Why are these two genres lumped together as if they are one? I like science fiction and I like some fantasy. When I go to a book store or an online store I usually have in mind what I am in the mood for. What I hate is looking through all of the fantasy books to find the few science fiction novels. It seems that with the popularity of the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Chronicles of Narnia movies, fantasy is all that you see in these sections. A lot of it seems to be assembly line books that are produced on a schedule. Why can I find every volume of every fantasy series in existence and the book store not carry Neal Stephenson or William Gibson.
The Library is the same way. Dewey must be rolling over in his grave about lumping two different subjects together in one section. I realize that there are a lot of crossover fans, but that could be said about many different genres. Women who read romance novels tend to also read true crime books. Why not lump those two together. Sci fi and fantasy fans tend to like computers so lets just move the computer section over. Yes, it is silly. Just as it is silly to put science fiction and fantasy in the same section.
When I want a sci fi novel I want to go over to the science fiction section and browse through nothing but sci fi. I hate picking up a book with a nondescript cover and realizing it is fantasy when I want hard sci fi. The problem isn't so pronounced with fantasy because nine out of ten books in the section will be fantasy.
2 comments:
Exactly! Fantasy just doesn't work for me at all. Sadly there aren't that many good hard sci-fi writers either. But those that are good can't even get much shelf space. Life is unfair, eh?
i noticed the same problem a few weeks ago, too! i wanted a sci-fi book and all i found were fantasy books. i don't mind either but like you said, when you want something specific, i just want to find it where it should be.btw, glad you posted your top 50 list. like i really need to add more books to my reading list! =|
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