Beginning with Anne Rice, the idea of "serious" popular fiction having speculative elements started to become "cool." Steven King has also helped nudge the fantasy envelope with this Dark Tower series. Let's hope that the vampires and werewolves continue to bring readers to speculative fiction, and that sci-fi and fantasy become "cool"--or more people don't give a damn about what's cool, so long as they enjoy what they are reading.
10 June 2008
of vampires and werewolves, part II
Lesley asked the question in an earlier post, what makes vampires and werewolves so popular these days? I think this type of urban fantasy straddles the edge of what can be read by someone without feeling he or she must bear the stigma of being a "geek" or "nerd." Many readers love speculative elements in their fiction, but (subconsciously or not) avoid the fantasy and sci-fi shelves because "only geeks read that stuff." On the other hand, it is somehow okay to read horror (aka supernatural dark suspense) or sci-fi that has been labeled as a techno-thriller (can you say Jurassic Park?).
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1 comment:
Well, there you have it: 3 editors, 3 totally different opinions. Dave says it's not geeky, Betsy says it's easy, and I say it represents the evil inside humanity. :) Color me amused.
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