inclined to say that The Name of the Wind is just as much high fantasy as The Lord of the Rings. It might not have dragons or dwarves, but it still counts.

Meeting in the Middle

In many ways, I think that the classifications we put on art don’t fully encapsulate the unique microcosm we find behind each book cover. You can walk into a book store and find a vast range of books in the Fantasy and Science Fiction section. Jim Butcher brushing dust jackets with Neil Gaiman, Seanan McGuire cozying up next to C.L. Moore.

The classifications of low and high fantasy are fairly vanilla in their describing power. Sure, a low fantasy might be set in our world, but it could be about ghost-hunting lesbians or it could be about demigods squaring off against titans.

And any power these books might have for enacting social change is purely subjective. You can choose to read a book as a manifesto for change, or you can read a fantasy book as an escapist joyride. Lori Campbell isn’t entirely wrong about low fantasy being capable of spreading change, but at the end of the day, it’s not just low fantasy. Novels from across the sci fi and fantasy gamut have impact every single day, and it’s not because of their classification, it’s because of their power as motivators.

A book won’t go out to a protest or argue with climate deniers. But it could prompt you to. Books motivate us to do better, and if that’s a $3 dollar store vampire romance novel, we don’t judge.