BTT: Science Fiction and Fantasy

This weeks Booking Through Thursday asks participants to celebrate science fiction and fantasy. Yay!

The prompt: One of my favorite sci-fi authors (Sharon Lee) has declared June 23rd Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Day. As she puts it: So! In my Official Capacity as a writer of science fiction and fantasy, I hereby proclaim June 23 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day! A day of celebration and wonder! A day for all of us readers of science fiction and fantasy to reach out and say thank you to our favorite writers. A day, perhaps, to blog about our favorite sf/f writers. A day to reflect upon how written science fiction and fantasy has changed your life.

So … what might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

Science Fiction and Fantasy has somehow, over the past five years, become my favorite guilty pleasures genre. I used to read romance novels for relaxation purposes...and by the truckload. Slowly but surely, however, Science Fiction/Fantasy, especially of the YAL variety, has taken over and all but eliminated my need for Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown.

I have three reasons I love Science Fiction/Fantasy (SFF).

1) Escapism: When I'm reading in this genre, I'm reading about a world truly not my own, and that allows me to forget about reality for awhile and immerse myself in the imagination. I love this, and both science fiction novels and fantasy novels, even the most realistic of them, offer readers a whole new world to explore.

2) Epic Plots: SFF are all about epic storytelling with battles between good and evil, larger than life heroes and villains, and worlds-as-setting. These stories are dramatic, infused with importance both on the plot level and on the character level.

3) Easy Reads: Finally, most of the SFF I read are what I consider easy reads, especially at the YAL level. Reading Twilight, Pendragon, Harry Potter, etc. is not like reading Shakespeare or Eliot. At the same time, I realize that non-YAL SFF can be more difficult. Le Guin, Asimov, Adams, Gaiman, and others are complex literary writers. Still, for me, reading the upper echelon of SFF is still a lighter read than the "literary canon". Perhaps that's just because I like the SFF books more????

I love the idea of having a day to celebrate these two genres. A couple activities which come to mind are SFF read-a-thons, dress-up like your fave character day (although I wouldn't leave the house if I did this), talk like a fairy tale princess day, writing your own SFF story, and of course blogging about SFF books or authors.

I will have to think more on this to decide how I will celebrate on June 23.