{"id":179,"date":"2015-09-07T19:07:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T19:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/societyforritualarts.com\/coreopsis\/fall-2015-issue\/?p=179"},"modified":"2019-04-27T22:04:58","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T02:04:58","slug":"from-genly-ai-to-louis-proof-are-people-of-color-well-represented-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/societyforritualarts.com\/coreopsis\/fall-2015-issue\/from-genly-ai-to-louis-proof-are-people-of-color-well-represented-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy\/","title":{"rendered":"From Genly Ai to Louis Proof:\u00a0 Are People of Color Well Represented in Science Fiction and Fantasy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time for a futuristic genre to stop living in the past.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By Lezlie Kinyon, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Originally published in<\/span> The Internet Review of Science Fiction<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>November, 2009<\/span><\/a>. Edited and updated here for <\/span>Coreopsis<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBeware, all too often we say what we hear others say. We think what we are told that we think.\u00a0 We see what we are permitted to see.\u00a0 Worse, we see what we are told that we see. Repetition and pride are the keys to this. To hear and to see even an obvious lie again and again and again, maybe to say it almost by reflex, and then to defend it because we have said it, and at last to embrace it because we\u2019ve defended it.\u201d (<\/span>Octavia Butler<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Parable of the Talents.)<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some years ago I worked with a primarily African American non-profit literacy program for K-12 students.\u00a0 During my tenure, we discussed what kinds of literature to introduce our students to at weekly staff meetings.\u00a0 Being a long time fan of science fiction and fantasy I recommended some titles well-loved from my youthful library prowlings.\u00a0 During a staff meeting, one of my co-workers startled me by saying, \u201cAfrican Americans and other people of color don\u2019t read Science Fiction.\u201d\u00a0 I inquired further and discovered that it was generally accepted both among my co-workers and at the schools where I had been assigned that this was both true and the reason for it was because of a generally held belief that \u201cThere are no people of color in science fiction.\u00a0 The case is worse for fantasy.\u201d\u00a0 I could only wonder.\u00a0 Then, I began to <\/span>wonder<\/span><\/i>, is this really true? \u00a0I decided to do some research. \u00a0No doubt many old favorites and groundbreaking new authors have been left out of this analysis. To you I say: this paper represents a beginning, a starting place for more discussion. \u00a0There are, unfortunately (and, one sincerely wishes that this were not true) only so many novels one can read in a lifetime. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"1199688\"<\/a>The popular conception is that people of color are \u201csidekicks\u201d or absent more often than not in science fiction.\u00a0 The other definition I will elaborate on herein is that of \u201ccolor\u201d. \u00a0At first glance, it is characters who are not Caucasian. \u00a0Therein lays a Gordian Knot of considerable proportions and complexity. \u00a0While it may be generally held that light-skinned people of European descent are originally from the Caucasus Mountains around the region of the Black Sea in Central Europe, there are many detractors of this theory, and it is far too large a subject for this essay. \u00a0Suffice it to say that while there are as many different kinds of people in the world living on this Earth, many of whom would \u2013 by looking at skin color \u2013 would be identified as one color, or one \u201crace\u201d while they, themselves would virulently disagree. \u00a0There must be SF\/F tales featuring the people of Pacifica, Siberia, or the mountains of Armenia, however, I only (alas) fluently read English, and am most familiar with the works publishing in that language and this paper will focus on people who are of certain underrepresented ethnicities published in English without discussing the larger questions of what makes up a broad definition of race or