9-11
I have to admit I groaned when I saw I was slated to blog today. Who wants to write something on the memorial of the most devestating event in recent American history? And yet, here I am. First I'm going to say to all those who lost friends or family in 9-11, our hearts go out to you all.
And then I'm going to talk about post-apocalyptic fantasy. One of the best and most popular examples is Stephen King's The Stand. Good v. evil in a world all but destroyed by plague. I read this when I was a teenager, and the world was very different then. Although the idea of the world ending was terrifying, and plausible, it was a rather distant possibility.
The world I live in now, just a dozen years later, is very different. And the idea of a world-altering catastrophe isn't all that much of a stretch. In fact, there are a lot of different ways it might happen. Imagine how it might happen! Imagine how you'd live without all the modern day conveniences. Imagine if things you once believed were only urban legends found their way into the new reality.
How terrifying.
Yet, it's also what gets fantasy writer's motors running ;)
So, with all that in mind...do readers want to read P-A fantasy? Do writers want to write it? Or is it just too scary?
5 comments:
I read it, I write it, I love it. Part of the reason it's SO disturbing is that it IS do plausible.
I think it's necessary for us to always explore the possibilities, for better or worse. It's part of our nature. But even in the worst case, we always need to be shown that hope still survives. Gia
I haven't read enough of them. I love movies like Mad Max and Waterworld. I'd totally be into something like that. I also love the "last man/woman on earth" scenarios, and while done in movies, I'm not sure that's been done in a romance...
~~Becka
*sigh* Becka, knowing my luck the last man on earth would be my creepy exboyfriend, yknow?
And I think you nailed it, Crystal, it has to be disturbing...there's really no way to write it without being reminded of the fragility of life, and the world itself. But Gia got the other side of it...we need that element of hope. That it isn't just going to be the cockroaches who survive ;) And that the survivors will be people who will help each other through.
Is it any surprise ideas are firing as I read the replies? :)
The problem is the Apocalypse isn't an event. It's a process. Standing in the Center Court of the Pentagon as the smoke billowed over Corridors 4 & 5, I couldn't help thinking of the Romans watching the Vandal sack. But the Roman Empire didn't fall then. It took decades for the Western Empire to give up on its last emperor, and another thousand years--and repeated sackings--for the Eastern Empire to fall. A case could even be made the Dark Ages weren't dark until the Vikings showed up.
But that's the curse of living with a historian. Nothing looks like what you were taught in school. :-)
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