My novel Agents of the Eye and Ear is medieval fantasy. The characters are elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, goblins, trolls and ogres. There are also humans and a half-elf. The weapons are swords, daggers, bows and arrows. Magic is common.
It can be assumed that Agents of the Eye and Ear is just another fantasy novel, an inferior derivative of The Lord of the Rings. By the sum of its parts, it is.
My Strange Galaxy stories are science fiction fantasy. The characters are humans, space aliens and androids. The weapons are guns and swords. The technology is advanced but there is also magic.
It can be assumed that Strange Galaxy is just another “space opera” series, an inferior derivative of Star Wars. By the sum of its parts, it is.
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Agents of the Eye and Ear is better than The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s elves have their own languages, but how does that distinguish them from human cultures? Aragorn, a human being learned their language. He learned their ways. My fairy folk are not human beings. They are different species, distinct by nature. Their language is speech, not their own gibberish. Their ways are natural, their cultures primal accordingly, no matter their sophistication.
My fairy folk are otherworldly. Tolkien’s are exotic, but as… humans.
Strange Galaxy is better than Star Wars. Lucas’ space aliens look weird and ramble in strange gibberish, but not as people. Chewbacca is a character more like the hero’s dog or horse than his actual friend. Lucas’s politics are the morality of the universe. My space aliens are very alien, but as people, though strangely so. The morality of my universe is seemingly ambiguous, since I sympathize with every side in a struggle.
My galaxy is a world that defines itself. The galaxy far, far away is defined by whimsy and politics.
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I love The Lord of
the Rings. I love Star Wars. They
inspired me. They were inspired by things before them. My work is not inferior.
I dare say it is better. I do so in all sincerity.
Well a good way to look at it is "2001: A Space Odyssey" is hard scifi as opposed to "Star Wars" which is more soft scifi. Your "Eye and Ear" is more hard fantasy as opposed to something like "Willow."
ReplyDeleteAWESOME compliment! Thank you, because I know you mean it.
DeleteWhen writing about people that are not human, it is important to show this as natural. The way they live works for them, and there is a logic that can be understood. We may not feel the same, but their ways should not be arbitrary.
ReplyDeleteYes. Fiction is believable when it plays out naturally... no matter how strange that "natural" may be.
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