ethnicity. <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew of course, and loved, the classic works by <\/span>Samuel Delaney<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Octavia Butler<\/span>, and<\/span> UK Le Guin<\/span> who had – together – breached the literary \u201ccolor wall\u201d in genre literature in the 1960s and 70s with <\/span>Kindred, Dalghren, Babel 17<\/span><\/i>, and in \u201cyouth\u201d fantasy, <\/span>A Wizard of Earthsea<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Beyond that I had read UK Le Giun\u2019s classic \u201cHainish\u201d works where her protagonist, \u201cThe Envoy\u201d in <\/span>The Left Hand of Darkness<\/span><\/i> ( published in 1969)<\/span> is black \u2013 although this fact is often overlooked standing beside, as it does, the probing questions of gender identity and sexuality LeGuin tackled in \u201c<\/span>Left Hand \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i> .\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"TheLeftHandOfDarkness1stEd<\/a>This essay will be somewhat of a literature review based upon that research over a period of about two years covering works both classic in the genre and new.\u00a0It is generally held that people of color, when they appear in F\/SF are \u201csidekicks\u201d, or the antagonist, \u00a0and not main characters.\u00a0 While this appears, on the surface to be true, it is also true that over the years since Delany\u2019s <\/span>Dalghren<\/span><\/i> made waves in the late 1970s, writers of all colors have stepped up to the challenge (SF&F writers do love a challenge). \u00a0\u00a0My prime criteria for the books discussed here are that the people created in them are not “sidekicks,” or non-human with dark skin (as in R. A. Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden), but humans featured as the primary protagonist of a novel or a series. My second primary criterion is that these novels are also a good read. By a good read, I mean written well, with occasional leaps into truly lyrical prose, a plot with unexpected moments within a well crafted story, well rounded characters (even the alien ones) and a satisfying ending. Good cover art doesn’t hurt, either. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was both easier and more difficult than I had anticipated.\u00a0 Difficult in that I honestly could not tell whether a protagonist was a person of color from the cover art or the back cover blurbs on most of the books found in bookstores and while this practice may aid in selling books, it did make the search a little more complicated than a scan through the \u201cbooks in print\u201d listings.\u00a0 Although, I will insert here, with only a very few exceptions, the cover art will not reveal what is inside a book, or whether the protagonists are any particular ethnicity.\u00a0 While much of the art found in SF\/F is remarkable for its artistic merit, it trails behind in presenting people of color on the covers of books, even when the chief protagonist is Native American, Asian, or African, or a blue-hued, yellow-eyed alien! \u00a0 One can only blame \u201cmarketing\u201d for this lack. \u00a0It seems, also, that it is still true that talking about race is something that people in the genre are nervous about doing, worried that it will impact negatively on them professionally or even personally.\u00a0 As blogger, author, and critic, <\/span>K. Tempest Bradford<\/span><\/a>, states:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

A few things changed that for me. Partly it was realizing just how few faces like my own I saw at conventions, how few black and other POC authors I saw published in magazines or bookstores, and how POC were portrayed in SF shows (when they existed at all) … (Bradford, K., 2009) <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While this essay is primarily concerned with protagonists, it is important to also remember the experience of the writers of the genre who broke through the barriers during the 1960s and \u201870s. \u00a0Samuel Delany recounts an experience with one of the \u201cgiants\u201d of the genre, <\/span>John W. Campbell, Jr<\/span>: a gatekeeper of legendary influence over what was and was not published during his tenure as the editor of <\/span>Analog <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Astounding Science Fiction <\/span><\/i>in his \u00a0essay, \u201cRacism and Science Fiction”<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 