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First, I think it's a huge misconception that genre-fiction must be plot-driven. The best works of speculative fiction are far from it, and have as rich of characters and issues as you would come across in "literature." Secondly, zombies aside, many of these stories are really about a group of people surviving in desperate times, which I think is entirely relevant to present society. Speculative fiction in fact has a long history of providing the cautionary tale (if you take a more negative view of the future), or as inspiration for technological innovation (if you prefer a more positive light). Just look at the invention of satellites as an example. In fact, I know a number of cutting-edge scientific researchers who were first inspired to pursue their careers out of a childhood love of so-called genre fiction, so clearly it's doing something right. Personally, I don't find stories placed in fantastical worlds to be escapist or irrelavant at all. Although I do agree that speculative fiction has a steep learning curve in general - if you're not used to the conventions, then perhaps it's earier to get hung up on the details that seem so strange, rather than looking a little deeper at the underying themes in the novel. Just my two cents.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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