High Class

I'm off to Worldcon in Montreal for the next week, so I thought I'd leave you with something to chew on.

I was talking with genius New Mexico writer Daniel Abraham the other day, and once again he demonstrated why we all think he's going to rule the world before he's fifty. (And if not him, his kid.)

He announced that he'd figured out the difference between genre and literary fiction.

Which is really tough to do, if you think about it. It's not subject matter any more, not with Philip Roth writing an alternate-worlds novel and urban fantasy/magical realist novels winning the Pulitzer Prize. It's not the quality of the writing, because we can all name genre writers whose writing blows away most literary writers.

"Literary fiction," sez Daniel, "is fiction written to be read by the upper class."

Oh wow. I think he's totally right.

Discuss.

Daniel's On A Roll (4)

Just when you began to suspect this blog was going to be all about me all the time, here I prove you wrong.

An Autumn War, the third book of Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, is about to be released.

I've read the book in manuscript, and it's spectacularly good. Buy it and read it, along with the other books in the series.

If you don't believe me, here's Paul deFilippo over on SciFi Weekly.

"Three-quarters of the way through The Long Price Quartet, a journey that began with A Shadow in Summer (2006) and continued through A Betrayal in Winter (2007), Daniel Abraham tosses a spanner into his carefully and lovingly contrived subcreation which ensures that readers will be perched on the edges of their seats for an unfathomable resolution in next year's The Price of Spring . . .

"And what does Abraham focus on, then? Shakespearean high tragedy (no comedy, by the way), where the seeds planted by the characters' vices and virtues bear their eventual fruit. (Consider that the second volume was practically a retelling of Macbeth.) He's meticulous in following the threads he began three books ago (some 25 years to 30 years pass for the characters) to their destined ends, providing much emotional heft and resonance.

"By daring to destroy his subcreation, Abraham regenerates an entire mode of fantasy."

No, I don't know what that means, either. But check it out anyway.