10, a month and a half before the March awards, in its partially completed state <\/span>Nova<\/span><\/i> had been purchased by Doubleday & Co. Three months after the awards banquet, in June, when it was done, with that first Nebula under my belt, I submitted <\/span>Nova<\/span><\/i> for serialization to the famous sf editor of <\/span>Analog<\/span><\/i> Magazine, John W. Campbell, Jr. Campbell rejected it, with a note and phone call to my agent explaining that he didn\u2019t feel his readership would be able to relate to a Black main character. That was one of my first direct encounters, as a professional writer, with the slippery and always commercialized form of liberal American prejudice: Campbell had nothing against my being Black, you understand. (There reputedly exists a letter from him to horror writer Dean Koontz, from only a year or two later, in which Campbell argues in all seriousness that a technologically advanced Black civilization is a social and a biological impossibility. . . .). No, perish the thought! Surely there was not a prejudiced bone in his body! It\u2019s just that I had, by pure happenstance, chosen to write about someone whose mother was from Senegal (and whose father was from Norway), and it was the poor benighted readers, out there in America\u2019s heartland, who, in 1967, would be too upset. . . . (New York Review)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isaac Asimov<\/span><\/a> (1979) called Campbell \u201cThe most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely.\u201d (p. 73). \u00a0\u00a0Delany\u2019s anger is both understandable. With the demise of the pulp \u2018zine market and, with it, the power of this kind of gatekeeper, one may hope to see this blatant prejudice erased.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet, The Search was also easier than a decade ago because, with a little questioning, there are some really \u201cgood reads\u201d to be found fairly readily at the local library or bookseller.\u00a0 Consulting with my local reference librarian and the proprietor of the famous SF&F bookseller, <\/span>Dark Carnival Books in Berkeley, Ca<\/span><\/a>, I was able to compile a fairly respectable list of titles both classic in the genre and more recent.\u00a0 Asian Cyberpunk is by and large the most accessible and has a plethora of characters from all parts of the world, but, it is also a sub-genre that requires an inquiry unto itself and won\u2019t be covered herein.\u00a0 Neither will I cover \u201cfan-fic\u201d, while not always \u201cpolished\u201d work, is in many ways, free of many of the boundaries and conventions that hamper conventionally published authors.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>Urban and modern fantasists have made a respectable showing in the portrayals of Native Plains and Southwest Cultures including <\/span>Charles de Lint<\/span><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Newford<\/span><\/i> books and <\/span>Elizabeth Ann Scarborough<\/span><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Godmother<\/span><\/i> series, especially <\/span>The Godmother’s Web<\/span><\/i> (1998) which weaves a web of its own through the folk and fairy tales of several cultures including that of the Hopi and Navajo figures of Spider Woman and Kokopeli. <\/span><\/p>\n

The collaboration of <\/span>Anne McCaffery<\/span><\/a> and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough have made a fair stab at presenting Inuit culture in <\/span>The Twins of Petaybee<\/span><\/i> (2005-2008)<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>albeit as an unlikely mix of Irish and Inuit colonists.\u00a0 Faring less well were African Americans and Romani \u2013 in approximately equal measure, for different reasons.\u00a0 McCaffery, as example, who does so well in many other ways, attempted to show \u201cTinker\u201d families in a positive light in her <\/span>Dragonriders of Pern<\/span><\/i> (1976-2003) series, but \u2013 as so many have before her, the picture she paints is that of the popular, romanticized, happy \u201cwandering clan\u201d.\u00a0 Other minorities seem to be absent or, again, in the \u201csidekick\u201d realm in her tales.