Quiver he/him Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 As the title says: The Cosmere is, basically, one huge on-going story, a 40-book series made up of smaller series. So, that kind of raises the question: What genre of story is the Cosmere? Right now, it's solidly fantasy thanks to the magic, but we know there are science-fiction elements in place now, and in the future. It has elements of epic and divine tragedy in it (mostly in regards to the Shards), but the generally tone is more reconstruction of fantasy than deconstructive. So... yeah. What do you guys think the cosmere is, overall? Or is the point to reflect life, with no set genre or type of story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yezrien Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 14 minutes ago, Quiver said: So... yeah. What do you guys think the cosmere is, overall? Or is the point to reflect life, with no set genre or type of story? Well, it's definitely all within the realm of fantasy. Even when we have space ships, they'll be running on magic. But there are different kinds of genres. Some, like sci-fi and fantasy, are on the surface; they just tell you what to expect from the setting. Then you've got genres like romance or mystery -- genres that tell you how the plot will shape up. And in the cosmere, I think we've seen stories of romance, mystery, horror, suspense, action, adventure... there's something for everyone! So in that sense, I'd say "no set genre or type" is a pretty accurate description. But "to reflect life" is not. Life has variety, but no structure -- it is composed without dramatic savvy, or an inclination to be awesome. It's like a Linklater movie. I'll take Brandon over Linklater any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasarr she/her Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 I'd say Cosmere as a whole is a good example of science fantasy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsidqiyah he/him Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 I could buy Science Fantasy, but i think the feel is more in the Epic Fantasy range that bleeds toward the end of the spectrum Space Opera especially as we approach Mistborn era 4. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glamdring804 Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 2 hours ago, Rasarr said: I'd say Cosmere as a whole is a good example of science fantasy. I agree. It started as hard fantasy, and will only drift further into sci-fi as time goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C. M. Hayden he/him Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 Fantasy at its base, moving into science fantasy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazren he/him Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Whether or not it moves into Science Fantasy will depend on exactly how much science fiction feelings the space era books have. Will they be like his regular fantasy books, just taking place on spaceships, or will they actually evoke some of the feelings you get from reading science fiction novels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant Returned he/him Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 I have never really been a sci-fi reader, so I don't know what the difference is in "feel" exactly. So far, I feel like all the books have been solidly in the realm of fantasy (though some of his non-Cosmere works have been sci-fi). Science-Fantasy sounds about right, though I've never heard of it before. I agree with what Belzedar said, the latest Mistborn novel started working it's way into more sci-fi territory for the first time that I've seen, but any technology shown was still completely dependent on magic. As long as the magic of the Cosmere and the Shards remain the focus of the books, then it has to be considered fantasy to me. Most importantly, I think it's important to note that nothing like this has really been done before (that I've heard of), at least on this scale. And that's kinda the point. Sanderson wanted to be the one to include all these different universes and timelines into one over-arcing story. It's going to be epic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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