tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post7877862453717071857..comments2024-03-24T17:06:47.135-04:00Comments on Story Bones: Linkee-poo welcomes shorter daysSteve Buchheithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12999709767641212586noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-82661487858318166592011-06-22T15:21:02.776-04:002011-06-22T15:21:02.776-04:00Is it just me, or doesn't a "help us pick...Is it just me, or doesn't a "help us pick the best (genre)" survey pretty much automatically disqualify itself if the rules immediately jump into, "but no (category), (subgenre), or (particular author) please!"<br /><br />I mean, I understand the impulse: for starters, there are fans out there who will stuff an online ballot box with examples of the most well-known and commercially successful exemplars out there.<br /><br />But suppose, for instance, that <i>Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone</i> really <i>is</i> one of the five best fantasy novels ever written? (There is no way on Earth this is possibly true, I'm simply making a point. I hope.) Similarly, while I don't think <i>The Stand</i> is one of the top five fantasy novels ever written, I'd have to see some pretty strong rivals before I took it out of a top-25, and despite my misgivings about where King took The Dark Tower series (and resulting failure to get past the third or fourth book), it's obviously a significant contribution to the genre for lots of reasons; and yet here's an arbitrary "no Stephen King, he's Horror" rule. (Disclosure: I'm one of those nuts who considers Horror a subset of the Fantasy genre and not, generally, it's own genre. Though I suppose there are horror stories that aren't so much fantasies as they are thrillers or mysteries, and some that might not fit anywhere--and see, this is why literary taxonomies are doomed to EPIC FAIL.) And goodness knows, quite a lot of classic SF was written and/or sold under the "Juvenile" category (see also: much of the entire first half of Robert Heinlein's writing career).<br /><br />Sorry. Mostly this is just me riffing/kvetching/bitching. Take as you will.<br /><br />-----<br /><br />anteder: one o'dem mammels wit' da long schnozzes dat eads ants.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.com