Leave Me Out Of It, Please

LEAVE ME OUT OF IT, PLEASE Election Day is upon us. Well, finally. I guess. I’m staying off of social media today. I know you don’t wish to hear my opinion of any of the candidates, and to be frank I have not the slightest interest in yours both. Here within the State of Washington we vote by mail, so my ballot has been solid. I have accomplished all I can do. Let the chips fall where they could. What might be done, will be carried out. Though I readily admit that I have dropped the occasional political, or semi-political publish right here at Fantasy Author’s Handbook, for at present I’ll refer you again to just one in particular, then leave it at that. So a lot for actuality, then. But what about fantasy? In my online Worldbuilding course we spend a complete week on governments and religionsâ€"combining the two issues some wise particular person in your life has probably way back advised you not to talk about with strangers. But quite than argue over safe vs. unsecure e-mail servers and what a well-k nown man can and may’t get away with grabbing, in that courseâ€"and as science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors normallyâ€"we’re free to take care of these subjects within the summary. I assume the overtly political fantasy novel, particularly, is a reasonably uncommon animal. Even science fiction novels, which are often extra grounded in the right here and now, are inclined to make a few political assumptions then get on with tales of honor, loyalty, love, household, and so on. That’s probably why I at all times find yourself falling again on Dune and 1984 as my examples of overtly political science fiction novels and pretty much nothing as my go-to political fantasy. As for horrorâ€"politics appears almost by no means to rear it’s ugly head. But is that actually the case? It could possibly beâ€"mostly like isâ€"due to the fact that I’m not a terribly political-minded person that I don’t have a tendency to select up on the extra delicate political cues in SF, fantas y, and horror. After all, I am the guy who wrote a fantasy tackle Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead having no thought there was this weird Libertarian motion gathering round a misinterpretation of her later work. But in my writing and teaching with reference to worldbuilding politics has come upâ€"and it should. I’ve pondered whether or not the elves of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings are substitutes for the publish-imperial British. Are they? I wrote concerning the political aspects of a really, very old guide by Homer Eon Flint to indicate how science fiction, even near a hundred years ago, was more a touch upon the day during which it was written than any attempt to guess at the future or describe the unknowable. I’ve been re-studying some Stephen King in preparation for my Horror Intensive course, the first spherical of which I’m finishing up now. The story collection we’re utilizing for that course, Skeleton Crew, features more than a few nods to the politics of the day, particularly the story “Cain Rose Up.” And King makes numerous references to Cold War politics particularly in Danse Macabre. The Stand had some overtly political ideas in it, too, didn’t it? And then after all there’s Starship Troopers, The Man in the High Castle, Metropolis, The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Gateway, and on and on and on. But might I please ask one favor on this worst of Election Days? If you’ve began outlining your science fiction, fantasy, or, let’s face it, more likely horror novel loosely inspired by Trump vs. Clinton . . . don’t. Just please don’t. Maybe it’s too soon. Let it simmer at least a couple of months, then disguise the ever loving shit out of it. â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans