Chapter 13: Fantasy & Science Fiction



Chapter 13: Fantasy & Science Fiction

Fantasy is another subgenre of fiction. Something many people do not put together is that Science fiction is actual a subgenre of Fantasy. This always brings up one of the only things I remember from math in high school, “Every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square.” This is the same phenomenon as every science fiction book is a fantasy but not all fantasy will fall under science fiction. Nonetheless, there is specific criteria when it comes to evaluating fantasy (and science fiction) for young people. First, despite whatever world, setting or fantastical place the story is set, the characters need to behave in a consistent and believable manner. This is crucial for the suspension of disbelief and the readers to buy into the fantasy of the story. Next, there must always be rules to the fantasy world. For example, Dystopian texts are considered science fiction- as we as humans have advanced or some catastrophic event has occurred. In The Hunger Games, there are distinct rules, classes, and divisions made in their world. They have 12 districts and a capital. The Capital is the area with all of the wealth while the districts suffer. There is a punishment/ reminder of past transgressions which is the actual Hunger Games. These rules make t
he new world we are buying into believable because we are creatures of habit, structure, and rules. Another criteria for evaluating fantasy and science fiction, is that the author must help the readers in the ‘willing suspension of disbelief.’ This is the idea that you as the reader are willing to forget what you know is real (like the sky is blue- most of the time) or that flying cars do not exist- yet. The reader must be willing to back away from reality and accept the fantasy- and the author must be able to usher them into this fantasy in a way that we can believe. The Last piece of evaluating fantasy and science fiction is that the themes should explore universal truths. If the book is set in a world where dragons exist or that people go to party on the moon, the themes that are universal truths tether us to the reality we live.
 
Reflection:

The criteria set forth in this chapter is something very easily accessible and understandable when evaluating fantasy and non-fiction. Arguably, fantasy and science fiction rely on their characters just as much if not more than their settings. Fantasy is high in its ability to create whole new worlds, new languages, new rules, and systems, but the characters are what drive the story to its success. Every book fantasy or science fiction, I have enjoyed is because no matter what I enjoy the characters. Currently, I am reading The Knife of Never Letting Go and I can already tell that it is a successful dystopian novel. The author has created a new world in which Prentisstown exists, where a virus could infect the entire population (killing half the men and all the women) and give them The Noise where the men can hear each other’s thoughts. None of this would be as believable if you weren’t invested in Todd’s character and the author slowly draws the reader into the real issues. The Knife of Never Letting Go is not exactly what you would expect as a dystopian book- as most people’s assumptions is that science fiction and fantasy have to be far enough away from our reality to be believable. Todd talks in the book, like pretty much every country boy I grew up with. He struggles with the same issues of most boys coming of age, but with a complication of a virus that he believes to have wiped out half of the men and all of the women in his world. This story is able to build on the readers’ experiences, while also separating itself into a new world because of the unique experiences and societal structures of the world Todd lives in. Other books like this that are successful Game of Thrones (series), Feed, Unwind (series), and many more. Unwind by Neal Shusterman is another great example of how fantasy and science fiction rely on characters to get the reader invested while setting itself apart from realistic fiction through the use of setting and societal impacts. Unwind focuses on 3 characters (rotating between the 3 perspectives for different chapters) while giving the background of being set in the future with very specific societal changes. When they describe the setting and the places each character visit, they do not look dissimilar to those in real life, but the crucial change within science and technology has changed the mood and atmosphere of the world surrounding them. The premise of these books rely on the readers investing in the characters so that the fate in which they have to face because of the societal changes (in science and technology) draws the readers in even more. 



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