Fundamental themes of humanity, long the domain of serious novelists, have come to be vigorously explored through a variety of unconventional literary genres. Questions of morality, justice and love are, in the hands of writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and Stephen King, investigated within worlds wherein the familiar is often made very strange. This juxtaposition can serve to highlight the dynamics of thematic interplay in a way that makes them more accessible, or even more interesting, to readers than perhaps are the works of Tolstoy or Hemingway. The rise of science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novels as valid (and potentially lucrative) genres worthy of the attentions of “serious” writers speaks of the appeal that vivid escapism and identification through novels holds for readers.
These genres also persist in providing fertile ground for the imaginations of writers to develop the fundamental element in any story: conflict. Conflict in these genres is presented in contexts only as limited as the imagination of the author. Prototypical works such as HG Wells' War Of the Worlds or JRR Tolkiens' The Lord Of the Rings paved the way for countless others to create fantastic worlds and scenarios wherein it is the timeless struggle against dark, oppressive forces that drives the narrative and characters have to overcome their own deepest fears and weaknesses in their quest for survival and victory.
These genres also persist in providing fertile ground for the imaginations of writers to develop the fundamental element in any story: conflict. Conflict in these genres is presented in contexts only as limited as the imagination of the author. Prototypical works such as HG Wells' War Of the Worlds or JRR Tolkiens' The Lord Of the Rings paved the way for countless others to create fantastic worlds and scenarios wherein it is the timeless struggle against dark, oppressive forces that drives the narrative and characters have to overcome their own deepest fears and weaknesses in their quest for survival and victory.