3 Replies to “First Cup of Coffee – August 10, 2020”
I would argue that anything with paranormal is Fantasy. Fantasy is a very large umbrella. Paranormal isn’t SF and it isn’t Contemporary. If it’s got magic, it’s Fantasy, and Paranormal is a type of magic. That said, it would depend on how the contest described the categories as to whether or not it would qualify for the contest. If Paranormal is a separate category, then requiring it to go there might make sense, but if Paranormal is not a separate category, then all Paranormal should reside under Fantasy. There are many, many types of Fantasy, from Magical Realism to Epic to Dark to Paranormal to Fairy Tale to Urban to High. If we’re looking at a flowchart of genres, first there is Fiction, then it sub-divides into Speculative or Non-Speculative, then into Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Horror. (And yes, this is an over-simplification, since some things cross genres). (I feel very strongly about this after decades of anything non-Tolkienish being labeled “not real fantasy,” plus various snobbish people declaring that their book about magic isn’t Fantasy as if that’s something odorous.) Sarah’s book is SF b/c it’s about the future (if remarkably prescient).
I agree with you overall, except that – in this case – there was both a light paranormal and dark paranormal category, along with fantasy. In that situation, fantasy becomes more defined, to my mind. But I agree that it doesn’t have to be Tolkien! And fuck those people who pretend their SFF books aren’t SFF because they’re “literary” and “transcend genre.”
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I would argue that anything with paranormal is Fantasy. Fantasy is a very large umbrella. Paranormal isn’t SF and it isn’t Contemporary. If it’s got magic, it’s Fantasy, and Paranormal is a type of magic. That said, it would depend on how the contest described the categories as to whether or not it would qualify for the contest. If Paranormal is a separate category, then requiring it to go there might make sense, but if Paranormal is not a separate category, then all Paranormal should reside under Fantasy. There are many, many types of Fantasy, from Magical Realism to Epic to Dark to Paranormal to Fairy Tale to Urban to High. If we’re looking at a flowchart of genres, first there is Fiction, then it sub-divides into Speculative or Non-Speculative, then into Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Horror. (And yes, this is an over-simplification, since some things cross genres). (I feel very strongly about this after decades of anything non-Tolkienish being labeled “not real fantasy,” plus various snobbish people declaring that their book about magic isn’t Fantasy as if that’s something odorous.) Sarah’s book is SF b/c it’s about the future (if remarkably prescient).
I agree with you overall, except that – in this case – there was both a light paranormal and dark paranormal category, along with fantasy. In that situation, fantasy becomes more defined, to my mind. But I agree that it doesn’t have to be Tolkien! And fuck those people who pretend their SFF books aren’t SFF because they’re “literary” and “transcend genre.”
Yeah, if Paranormal had two categories of its own, that’s different.