> -----Original Message----- > From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On > Behalf Of Max Battcher
> > One thing I've noticed, however, is that the shelf space for what I, and > > from what I read most folks on Brin-L consider good sci-fi continues to > > shrink, being replaced by game based series, movie based series, etc. > > I think that is probably more the bookstores that you shop than an > objective reality shift... I mean, sci-fi has always had a strong > relationship with its "pulp" and "mass media" sides. If anything, the > prominence of the game based sci-fi and movie based sci-fi should be a > sign that that the industry is successful and healthy. What I am talking about is this: I've been going to a national chain: Barnes and Nobel's for over a decade. The amount of shelf space devoted to Sci-Fi/Fantasy has been constant during that time. As time went on, there has been less shelf space available for standard sci-fi and fantasy, and more for TV, movie and game based serialization. You know, the books that make you appreciate what a good writer Kevin Anderson really is. :-) We've recently had a Border's books open and it has similar ratios. When big bookstores like these change (they've driven Walden's Books out of business) it's probably not just the local store. > Also, there is more speculative fiction slipping across the aisles into > other categories. There have been a number of books added to my sci-fi > wishlist recently that are categorized in the "Literature" areas of most > bookstores, due to both the "high brow" prominence of some authors > toeing into the waters and what appears to be an increasing tolerance by > the literary elites for sci-fi/speculative themes and hooks. I guess. I do know that the books that are off the radar are the Evangelical Christian books that are the best selling books without appearing at all on the NY Times bestsellers list, because they are sold in stores that the NY Times doesn't look at. As much as I dislike the "Left Behind" series, they, after the Potter Series, were the best selling book series of the last decade...just off the radar. > Certainly the "graphic novel" is a different medium for literature than > the traditional novel, but "graphic novels" fit well within my > definition of literature. Certainly semantics could be argued for days, > but I think that graphic novels do trend closer to literature than, say, > art or film. Film, definitely. But, I'd argue that graphic novels combine literature and art. Good art can be part of storytelling. For example, "Guernica" by Picasso certainly tells a story. I see graphic novels, at their best, as a new art form on the border between literature and painting. Which has real potential, since, unlike pure art, hasn't been explored to death over the last few centuries. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
