J. R. R. Tolkein

Known as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkein is also a theorist on the genre. His classic work, On Fairy Tales is a must for anyone longing to understand what Fantasy is all about.

A Tolkein Reader

Literary Quality:
Christian Morality: Excellent
Age Appropriateness: Teenager/Adult

Includes Tolkein's "On Fairy Stories" as well as "Tree and Leaf," an essay on the place of myth in literature, and several short stories.

Lin Carter

Author and editor, Lin Carter is one of the foster-fathers of the genre, at a time when the pulps ruled and society unsurprisingly frowned. Sadly, his work is almost all out of print. A search on bibliofind will probably be more helpful than one on amazon.

Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy

Literary Quality:
Christian Morality: Harmless
Age Appropriateness: Teenager/Adult

More of a history of the genre than a critique, Carter's classic work is invaluable to any seeking understanding about the origins of Fantastic Fiction. His final analysis tends to lean more heavily upon the "magic" element than I personally agree with, and his ending chapters on worldbuilding tend more towards science fiction than fantasy, but the book is still a wonderful and insightful resource.

Ursula K. LeGuin

Best known for her many and award-winning (although morally questionable) books, including The Left Hand of Darkness and her Earthsea quadrilogy, LeGuin also stands out as a theorist on the genre. Although one may not agree with her literature, her analysis is generally sound, and worthy of a spot on the bookshelf.

The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction

Literary Quality:
Christian Morality: Harmless
Age Appropriateness: Teenager/Adult

An excellent resource for those interested in the mechanics of Fantastic Fiction, Le Guin's many essays touch on everything from those who write the books, to what set aparts Fantastic Fiction from other literature - and what makes each great. Told with wit and wisdom.

Michael O'Brien

A modern Catholic author of Realistic Christian Fiction, with such credits as the excellent Father Elijah under his belt, O'Brien now turns his sights towards the theoretical aspect of literature, and theology's place in it. Book available through Ignatius Press.

A Landscape with Dragons

Literary Quality:
Christian Morality: Excellent/Good
Age Appropriateness: Teenager/Adult

O'Brien's book is a worthy start to the parents' cry of, "What, besides Narnia for the umpteenth time, can my kids read?!?!?" Focussing mainly on the image of the dragon in myth, fantasy, literature and the arts in general, O'Brien gives a worthy preliminary analysis of the state of the genre and society at large. However, his scope is too broad, his conclusions at times too hasty, and his opinions a tad to the Feenyite side. He often strays from his point, and attempts to equate theology absolutely with literature. He does not take into account "indifferent magic" - i.e., elves, fairies, talking trees, and other strange and therefore "magical" things - "magic," as used in fantasy, not in practice, is either good or evil in his view. He strays into other media than literature, most noticeably into films, criticising - rightfully - Disney's recent wretched versions of fairy tales...however he completely ignores the most pagan film of them all, The Lion King. The book is more than worth a reading, and is highly recommended, however one should keep in mind that he does not separate the art from the theology at all, nor is his argument as tight as I would have liked.

Orson Scott Card

A prolific author of such books as Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card is also a well-written and respected theorist. Anne Pelrine gives her thoughts on his below.

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

Literary Quality:
Christian Morality: Harmless
Age Appropriateness: Teenager/Adult

I tend to be one of those people who never consciously looks for a "how-to" book. When I go to a library and find a book that tells me how to do something, I subconsciously hope I know something about this subject that looks and sounds interesting. Consciously, I tell myself that I just want to see what this particular person has to say that I haven't already heard elsewhere. So when I went to the library and searched the non-fiction shelves for something interesting on writing, I told myself that I only wanted to see what published authors had to say that I hadn't already heard from teachers or read in magazines. I picked up How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card and noticed that it was part of the Writer's Digest Genre Writing Series. My mother used to subscribe to the Writer's Digest Magazine, we've purchased about ten books from them, and I love to flip through the latest Writer's Market, so I thought, Why not? As it turned out, I wound up finding answers to questions that I had forgotten I had.

My first encounter with Orson Scott Card was through his book Ender's Game. I was riveted from the very start. After that, I read all the books about Ender except for Children of the Mind. One of my younger brothers read Card's fantasy series about Alvin the Maker. So I knew Card can write to hold onto his reader, but I had no idea what to expect from him in a how-to book. Frankly, I expected something on the heavy and didactic side. Maybe it's an inferiority complex of some kind, but I always think that science fiction writers know so much more science than I do that they can't talk to or write for simple peons like me. How glad I was when that assumption proved wrong!

