UPROOTED and the Generation Gap in Fantasy

[rj_anderson]

So this week Naomi Novik's Uprooted won the Nebula Award, and as a result a lot of people are reading it. And the reactions, as they have been pretty much ever since the book came out, are... mixed

Comments

[sartorias]

That's an interesting thought, and I'll be equally interested to see how people respond. In truth, I didn't like that, either, nor did I care for the way older man and the inexperienced young girl (another staple of older fiction), or the extremely high body count. But the latter seems to be de rigor these days, and the second one accepted more often than not.

So I shrug and read around it. Did I enjoy it? Yes! Will I reread it? (Which is my definition of "award worthy") Probably not. I don't think it had enough to say to go in against to read around these elements, but that first read was a real page turner.

[rj_anderson]

I'm not surprised by your reaction either, because you're also of a different (in this case older) generation, and the authors who were such formative influences for me would have been more like peers to you. Which also lends a degree of objectivity to your perspective on 80's-style fantasy that those of us in our forties tend to lack...

I do want to re-read it, but with the criticisms others have pointed out in mind. I don't think it'll spoil my enjoyment of the aspects I did like, but the first time around I was gulping down the narrative so fast that I am still rather confused about how it all played out in the end.

[rj_anderson]

"Respect the house, even after you've moved out" is a very useful way of putting it.

And yes, there is sometimes a statute of limitations on reading certain kinds of fantasy. I will forever be wistful that I didn't discover Diana Wynne Jones young enough to fall in love with her like so many other writers I know -- although I read several of her books as an adult and enjoyed most of them well enough, they never quite held together for me.

But I am also glad that I read certain books when I did, including some problematic ones, because I took more good away from those books than modern critics seem to think possible, and I don't think they did my worldview any particular harm. Even as a teen, I knew that being forced to have sex with somebody you don't love because dragons was creepy, and I was glad real life didn't work that way, even if it meant no dragons. But as a bullied and lonely child, Menolly's character arc in the first two Harper Hall books was a lifeline for me.

[kerravonsen]

But as a bullied and lonely child, Menolly's character arc in the first two Harper Hall books was a lifeline for me.

Oh yes, I think that those two books are the best of all the Pern books, hands down.

[kiwiria]

Could not agree more! I was so disappointed that there was so little of her in the third Harper Hall book.

I still reread the two first (and the second especially) on an almost yearly basis.

[deva_fagan]

This is a fascinating theory-- I could certainly see it being the case. I'm definitely more aware of this issue now, and more critical of it, but like you, I read a LOT of fantasy as a kid that included this stuff, so I do think I may be more tolerant of it. I did enjoy UPROOTED specifically because it reminded me of my childhood favorites, even as some elements are problematic (just like some elements of my childhood faves remain problematic).

[rj_anderson]

Yep. I think there's something to be said for being in on the whole conversation, so to speak, and Uprooted is definitely a book in conversation with its influences. That doesn't give it a free pass, but it does explain why it's easier for some of us to regard it affectionately.

[lizbee]

I don't know if the generation gap idea holds up, because -- anecdata -- most of the friends who told me they loved it are my age or younger.

I don't judge anyone who loved it, because the reading id wants what the reading id wants, but in all the discussion around it, I would have liked to know in advance that it is literally more rapey than GoT. (The books, not the TV series -- most of the rape in the novels is talked about, and the effects seen, but the reader doesn't directly experience them.) And, for me, it's a masterclass in How Not To Write Mentor/Apprentice.

But I think you're right about why it won the Nebula -- and I'm glad that's cleared up, because it was a complete mystery to me, when this story has been told so many times by contemporary YA authors, and told better.

[rj_anderson]

That's interesting, and surprising to me, as my own anecdata was so different. But helpful to know. I'd be curious, then, to know what those younger readers are thinking and whether they are or aren't critical of similar tropes when they occur in more modern-style fantasy. Because while I agree that superficially similar stories have been done in YA, what made Uprooted stand out to me was the style and execution rather than the plot, and I liked that style and execution for the particular reasons I mentioned above. I wasn't seeing anything to compare to it in the YA novels, which were in conversation with their own set of influences (and often ones that I personally don't share).

I'd be glad for a list of contemporary YA fantasy that you feel covers the same ground as Uprooted and does it better, though. It's possible I've just missed the particular books you're talking about.

[lizbee]

My friends gave different reasons for liking it, but they included:

- the Polish cultural influence
- the use of language to build magic
- the Woods as menace

The main characters didn't really figure as anything people latched onto, although that's just a Twitter poll, and I haven't made a scientific study of Goodreads reviews. (Beyond noticing that a lot of the one-star reviews highlight the Polish influence and language as a negative, which is ... unfortunate and horrible.)

A Thousand Nights is the most obvious execution of similar tropes, but I'm also reminded of Poison Study by Maria V Snyder, which I strongly suspect had its origins in Snape/Hermione fic. Come to think of it, I also noped out of that because I didn't like the hero. But "girl who thinks she is ordinary is singled out, turns out to have immense powers she wasn't aware of" is beyond cliché

[rj_anderson]

I noped out of Poison Study for the same reasons I noped out of Throne of Glass (I didn't connect to the heroine, found the love interest uninteresting, and couldn't stop line-editing the book in my head), which is not surprising as the two books are eerily similar in some respects. The Snape/Hermione connection didn't even occur to me, but now that you mention it...

Anyway, "girl who thinks she is ordinary is singled out, turns out to have immense powers she wasn't aware of" is one of my favorite tropes, so for me that would be a selling point. Just because the basic idea has been done doesn't mean there aren't fresh and thoughtful ways of executing it, as A Thousand Nights certainly proves. (Though arguably that's more a case of "ordinary girl gains immense powers due to support she wasn't aware of", I'd say. Shadow and Bone might be a more accurate example

[lorata]

(here from the homepage, I hope this is okay

[rj_anderson]

I made the LJ homepage? My goodness, how small has this site become? But you are most welcome to jump in!

I can totally see what you're saying, and that's why I would never want to push the book on anyone. My review on GoodReads described it as "like a beloved classic read for the very first time", but that was far more my reaction to the prose and the general feel of the story than a blanket endorsement of the plot.

I also very much get the "written for a specific audience and that audience is Not You" thing, as I've come across popular and widely beloved books that made me feel that way as well.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

[green_knight]

it's weird to realize a book has been written for a specific audience and that audience is Not You.

I felt like that about Jo Walton's 'Among Others', a book so many of my friends love. I didn't grow of with the same books. I grew up with an almost completely different subset of SFF: my access to golden-age Science-Fiction did not go beyond Asimov. So all those warm vibes of 'the books we used to read' are more of a slap in the face for me: 'you're not one of the tribe, you don't share this heritage'.

[rj_anderson]

I haven't read Among Others for that very reason, as well.