I think the enduring magic of well-written (and I emphasize) fantasy and science-fiction generally has little to do with the fantastical or scientific elements. Certainly they generally drive the plot, and few books of these genres are without some great malevolent force to rail against, yet it is the characters that we identify with, that we follow, that some of us wish to be, that some of us are glad we are not.
The better writers, Tolkien, Herbert, Clarke know this. Their books centre around the people for that is what we are interested in. This also is an unfortunate reason for the formulaic 'normal-boy-living-in-village-finds-out-he-is-magical-and-has-to-save-the-world' plot lines of many of these novels. Yet looking beyond this (there is a reason why crime books are called who-dunnits and the same things are used to make you jump in every horror story) fantasy and sci-fi create some memorable obstacles for love and understanding to overcome.
If I can wax poetic and idealistic for one second; in all of these books there is a striving for peace, love and harmony, through pain, deception and warfare. That is not a bad thing by any means. If only some of the passion for truth and justice on the written page could be translated into action out there in the sunlight of the real world. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
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And all the rest is literature
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