New Perspectives
Dec. 31st, 2017 10:32 pmNov-Dec 2016
Binti - Nnedi Okorafor - Tor, 2015 / A Taste of Honey - Kai Ashante Wilson - Tor, 2016
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Despite having owned one for several years, I am still not entirely comfortable with an e-reader as a substitute for a proper book. But I have to admit that their advent has had one significant and wholly admirable consequence, which is to make unusual-length fiction that would not be economically viable in printed form into something that authors and publishers can make money from. What's great about this is that a story which is interesting but too slight to fill out a novel without painful bloat can be made available to readers who are after something light and swift. Everybody wins. Writers get a chance to hone their craft, publishers get an income stream, and readers get new and interesting stories that don't outstay their welcome.
These two are good examples. Nnedi Okorafor has written a classic alien encounter story with an enjoyable African sensibility. Kai Ashante Wilson's novella is a sort of fantasy Brokeback Mountain which raises interesting questions about the demands of the heart versus societal norms. Both bring new perspectives to old tropes.
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