Fantasy with Friends – hosted by Pages Unbound – poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
I had a glance over this and although these questions are posed for Mondays, I thought these would be really fun prompts for Friday discussions between LTB posts. At some point I may go back and do some of the previous ones, as they really do seem interesting!
Fantasy with Friends
W/C 13th July
Brandon Sanderson
Are you a Brandon Sanderson fan? Some readers online have called his books the “fast food of fantasy?” Do you think that’s a valid criticism?
So – I’ve never actually read Brandon Sanderson’s work! I’ve gone back and forth over the years between “I should check it out” and “actually I’ll avoid this author”. There are plenty of criticisms against Sanderson and from what I’ve heard I’m not even entirely sure I’d get along with his work (but if you think differently and have a recommendation you think I should check out, please do let me know!).
Here’s the thing though – I often find when people throw about terms like “fast food of fantasy” or “trash” or similar words, they rarely actually engage with what they’re criticising. And they don’t accept that sometimes, yes, you need that fast food! You need the simplicity and comfort that fast food provides. It’s something particularly levelled against Romantasy, and though I have my issues with the term itself, the rage it induces is out of proportion.
There’s a strange expectation that to be well read means you have to read the classics, yet at the same time, we’re facing a huge literacy crisis. Dismissing books people enjoy doesn’t do any good, and is actively harmful. No, you don’t have to read Lord of the Rings to appreciate fantasy. Not everyone is going to enjoy the same types of works, and the beauty of fantasy – like horror, like sci-fi, like romance – is that it’s so wide and big, there’s something there for everyone.
Yes, some people are going to be drawn to the more dense, political side of fantasy. Others will want something cosy and light, many will go for something between and, brilliantly, there is space for all of them in the genre. I do think you should actually engage with something before criticising it, however – I’ve seen in recent years how fantasy and romance will be derided and criticised by people who will never pick up the books, or how one element is twisted to make it sound like it’s different than how it’s presented in the book. I’m sure there are valid criticisms for Sanderson’s work, but I think people are also very quick to label something popular as ‘fast food’,
This is the other issue, I think. People judge things based on popularity rather than merit. We see it time and time again. And not to say those things don’t have issues – there are certain books I just will not touch! But I don’t think you can dismiss someone like Sanderson as ‘fast food’, or even a popular genre as such, when they have the dedicated fanbases they do. You could say the same about King when it comes to horror, or any number of authors when it comes to romance, when ultimately, writing something easily accessible and enjoyable to people in a world where less people are engaging with the written word in book form in the first place is an incredible skill to have, and one which we should praise.
Unwrapping Words 