The book is only 144 pages long, and that includes the title pages, the table of contents, a brief biography, an introduction, and the index! There's not enough space for a treatise on the laws of physics as they apply to science fiction! Nor does Card teach anything about sentence structure, word choice, or how to develop plot. He assumes that whoever is reading the book wants to know more about actually writing science fiction and/or fantasy, and that's how he fills the pages. His style is easy to read and simple to understand. How much science he really knows doesn't matter, so I just stopped thinking about it.

Each chapter covers a different aspect of writing science fiction and fantasy. Card starts out with pointers that help determine the boundaries between genres, some loose definitions of science fiction and fantasy, and reasons why publishers might or might not publish the story. Then he moves on to "World Creation" and suggests some methods of placing the world in its universe. Card gives reminders that a world in which there are no rules can easily go amuck, and he says that everybody-including the author-has to obey any laws that are in place. I found this particularly helpful, since it showed me why some of my stories don't go anywhere. (How can they go anywhere without someplace to go?) After that, he begins "Story Construction" with the world and the characters that go in it. He asks whose story this is, who's going to be the main character, and which viewpoint is going to show the world and the action. Figuring that "Writing Well" is something everybody needs to know, Card offers some pointers on how to use exposition, language style, and even vulgarity. Finally, he conducts a brief tour through "The Life and Business of Writing". He demonstrates what a query letter should look like, explains why and when agents become necessary, and provides multiple warnings about the money end of it. The examples are clear, the reasons are sound, and the whole thing is basically a short education on science fiction and fantasy writing.

I don't know if this book is exactly what everyone needs, but this was exactly what I needed. As I said, one of my stories was going nowhere. My heroine was wandering by a river when everything just ground to a halt. This was mostly because I didn't know where I wanted to send her. I didn't even know the lay of the land. When I read the chapter on creating the world, I realized that I couldn't describe what I couldn't visualize. Since I couldn't see the land in my mind or on paper, I couldn't see where my character had to go. I particularly liked Card's idea of doodling a map and creating the names and locations as I went. That might work best for me.

Some of the questions Card posed showed and reminded me that my first draft is only that-a first draft. There's nothing sacred about it. I needed this reminder since I frequently work and slave away at my stories like the drafts I currently have are the most important things in the history of writing. Which they aren't. I needed to be reminded that my main character might not be my main character later. Heck, even the point of view of the story might change. Card said about half a dozen times that this was perfectly natural and that there was probably something wrong with me if I refused to change anything. So it was good to have a wake-up call.

However, I do have a warning about this book, which I have to this point lauded to the sky. The copyright date on this book is 1990, so that makes it eleven years old. Technology has made amazing advances in eleven years. Writing now relies heavily on technology, so rules and standards may have changed a lot. For example, Card mentions one magazine, Omni, as a magazine that is very selective when it comes to submissions but pays a king's ransom. He talks about it like a magazine that still prints on paper. I read in the 1998 version of The Writer's Market that this magazine had converted to an on-line format, and I think it's still in that format. So some of the information is dated by about a decade. It would probably be prudent to check out the current rules and standards, and The Writer's Market is a good gauge.

Ordinarily, I would have a long passage in which I rant and rave over the morals of the book and my impression of the author. I would consider this to be a how-to book, as suggested by the title. Given that, I don't exactly know what to say about the morality of the book. Anyone who has checked out the Symposium site on the Internet will know that I mentioned a part of the book in which Card contemplates the implications of blood being the price of magic. He also praises another book that talks about bizarre death and reincarnation fantasy. However, he looks at these things with a predominantly analytical eye. That's not to say that he doesn't use them at all himself, but I don't know that they influence the tone of the book so much. The book is mostly about how to keep the story believable, so I can't say how much morality affects it as a whole.

As I've said before, this book was exactly what I needed. However, I realize that nobody is exactly like me, so this may not be what some other writer needs. I needed to find out what exactly was wrong with my stories, and Orson Scott Card's book basically told me what was missing. This book is not a definitive work, and there is a lot of room for personal style and whatever works for each particular writer. Such a book can be a very good indication of what any given story needs, so I recommend it on that basis.

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Updated 22 July, 2007
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