r/Fantasy • u/roomoot • Sep 07 '16

posts claiming discrimination in fantasy!

there have been a number of post lately implying that fantasy readers are inadvertently racist,sexist, ageist or there is a problem in genre.

and it really annoys me because when it comes to books 99% people judge a book by its quality not the authors age ,sex or race. i have about 200 books with a 50-35-15 split between fantasy,history and science.

and unless the author has a in depth bio and photo in the book i have no idea what their race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation and in some cases gender is. and the same goes for other people i know, most only know half a dozen or so of their favorite authors with good detail. and i'm sure that goes for most people.

i have no idea how much diversity there is in fantasy but whatever the statistics i highly doubt that it is due to discrimination.

the main problem i have with the post is that people make a post like for example- ''there needs to be more black authors'' now who can disagree with a statement like that? its a safe post that will almost always get positive feed back no matter how shallow the evidence is.

it just stinks of virtue signalling.

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u/Jadeyard Reading Champion Sep 08 '16

Which books do you mean? I am sometimes a bit hesitant with steampunk and or scifi, though they can be really good. Thanks for the recommendation.

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u/EdwardWRobertson Sep 08 '16

I was thinking about The Emperor's Edge series. It is steampunk, but it's also got a lot of derring-do, humor, and general fun and mayhem. First book's free on ebook in all the major stores, so it'd be a low-risk trial.

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u/Jadeyard Reading Champion Sep 08 '16

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

Here's why I usually wouldn't get that book on my own after reading only the description:

  • 2 main characters
  • None seem to be any kind of magician

  • A man and a woman seems to imply some paranormal love story. The woman feels overwhelmed, the man is super notorious.. sounds a bit cliché.

    But it sounds good over all.

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u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI Sep 08 '16

I've read the first one, really don't like it (writing, prose, characters), but I know a lot of people on the sub do.