Fantasy vs Science Fiction

By Brian Clegg

On my other blog, Popular Science, I review both popular science books (duh) and science fiction. I squeezed SF into that blog because I reckoned that many people who are interested in science also read science fiction (as, indeed, I am). And if you were to ask me until recently whether I preferred SF or fantasy I would have proudly stated ‘science fiction’… but I’m starting to wonder if it’s true.

If I had to list my favourite fiction authors, I would certainly mention some SF writers, from Fred Pohl to Adam Roberts, but there would be a strong showing from fantasy novelists. Throughout my teens, my ‘go to’ author was Alan Garner, and since then the likes of Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman and Ben Aaronovitch have featured regularly amongst my best-rated fiction. Recently I’ve rediscovered Robert Holdstock’s remarkable Mythago Wood and picked up on outstanding fantasy titles from current writers, such as The Night Circus. For that matter, some authors more frequently associated with SF, such as Ray Bradbury and Roger Zelazny, probably wrote better fantasy.

There is one big proviso here. Apart from The Lord of the Rings, which I loved from about age 12, I’m never been a fan of swords and sorcery. You know – the humans, wizards, elves and dwarves in a magic world stuff. For me, a really good fantasy has to be anchored in the everyday world. It’s the way that normal life and normal people are exposed to something strange and unexpected that makes it great. It’s one of the reasons that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was such good TV. 

I appreciate fantasy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and because it’s another step removed from popular science, the reviews will stay here on Now Appearing. But given the proviso that I only really mean a subset of fantasy, I suspect I will have to admit in future that while I’ll always love SF, it’s possible that I get more enjoyment out of fantasy.

Incidentally, a subscriber to my free weekly email recently complained about what they considered rather a lightweight set of articles, I suspect because there wasn’t much on popular science. I make no apology for this post being published in a slightly fantasy-heavy week, as it also features my review of Holdstock’s Lavondyss – but please be reassured, I have no intention of abandoning the popular science and SF. The reason fantasy and crime have appeared rather more often recently is that it was my birthday not long ago and I tend to read more non-science titles as a result of what I’m given. This will happen occasionally – but it’s not a drift away from my core topics.

Image by Robert Lukeman from Unsplash

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Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.