While I have the floor, here's a question that's been bothering me for some time. Why do so few writers of heroic or epic fantasy ever deal with the fundamental quandary of their novels. that so many of them take place in cultures that are rigid, hierarchical, stratified, and in essence oppressive? What is so appealing about feudalism, that so many free citizens of an educated commonwealth like ours love reading about and picturing life under hereditary. David Brin
About This Quote

I have been thinking about this question for a while. I have always admired the works of Ursula LeGuin, C.S. Lewis, George R.R. Martin, and other authors who have written about their own cultures.

As an American, I find the idea of living in a culture that is stuck in time to be slightly bittersweet or at least bittersweet-tasting. While that is true of my own culture, I do not think that most people live in the same way that most fantasy novels are written today. Technology has changed our lives greatly since Tolkien’s time, and many of the ideas in his books seem very outdated today.

It would be difficult to write about modern life with magic or strange creatures; it would be strange to even attempt to write about life in modern America without technology, science, or even mathematics (even if you are writing about an ancient civilization like Narnia).

Source: Glory Season

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