i must confess, i honestly don't remember when i first became interested in fantasy. i mean, fairy tales and folklore had always interested me, but fantasy novels were something that i don't remember picking up and reading. regarding science fiction however, i remember well. the book was stadium beyond the stars [or least i think that's the title of the book]. in the book, humanity had colonized other planets in other solar systems, leaving earth as a wasted planet. though humans had lived in space for so long, they had yet to make first contact. the main character travels to the equivalent of the olympic games as a participant and gets pulled into a mystery/conspiracy. in the end, he sort of makes first contact. it was a great story and for some reason, though the main plot of the story and other odds and other little things have escaped my memory, i do have a warm spot in my heart for it.
nevertheless, i never thought that the genre of science fiction and fantasy would become one of my favorites. i submerged myself head first into the fantasy genre around the time when the lord of the rings movies came out. no, i didn't get sucked into reading the series that way [in fact, i have yet to read the novels]. instead, i started reading the works of david eddings [and his wife leigh eddings]. before long, a couple of trips a week to the library would find me in the fantasy section reading almost anything that caught my sight.
one thing i found extremely annoying was the fact that the science fiction books were interspersed among the fantasy books. what's worse, the section was titled SF [a popular abbreviation for speculative fiction]. personally i called it science fantasy, but i was still peeved that the two sections were joined together along with a variety of other books. i mean if they go to such great lengths to separate the comic books from the rest of the fiction books, why couldn't they separate the fantasy and science fiction into separate sections?
but over time, i learned to ignore this peeve of mine and get on with my life.
now 5 years or so later as i try my own hand in writing, i've come to realize that science fiction and fantasy do in some cases overlap. take for instance anne mccaffrey. her stories feature a world in which humans travel to and inhabit. as time goes on, they settle into a sort of medieval lifestyle that is commonly prevalent in high fantasy/epic fantasy.
so... perhaps there are some elements of fantasy in the science fiction novel emperor mollusk versus the sinister brain.
>>>>ESSAY
in his novel, emperor mollusk versus the sinister brain, a. lee martinez tells the story of mollusk, the former ruler of terra, an alternate version of earth. emperor mollusk has given up his position and is trying to live a life of solitude while saving the planet he is strangely drawn to occasionally. however, the sinister brain and his cohorts are out to destroy the world. mollusk and his arch-nemesis, vera, band together to save the world. though the story is technically defined as science fiction, it contains certain elements that are normally seen in the average fantasy novel. some of these elements are the quest, the hero, the villain, and the group of companions that travels with the hero on his quest.
the most basic element commonly found in a fantasy story is the quest. it is one of the most important parts of the story. after all, with out it there would be no story since the "quest gives you an excuse to dash around and meet new people" [eddings 7]. the quest is the reason why a character must go fight a monster, complete a spiritual journey, or save a planet. at the beginning of the story, mollusk is bored of his life. there is nothing really to do and he has become slightly bored. then the quest begins. when faced with the fact that he is being targeted, he sets out on a quest to find who is responsible [though he really had little choice]. throughout the story, there is a progression of events that leads him closer towards finding out what exactly is happening. from being ambushed by atlantese assassin to defeating a jelligantic, mollusk and his companions are lead on a series of clues towards the ultimate unveiling of the evil plan and his chance to save the world or let it suffer. to the normal reader, this chain of events seems slightly unrealistic, however the novel is anything but realistic. the events and obstacles mollusk faces force him forward on his quest, giving him just a little clue towards what lies ahead. hence, the element of a quest is found in the novel.
another element needed in a fantasy story is that of a hero. though mollusk is not anything like the heroes of basic fantasy novels, he does play the role of the reluctant hero. though it is true that his curiosity propels mollusk to uncover the sinister plot and devise a plan to save the world, he also finds himself drawn to saving the fragile terra. in fact, when faced with either destroying the enemy or saving paris, mollusk chooses to save the city from being burned [martinez 234]. so since the world terra needs a hero, mollusk must step in and fill the empty position. even though part of his interest in saving the world is from wanting to know what might happen next, it is hard to deny that terra fascinates him and he feels that it is his responsibility to protect the strangeness of the planet. therefore, like in fantasy novels, this particular novel finds a hero setting out to save the world.
a third element is the villain. villains usually need to be able to almost defeat the main character, but in the end are defeated themselves. in the novel, the sinister brain, or buddy as mollusk refers to him, is out to destroy the world. though he is considered to be the mastermind behind the evil plot, he is supported by the council of egos, all who are bent on destroying the world. the sinister brain plays his part very well. his ploys continually almost kill mollusk and his companions; in the end, the hero barely escapes. he also manages to taunt mollusk and manipulate him into advancing the sinister plan. as a result, the element of the villain is found in the novel.
a final element of the story that is commonly found in fantasy stories is the group of companions that travel with and help the hero. throughout the story there are two beings that continually help mollusk on his quest; there are other characters that briefly appear to help the main character, but only two stay with him the entire way. the first is vera, the venusian warrior, whereas the second is mollusk's pet ultrapede snarg. both represent two different types of companions commonly found in the average fantasy story. snarg represents the faithful companion that will stay with the hero no matter what. vero, on the other hand, represents the companion that is sort of forced into accompanying the hero. usually this character ends up becoming a friend of the hero or at least coming to an agreement with him. hence, vera and snarg represents the companions that follow the hero on his quest.
in conclusion, though emperor mollusk versus the sinister brain is technically a science fiction book, it contains certain elements that are usually found in the average fantasy novel. the story features a quest of which mollusk embarks on to find who is trying to kill him and to save the world from a particularly evil plan. it also features mollusk as a reluctant hero who sets out on his quest to protect terra. the novel also contains a villain in the form of the sinister brain who, working with the council of egos, sets out to basically destroy terra and, if successful, the universe. there is also a group of companions--vera and snarg--that accompany mollusk on his journey. as a result, although the novel is a science fiction book, there are many elements found in the story that are similar to the fantasy genre.
works cited
↠ Martinez, A. L. Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain. New York City: Hachette Book Group, 2012. Print.
[for the record, normally i would have quoted a lot more, but since no one is really grading me... hehe]
>>>>CLOSING THOUGHTS
so what do you think? if you've read a science fiction novel recently, does it contain elements found in the fantasy genre?
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