Duchess of Evil

I promised myself I wasn't going to comment on the...what does one call it? "Debate" is far too tame a word. "Flaming idiocy" is maybe better. Ok, then, the flaming idiocy that sparked an explosion currently raging across the SF/F fandom. I have no words. Go here, and read all about how fantasy is stealing SF's audience and dumbing down the world. No, seriously. Then go read scott_lynch's clever and funny response. I don't actually know who Scott Lynch is, but I love him.

Then go visit dolphin__girl and read her response as well as find some links to other intelligent people responding. They've all said it far better and more eloquently than I could.

I am going to limit myself to only my gut response here, because really I don't have time to get into anything longer, and as I stated, others have already said it better. I am a genre writer. And before I was ever a genre writer, I was a genre reader. I love SF/F best, and no, I do not differentiate. How can I? My shelves are full of books like Dune and Dragonriders of Pern that cross over into both, IMO. And as a genre, we of the SFF world have been discriminated against and ridiculed by "real literature" enthusiasts for years. Don't get me started on the college creative writing experience that killed any desire I had to choose it as my major. And now, not only are we being snidely dismissed by the "real literature" crowd, but also by our own ranks. It defies belief. What I'm feeling right now is very much akin to the time I read an interview by a very prominent, NYT bestselling fantasy epic author, who in his interview stated that he doesn't write "fantasy" and basically called his fans stupid if they believed he did, then proceeded to insult the entire genre. His genre. This is like that. I am outraged and ashamed and in disbelief.

You know what? Fantasy isn't stupid and simplistic and easy to frelling write. And if you're an SF author who disagrees, go try and write it, [censored].