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Originally Posted by Manarion  Which is why I recommend Piers Anthony's Incarnation of Immortality series to any reader who wants something fairly new and refreshing in fantasy.
And I understand that super-technology has been around a while in fantasy, but I still don't like it. As David Eddings said, fantasy and sci-fi shouldn't even look at each other. Fantasy deals with the past, while sci-fi deals with the future. That's why I tend to read his material more than anyone else, really. |
The problem is, while such a division can produce some good work, such a rigid approach quickly stultifies creativity in any branch of literature... very much what we've seen in fantasy (and are now, apparently, gradually getting away from). And, as has been pointed out time and again, both fantasy and sf come from the same origins, such a separatist ideal is less than truthful to the facts.
Nor has much of the best fantasy been oriented toward the past; S&S, yes (largely). But most branches of the field run the gamut. Dunsany (certainly one of the most important names in the history of the field) went from the past-oriented to present-world to future. Harlan Ellison's fantasy is almost exclusively centered on the contemporary world, and is immensely strong work. Andre Norton blended technology, the contemporary world (and, occasionally, politics), and the "traditional" semi-mediaeval milieu in her Witch World tales, quite often to great effect... and certainly she was long a mainstay of fantasy, very important to the field. The examples contrary to such an assertion are well-nigh endless.....