Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is, overall, a novel about family. A really dysfunctional, not super healthy family, but about family nonetheless. The novel follows two brothers through their adventure of meeting each other for the first time after many, many years, and the frustration behind both their clashing personalities and the death of their father. Anansi Boys also shows the importance of family, with how Fat Charlie and Spider (the respective brothers) save each other in different ways, as well as the influence of their father, the god Anansi, on their lives. This novel also explores the unpredictability of life. The boys’ lives don’t quite work out the way both they think they should - defying both their and the audience’s expectations. Anansi dying unexpectedly, which hits both boys hard (in Charlie’s case, harder than it should) is extremely unexpected to everyone in the novel, though it’s revealed he’ll come back in a few years. Rosie, Fat Charlie’s fiancée, at the be...

A lot of recent fantasy novels in the YA genre focus on coming of age. They’re filled to the brim with values and finding one’s place in the world. (I’ve mentioned this before in an earlier post, “The Witchcraft of Coming of Age”, if you’re interested.) While not exactly YA like Akata Witch , The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern definitely fits into these patterns. Though the novel generally teaches through nonexamples, rather than pointing clearly at which values it champions, it’s still a story about strong moral compasses. From a young age, our two main characters are given expectations that they never fully understand. Throughout their trials and tribulations, they’re never sure if they’re properly living up to their parents' expectations. One main character’s father constantly reminds her that she’ll never be good enough unless she keeps training. The other main character begs for feedback and never gets more than a vague answer - if he ever hears from his father figure. Ev...

Hell-bent on escapism! That’s what you must be when your favorite genre is Fantasy. So some people think. If you love fantasy, then you must hate dealing with the real world. At first glance, this can certainly be the case; fantasy is all about creating an entirely new set of rules for our universe and throwing out the old ones. Upon closer inspection, though, the fault in this thinking is evident. With every fantasy novel written, deep parallels to our own lives come to light, and these can’t be ignored for the sake of comfort. Lud in The Mist , for example, is an excellent commentary on substance abuse. The effects of fairy fruit, which has become a widespread addiction in the novel, are not completely known, but enough clues show that it’s a mind-altering substance. At the novel’s first publication, the prohibition in America probably inspired the work. While the author, Hope Mirrlees, was in England at the time (which never had a full-out ban on alcohol), it is still very possib...

Unlike the witch tales of yonder years, most magic-centered novels (especially YA) are now centered on the theme of “coming of age”. There’s something appealing about how “magic” can represent adulthood and all the maturity that comes with it. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor is no exception to this. It is unique, however, in how it executes this concept. Like most coming of age stories, Akata Witch is centered on a twelve-year-old who is trying to find her place in the world. Sunny, though, has a lot of places to find: a place for herself as an American in Nigeria; as an albino in an intolerant society; and as a newly discovered Leopard Person (or, magic user). In most ways, she’s an isolated individual who wants to fit into a community. Throughout the novel, she finds a small circle of friends who accept her and she discovers her own autonomy. Her individuality is emphasized by the reveal of her spirit face, which is a spiritual reflection of her own self. Culture shock is a big...