S&S vs. SF in BotNS

Daniel Petersen · 19 Dec 2011, 01:42 · from 2011-December.txt.gz

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From: danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com (Daniel Petersen)
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:42:02 +0000
Subject: (urth) S&S vs. SF in BotNS
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Actually, I should just paste it here for ease:

' The other way Wolfe is generally different than Tolkien is that most of
his world-building is in authentically *science fictional* terms (barring,
of course, the Soldier series and the Wizard-Knight series). That is, in
all twelve books of the Solar Cycle Wolfe is creating not 'alternate
realms' of 'sword and sorcery' (oh yes, it sometimes looks and feels like
this to a large degree so that he is often labeled 'science fantasy'), but
genuine far-future, technologically advanced (so vastly advanced that it is
in long forgotten decay), space-faring, interplanetary, alien ecospheres
and economies. The Solar Cycle is indeed a subversive or alternative or
'punk' form of classic Heroic Fantasy, but it is in irreducibly science
fictional terms. Of course, Wolfe also writes these books in a way that
richly and readily includes the 'fantastic': the paranormal, the
preternatural, the supernatural, the 'transcendant', the spiritual, the
'trans-dimensional' (though curiously, nothing authentically 'magical' that
I can see). In this sense it is also fantasy literature but more in the
vein of Lovecraft or Gaiman or Tim Powers or 'magic realism' or what have
you. This kind of fantasy is neither Tolkien's Middle Earth on the one hand
nor Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast on the other (though it includes a 'feel'
from both). So when I call Wolfe's writing 'science fantasy' what I mean is
something like 'science fiction fantasy', which I know is uncomfortable
(not to say oxymoronic!) to some out there. But Wolfe's fiction is nothing
if not uncomfortable, uncategorisable, and disturbing ? but all, in my
opinion, in ways that are ultimately enlightening and humanising.'

-DOJP

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:40 AM, Daniel Petersen <
danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:

> In light of the recent discussions about BotNS as appearing to be Sword &
> Sorcery:  just realised I briefly addressed this about a year and a half
> ago in a post on my Wolfe blog.  Paragraph six at:
>
>
> http://silkandhornheresy.blogspot.com/2010/06/reading-wolfe-is-dream-like-another.html
>
> -DOJP
>
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