tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011180133672171801.post3554327764987636218..comments2022-12-10T02:34:01.429-08:00Comments on Fusion Fantasy by Bets Davies: gender in fantasyBets Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01470190008122531460noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011180133672171801.post-26366796850064965322013-06-03T16:59:15.898-07:002013-06-03T16:59:15.898-07:00I admire the realistic, gutsy characters in "...I admire the realistic, gutsy characters in "Rebirth"--their caustic humor, bravery under pressure, and their --again, I'd say realistic, sexual experimentation that comes naturally our of who and what they are, and the changes they are entangled in. <br /><br />"Incarnate," I think, is just a very different setting and not, I think, a soapbox. The characters are trying to defeat engrained slavery that has defined a conquered culture, reclaim aspects of their half remembered myths and beliefs, and decide if those earlier myths and beliefs can sustain them and let them grow. There is danger, and friendship, and sex, and humor, but there is also a rockier premise: how do we define being "worthy?" debbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09898956529161374972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011180133672171801.post-59710089689139732142013-02-09T10:20:27.605-08:002013-02-09T10:20:27.605-08:00Yes. The token gay guy. popular culture loved th...Yes. The token gay guy. popular culture loved them in the 1990s. Rupert Everette, for instance, was the gay best friend in just about everything. I hope to god my books don't come across like that.<br /><br />We do definitely have the advantage of the supposedly unreal, and many fantasy, sci fi, and horror books do use the advantage to critique our current culture. Which brings up the interesting topic of INCARNATE, my next book out, which is only one of two non half real worlds I wrote, and the only one in which I purposely set out to critique aspects of our culture while maintaining a character first attitude. When it arrives, you all will have to let me know how well I did. The problem with using your novel as a soapbox is that you might end up sounding like you are using your book as a soapbox. <br /><br />Any other thoughts on why the unreal has so much more right to challenge the real than those people who write "normal" fiction? Or do we think Pell has it pegged?Bets Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01470190008122531460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011180133672171801.post-20865506798869948732013-01-28T06:26:34.518-08:002013-01-28T06:26:34.518-08:00Fantasy unedoubtably gets away with more things on...Fantasy unedoubtably gets away with more things on the basis of not being real.<br />Just look at something like Pokemon. What parent would alow their kids to watch a show about unshaporoned kids traping dangerous animals and pitfighting them if it was realistic?<br />The genre lets authors freely drop the shackles of cultural preconceptions. Like in sexuality you can have strong women and week men,show the world as sexually diverse and open as you like. It can be used as a satirical devise to show flaws in the social construct. Though some times it feels like authors use gay people in the same shallow plot device that was the "token black guy" from the 80's.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04891929112372278531noreply@blogger.com