\u00a0 Likewise, <\/span>Robert Jordan<\/span><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Wheel of Time<\/span><\/i> saga borrows freely from \u201cGypsy\u201d lore to create his pacifist wanderers, Tuatha’an. \u00a0Another recent example are the \u201cWater Gypsies\u201d in <\/span>The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials<\/span><\/i> (2001) by <\/span>Philip Pullman<\/span><\/a> \u2013 who borrows the figure of <\/span>Johnny Faa<\/span> from British ballad lore, but, nonetheless, misses the mark in presenting Romani culture.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"9780765318510\"<\/a>Other recent titles with strong characters-of-color include Troy Tompkins\u2019 <\/span>The Marvelous World<\/span><\/i> series under the <\/span>nom di plume<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Troy Cle,<\/span><\/a> an exuberant youthful mixture of hip-hop culture and classic adventure fiction.\u00a0 <\/span>The Marvelous World<\/span><\/i> follows the adventures of Louis Proof, an African-American hero. <\/span>The Darker Mask<\/span><\/i> by Gary Philips and Christopher Chambers<\/span>, a collection of original prose expanding the \u201chero\u201d tales of <\/span>George R.R. Martin<\/span><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Wild Card<\/span><\/i> series.\u00a0 The continuation of the exploration of speculative fiction in <\/span>Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction <\/span><\/i>from the African Diaspora (Aspect; 2000) is well worth the cover price.\u00a0 The (2004) anthology, <\/span>Dark Matter: Reading the Bones<\/span><\/i> edited by <\/span>Sheree R. Thomas<\/span><\/a> is a spectacular collection of short stories by authors from Charles R. Sanders to Samuel R. Delaney. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some works are also worth exploring in greater depth: <\/span><\/p>\n

Starting with <\/span>Judith Tarr<\/span><\/a>\u2019s Egyptian-inspired fantasy series, contained in collections <\/span>Avaryan Rising<\/span><\/i> (1977)<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Avaryan Resplendent<\/span><\/i> (2003)<\/span>, Tarr sets her epic fantasy in a world resembling ancient Egypt\u2019s first kingdom.\u00a0 Avaryan is the son of the Sun and a princess-turned-priestess: a fiery, energetic youth who becomes a general, then King of Ianon, and finally, an emperor who founds a dynasty.\u00a0 Avaryan is a dynamic fantasy written by a recognized master of the genre that stretches over several generations; all of the main characters are black, bronze, or golden \u2013 as when Estarion, the heir to Avaryan, travels to the ancient adversary of Ianon to marry a princess \u2013 a harem in fact \u2013 and cement relations between the two countries.\u00a0 Judith Tarr, herself, is a courageous writer who has gone on to write several award winning historically-based novels. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"adulthoodrites\"<\/a>Octavia Butler, mentioned earlier, since she passed on in 2006 has had a scholarship and an award named for her.\u00a0 On her own work and science fiction in particular, she said, \u201cPeople tend to think of science fiction as, oh, <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Star Trek<\/span><\/i>, and the truth is there are no closed doors, and there are no required formulas. You can go anywhere with it.\u201d (interview, <\/span>Democracy Now<\/span><\/i>.)\u00a0 A writer of exceptional power, she is perhaps best known for her novel, <\/span>Kindred<\/span><\/i><\/a>, published in 1979 to good reviews and honored with several awards.\u00a0 She is also a rare woman in all literature, a successful African American woman author.\u00a0 <\/span>Kindred<\/span><\/i> describes the journey of a young woman who inexplicably travels in time to a slave plantation.\u00a0 Her bibliography lists 15 titles, including <\/span>Fledgling<\/span><\/i>, published posthumously in 2007.\u00a0 <\/span>Fledgling<\/span><\/i> is a truly riveting and unique vampire novel with a frank, if disturbing, exploration of sexuality \u2013 welcomed in a sometimes overwrought sub-genre.\u00a0 <\/span>Fledgling<\/span><\/i> also continues Butler\u2019s discourse on symbiotic relationships begun in her <\/span>Xenogenesis<\/span><\/i> <\/a>trilogy: <\/span>Dawn<\/span><\/i> (1987), <\/span>Adulthood Rites<\/span><\/i> (1988), and <\/span>Imago<\/span><\/i> (1989).\u00a0 Described by Jennifer S. Nelson in her paper, \u201c<\/span>Agonist Symbiosis in Xenogenesis: Past as Prelude in Octavia Butler\u2019s Post-Colonial Science-Fiction Utopias\u201d (2006)<\/span><\/a> thus: <\/span><\/p>\n

