What moral dilemma from a fantasy story made you think deeply? Did you ever change your position on that moral question? Tell us about it, if you feel comfortable doing so.
My novella "Honey And Salt" involves aliens who enchant the protagonists by tricking them into going into a storefront and thinking non-existing products featuring them actually exist. It's only when one of the other protagonists realizes what the trick is that they escape, but not before that other one lectures the others for behaving in such a way that compromises their well-established moral behavior.
It was a really a reflection of my ambivalence about capitalism, and trying to create something like the Bower of Bliss in "The Faerie Queene" that could exist in the 21st century world.
I'm still thinking about Babel, which has the full title of "Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence:: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution" Of course the main question of the book is about when and whether it is right to use violence to achieve freedom (a really pertinent question in today's world). But my personal dilemma is whether or not one can forgive Letty, the one white character amongst the quartet of translation students who are the main characters of the novel. (MILD SPOILERS AREAD!!!!) Ultimately, she sides with her country and race, acting against the uprising and I think the author goes to extra lengths to make her seem villainous in her decision, not just uncertain or divided, so no one in the story has to think about forgiving her. Conflicts are easy when there's clear lines between sides - in real life, more often than not, those lines are ambiguous. Can you forgive someone who betrays you? What happens if you do, and what happens if you can't or won't?
My novella "Honey And Salt" involves aliens who enchant the protagonists by tricking them into going into a storefront and thinking non-existing products featuring them actually exist. It's only when one of the other protagonists realizes what the trick is that they escape, but not before that other one lectures the others for behaving in such a way that compromises their well-established moral behavior.
It was a really a reflection of my ambivalence about capitalism, and trying to create something like the Bower of Bliss in "The Faerie Queene" that could exist in the 21st century world.
I'm still thinking about Babel, which has the full title of "Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence:: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution" Of course the main question of the book is about when and whether it is right to use violence to achieve freedom (a really pertinent question in today's world). But my personal dilemma is whether or not one can forgive Letty, the one white character amongst the quartet of translation students who are the main characters of the novel. (MILD SPOILERS AREAD!!!!) Ultimately, she sides with her country and race, acting against the uprising and I think the author goes to extra lengths to make her seem villainous in her decision, not just uncertain or divided, so no one in the story has to think about forgiving her. Conflicts are easy when there's clear lines between sides - in real life, more often than not, those lines are ambiguous. Can you forgive someone who betrays you? What happens if you do, and what happens if you can't or won't?