Familiar and unfamiliar fantasy

I started on a new book last night. It was recommended by a friend whose taste I have learned to trust.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin.

I can’t say yet whether I like it, but it did almost immediately remind me of some old noodlings I’ve had about fantasy.

Books that go too far — other worlds, other creatures, other customs, etc. — into the unfamiliar turn me off.

The Lord of the Rings has hobbits and elves and dwarves and wizards, all set in a different world at a different time, but it still manages to be very familiar and homey. Which I like.

When a book is too weird, it loses me.

7 thoughts on “Familiar and unfamiliar fantasy”

  1. QUOTE: Books that go too far — other worlds, other creatures, other customs, etc. — into the unfamiliar turn me off.

    Albeit film/TV, did you have similar feelings about Star Wars and Star Trek? If not, what made them the exception. IOW, what makes one fantasy “homey” and the other just plain “weird”?

  2. That’s a good question. I think part of the distinction is that a movie doesn’t require as much work. I don’t have to understand the weird world, because it’s there on the screen.

  3. I’m not a big SF or fantasy fan at all. The most enjoyable SF read that I experienced was Asimov’s Foundation Triology, but I can’t remember how “homey” it felt. It was more than 40 years ago when I read stuff like that.

    1. Generally speaking, I don’t like the stuff either. I like Tolkien, and not much other fantasy. (I did enjoy the Deryni series.) I like a few sci-fi books (I love Dune, and a couple others), but that’s about it.

      1. I’ve never been a huge SF fan. I remember seeing Star Trek on TV and immediately turned it off. Years later, I started watching with my son and grew to like it. Same thing with Star Wars. I thought the original movie was boring and fell asleep. Later, with my son, we watched every movie and loved them. SF still isn’t my “go-to” but it has grown a “bit” more favorable.

  4. Dune was a super big deal in the 70s, but by the time I heard of it I was no longer interested in SF. I did see the movie later on and thought it was terrible. I understand that a lot of fans thought the same about it, whereas the author of the books actually found it to be a good representation of his basic ideas.

    1. I actually liked the movie and the book, but I hear that most fans of the book hated the movie.

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