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Page 4
TE: Without mentioning any names -- because that is the sort of thing that always gets me into trouble -- I have to say, yes, I do find that a great many Fantasy books being published are very derivative. Obviously, it is possible to take familiar material and make it fresh -- Shakespeare, for instance, borrowed shamelessly, as we all know -- but when you join stereotypical characters and stale plotting to recycled themes and stories the result can be very disappointing. It is particularly frustrating, for me as a reader, when I recognize something that IS original within the set-up of the story, some element that could, if the author would, take the plot and the characters in a whole new direction, into unexplored territory, but that part gets glossed over, or gets thrown away as a mere plot device, and the author decides to write something safe, something utterly predictable instead.
TE: We are talking about literary junk food, the novelistic equivalent of empty calories -- harmless enough in small quantities, but if taken to excess it can vitiate the taste. Certainly, it does nothing to add to the repute of our field. But do bad books drive out good books, as some writers I know have suggested? I wonder about that. If these books were not available, would the people who devour them now be forced to read something more imaginative, more original instead? Or would they simply go out looking for junk food romances, junk food historicals, junk food westerns, and forget about speculative fiction altogether? I have heard editors say that these are the kinds of books that pay the bills, that allow publishers to keep on publishing at a profit -- so that when something better comes along they can afford to take a chance on it. One sure-fire hit by Author A can make books by Authors B, C, and D possible. So, perhaps it all balances out. DL: The Harry Potter books have brought a lot of young readers into the genre. What do you think of this? Is it helpful to the genre? TE: Well, again I don't know. On the face of it, it would seem to be a very good thing. But the truth is, the Harry Potter books are simply crammed with incident, and there is a lot to like and a lot to dislike in each one of them. Readers, both young and old, who never read Fantasy before are gobbling them up. But are these readers and the long-time Fantasy readers who also love the books responding to very different things? I've read reviews and interviews by and with some of these new young readers, and very, very rarely do they comment on the fantastical elements within the story. They like the books because they identify with Harry, because Hermione is smart, because Hagrid is funny and lovable --above all, because So Many Things Happen. So, when they finish the Rowling books, if they go on to pick up something by Diana Wynne Jones, or Philip Pullman, or Lloyd Alexander, or any of the other really fine writers of YA Fantasy -- will they love these books, too? will they seek out more and more books by Fantasy authors? -- or will they be disappointed because these books do not duplicate whatever it was that they loved about the Harry Potter experience, conclude that no one but Rowling can write readable Fantasy, and stop right there? |
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