Butler\u2019s trope refuses to validate the conqueror-victim paradigm for post-colonial readings of power\u2019s exercise in colonial contexts; instead, it projects humanity\u2019s enmeshment in kaleidoscopic patterns whose complexity we cannot grasp with our familiar, polarizing terms. <\/span>Xenogenesis<\/span><\/i> offers <\/span>symbiosis<\/span><\/i> as a cluster of conceptual alternatives for thinking, speaking, writing, and living human transcultural relationship in a global society. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Butler\u2019s body of work is thought provoking, pushing the boundaries of discourse, as science fiction, in its very best iteration, should. <\/span><\/p>\n

Neil Gaimon<\/span><\/a>\u2019s beautifully lyrical <\/span>Anansi Boys <\/span><\/i>(2006) stands as a classic tale of magic and self discovery. \u00a0Returning to the mythical landscape he explored in his earlier work, <\/span>American Gods<\/span><\/i> (2001<\/span>)<\/span>, <\/span>Anansi Boys <\/span><\/i>tells the tale of Spider and Fat Charlie Nancy, sons of Anansi the Spider: the Trickster God of African origin who \u201cowns all the tales\u201d. \u00a0The plot follows twists and turns from London to a karaoke stage in south Florida to the Caribbean and, on, into the \u201cotherworld\u201d of myth and magic where dwell Gods known and unknown. \u00a0Gaimon is a lyrical story teller who\u2019s use of the language of the \u201ceveryday\u201d and depth of character development places him in the top novelists of the 21st century, in and out of f\/sf. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"1931520054_big\"<\/a>Kalpa Imperial<\/span><\/i> (2003) by <\/span>Ang\u00e9lica Gorodischer<\/span><\/a> translated from Spanish by U. K. LeGuin is a small volume containing the interlocking tales of \u201cthe greatest empire that never was\u201d.\u00a0 Set in a world resembling the ancient empires of South America, Kalpa\u2019s stories span a thousand years of life under \u201cThe Golden Throne\u201d.\u00a0 Under promoted and rare, <\/span>Kapla Imperial<\/span><\/i> tackles the difficult task of following a theme across several centuries of societal development.\u00a0 Gorodischer is an Argentinean native living in Buenos Aries. \u00a0She is best known for her collections of short stories, Kalpa is her first novel to be translated into English.\u00a0 Gorodischer is best known for her evocative prose: <\/span><\/p>\n

The wise say everything has its season, and each stage in a man’s life has its sign, and it must be so, since the wise know what they’re talking about and if sometimes we don’t understand them it’s not their fault but ours. What I say, and this is something I thought myself and never read or heard, is that in the ferret prince\u2019s life the years of sorrow had ended and the years of anger had begun. The worst thing about sorrow is that it’s blind, and the worst thing about anger is that it sees too much. (<\/span>The End of a Dynasty or The Natural History of Ferrets<\/span><\/i>) <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"forests_tor\"<\/a>Charles de Lint in <\/span>Forests of the Heart<\/span><\/i> (2000) introduces us to his protagonist Bettina San Miguel, \u201cdark haired, darker eyed, part Indio, part Mexican, part something older still\u2026\u201d a young woman who\u2019s abilities to walk into \u201cother worlds\u201d is at the heart of this tale.\u00a0 Interweaving the mythos of SW Native and Spanish peoples and that of Celtic Europe, de Lint moves easily between cultures and between worlds to explore the human heart.\u00a0 In <\/span>Forests of the Heart<\/span><\/i>, de Lint returns to Newford, a place-that-never-was to create urban fantasy on a grand scale.\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>Forests of the Heart<\/span><\/i>\u201d follows several novels that explore First Nations mythical figures such as \u201cCoyote,\u201d \u201cCrow,\u201d and \u201cRaven,\u201d asking questions that, once again, emerge from broken hearts and lives that have been shattered by real world hurts. In de Lint\u2019s latest offering, he again visits SW Latina lore with <\/span>The Mystery of Grace<\/span><\/i> a woman of power and \u2026 grace. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ursula K. Le Guin is a recognized master of science fiction.\u00a0 Le Guin utilizes her knowledge of culture through anthropology and ethnography to create landscapes where cultures clash.\u00a0 Not an author to pussyfoot around the \u201cbig questions,\u201d she once said (1973\/1979),<\/span><\/p>\n

