Emma Bilz
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hello! New reader here, really enjoy your books. Since you have written books of both the fantasy and sci-fi genres I was wondering if it was possible to combine the two? Would you have to minimise the magical element to it or just make magic follow a certain set of rules such as other forces do?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Other writers certainly have combined the genres; perhaps the commenters could chime in below with favorite examples.
I happen to think that genres are a continuum, rather than discrete boxes. (Actually, I think the world of books is an amorphous mass over which we drop assorted organizing and varyingly arbitrary mental grids. Also the world of people, but that's another discussion.) Speaking only for myself as a writer, I would classify anything as "fantasy" in the genre sense if the supernatural, in the book-world, is something real. This does not capture the dozens of subgenres that have other kinds of elements of unreality, from FTL travel to alternate history to, for that matter, fictional characters. But that's a much broader and less useful definition of "fantasy".
And then there's the numinous, of which the SFnal version is probably "sense of wonder". Which is not about rules, but about evoking an emotion of awe in the reader. Which is another slice through it altogether.
Ta, L.
Other writers certainly have combined the genres; perhaps the commenters could chime in below with favorite examples.
I happen to think that genres are a continuum, rather than discrete boxes. (Actually, I think the world of books is an amorphous mass over which we drop assorted organizing and varyingly arbitrary mental grids. Also the world of people, but that's another discussion.) Speaking only for myself as a writer, I would classify anything as "fantasy" in the genre sense if the supernatural, in the book-world, is something real. This does not capture the dozens of subgenres that have other kinds of elements of unreality, from FTL travel to alternate history to, for that matter, fictional characters. But that's a much broader and less useful definition of "fantasy".
And then there's the numinous, of which the SFnal version is probably "sense of wonder". Which is not about rules, but about evoking an emotion of awe in the reader. Which is another slice through it altogether.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Jill Vassilakos-long
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Lois McMaster Bujold:
Sorry, replacement surgery ASAP. When she was in her 20s, they switched from her pediatric team to another surgical group and that group replaced it with an organic valve. It was a profound change. She told me that she had never thought about a career, just about a job, that she could not imagine trying to save up for retirement, that she now wished she had not had a hysterectomy as soon as they would allow it. That ?
yang hwa
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Reading the Vorkosigan Saga inspired me to pick up drawing after a 10-year hiatus and draw some fanart, of which there's a sad dearth. What fanart I saw puts the Barrayaran women in Victorian/Edwardian-style clothing, while I've always imagined them in 1930-early 1960s clothing (boleros, calf-length skirts, skirt and blouse combos). Am I right and did you have any other fashion inspo I should take into consideration?
Kate Davenport
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Just gobbled up the Physicians of Vilnoc. Thank you. But I wondered, when divesting himself of chaos, couldn't Penric rot a condemned building from the top down or kill and rot a tree? (a wistful thought for me since I have several volunteer maples I will need to hire an arborist to remove) It would seem less efficient, but also less fraught.
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