When art shows now and what, it is trivial entertainment, whether optimistic or despairing.\u00a0 When it asks why, it rises from emotional response to real statement, and to intelligent ethical choice.\u00a0 It becomes, not a passive reflection, but an act. \u2026\u00a0 And that is when all the censors, of governments and of the marketplace, become afraid of it.\u00a0 (pp. 211-221) <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Le Guin tackles warfare, conquest, imperialism, and exploitation (<\/span>The Word for World is Forest,<\/span><\/i> 1976), imprisonment and slavery (<\/span>Eye of the Heron,<\/span><\/i> 1983<\/span><\/a>; <\/span>Four Ways to Forgiveness,<\/span><\/i> 1995; “Old Music and the Slave Women,” 2001; <\/span>Powers<\/span><\/i>, 2008;), the more personal questions of gender identity (<\/span>Left Hand of Darkness<\/span><\/i>, 1976) and, personal liberation (<\/span>The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, <\/span><\/i>1974). \u00a0Her short, \u201cThose Who Walk Away from Omelas\u201d remains the classic example of ritualized scapegoating, and is read in sociology courses. \u00a0Retuning to the universe of her \u201cHainish\u201d novels, of special interest is <\/span>The Telling <\/span><\/i>(2000).<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Sutty, an Indo-Canadian woman sent by the Ekumen to Aka as an Observer, Sutty learns that the people of Aka are not what they seem, and under the tutelage the maz, she learns \u201cthe telling\u201d.\u00a0 Through her experiences, Sutty comes to understand how the people of Terra and the larger entity of the Ekumen have interfered in and exploited the civilization of Aka through the sharing and withholding of knowledge.\u00a0 Before leaving LeGuin, a small treasure found its way into my collection in a book of short stories, <\/span>The Birthday of the World<\/span><\/i> (1995)<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Published some 30 years after the release of <\/span>The Left Hand of Darkness, <\/span><\/i>a story set on Gethan where we, at last, are given a glimpse inside the <\/span>kemmer<\/span><\/i> houses in \u201cComing of Age in Karhide\u201d and again, we are challenged by our assumptions concerning gender and identity: inspiration, perhaps for another article. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lesser known (in the US) minorities are represented in several titles concerning the Roma peoples.\u00a0 The Romani are often romanticized beyond recognition in speculative literature as \u201cGypsies\u201d and Tinkers who roam about a fantastic landscape wielding magic or merely dancing.\u00a0 While it is true that Romani music has shaped the cultural audioscape from flamenco, to <\/span>Django Reinhardt<\/span><\/a>\u2019s \u201cG<\/span>ypsy swing<\/span><\/a>\u201d to the complex compositions of<\/span> Lisa Gerrard <\/span><\/a>and <\/span>Brendan Perry<\/span>, it is also true that Roma culture is both complex and relatively unknown to \u201cGadjos\u201d \u2013 the outside world.\u00a0 The<\/span> Silken Magic<\/span><\/i> (2003) series by <\/span>ElizaBeth Gilligan <\/span>attempts to place Roma culture in context of an alternate world inspired by late Renaissance Sicily called Tyrrhia. \u00a0A landscape as gorgeous as the much sought after silk that creates the heart of this tale, <\/span>Silken Magic<\/span><\/i> is first and foremost a murder mystery that revolves around the death of Romani Princess Alessandra and her sister Luciana\u2019s attempts to solve this crime.\u00a0 Replete with court intrigue both Byzantine and Machiavellian rivaling that of the historical Medicis, fairy interference, madmen, magic herbal lore, and fanatical Jesuits, <\/span>Silken Magic<\/span><\/i> is a good read. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another title that tackles Roma culture is <\/span>Mulengro, <\/span><\/i>by Charles de Lint<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Mulengro<\/span><\/i> was published in 1985 and recently reissued, although still rare.\u00a0 One of the few writers to present Roma culture in a contemporary setting, the Romani of Ontario have traded <\/span>vardos<\/span><\/i> for cars and are being hunted by a dark evil.\u00a0 The plot revolves around a series of grizzly murders that sets this work apart in tone and in story telling style from his later novels, more \u201cStephen King\u201d horror than urban fantasy, de Lint takes us into other realms that resemble nightmares.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"p0001248\"<\/a>One cannot leave this subject without mentioning <\/span>Robert Silverberg<\/span><\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Star of Gypsies<\/span><\/i> originally published in 1986, this novel is lyrical, a romp through the stars in the best space operatic style<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>While Silverberg is a writer always worth reading and <\/span>Star of Gypsies<\/span><\/i> is possibly one of his very best, this yarn concerning Yakoub Nirano, Rom baro, King of the Gypsies in a future a thousand years ahead of us is Zorba the Greek in Space – great fun – but the novel bears little resemblance to Romani culture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, this subject cannot be left without some mention of the recent spate of Samuri-inspired fantasy worlds.\u00a0 Most recent to make its way onto my desk is <\/span>Richard Lopoff<\/span>\u2019s <\/span>Sword of the Demon<\/span><\/i> originally published in 1978 and re-issued in 2008.\u00a0 This small but well crafted fantasy takes place in an alternate \u201cMiddle Kingdom\u201d where a magic sword and a woman warrior take center stage.\u00a0 Although very different books, Jessica Amanda Salmonson\u2019s later offering, <\/span>Tomoe Gozen<\/span><\/i> (1981)<\/span><\/a> series resembles <\/span>Sword of the Demon<\/span><\/i> in both tone and in the themes presented.\u00a0 This is not \u201canime\u201d, it is high fantasy set in alternate worlds where magic and warriors fight for honor.\u00a0 These early Samurai tales inspired an entire sub-genre within fantasy and too many works have followed to be named here. \u00a0Some are as well researched, as are Salmonson\u2019s; some are better left on the shelf.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What do we take away from this research?\u00a0 A richer picture of the works of some splendid authors, of course, but also an appreciation for how difficult and twisting the road has been for authors, and will continue to be, who approach the knotty subject of race and ethnicity. Finally, perhaps both writers and reader will walk away with a greater – larger idea – of what is possible in a genre where the impossible is a regular trope within plots exploring hard questions and the marvelous. \u00a0With this understanding, to evoke the old clich\u00e9 of f\/sf pulp fiction: The Golden Age of the genre is yet to come. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References and Further Reading: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Asinmov, I. (1979). <\/span>In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, <\/span><\/i>1920\u20131954. <\/span><\/i>Garden City, NY: Doubleday.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Bradford, K. T. (2009) \u201cTaking One for the Team: K. Tempest\u00a0Bradford\u201d Interview for \u201cWhatever\u201d blog site. Retrieved: July 22, 2009: http:\/\/whatever.scalzi.com\/2009\/03\/16\/taking-one-for-the-team-k-tempest-bradford\/ <\/span><\/p>\n

Butler, O. (2000). <\/span>Parable of the Talents.<\/span><\/i> Grand Central Publishing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Delany, S. R., (1998, 2000) “Racism and Science Fiction”. NYRSF Issue 120,\u00a0<\/span>August 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n

NOTE: “Racism in SF” first appeared in volume form in Darkmatter, edited by Sheree R. Thomas, Warner Books: New York, 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Posted by Permission of Samuel R. Delany. Copyright \u00a9 1998 by Samuel R.Delany: <\/span>http:\/\/www.nyrsf.com\/racism-and-science-fiction-.html<\/span><\/a> Retrieved 8\/29, 2015 <\/span><\/p>\n

Le Guin, U. K. (1979\/1973). The Stalin in the soul. In S. Wood, (Ed.). <\/span>The language of the\u00a0<\/span><\/i>night: Essays on fantasy and science fiction.<\/span><\/i> (pp. 211-221). New York: G. P. Putnam\u2019s Sons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nelson, J.S., (2006). \u201cAgonist Symbiosis in Xenogenesis: Past as Prelude in Octavia Butler\u2019s Post-Colonial Science-Fiction Utopias\u201d. \u00a0In <\/span>Proceedings: Fourth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities<\/span><\/i>, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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