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ASFFQ : 1986

There were fewer publications in 1986 than in 1985, which from many points of view was an exceptional year: we don't see four SF collections published every year!
Without further ado, let's look at the main statistics. The number of writers practicing one genre or the other has been constantly growing since 1983. This year, 95 writers produced original stories, compare to 83 in 1985. Which means 20 novels (including a play), 161 short stories (49 in 4 collections and 1 anthology, 112 in magazines and other publications). These numbers include reprints, i.e. 22 short stories and 4 novels.
Looking at the magazines, we can see that the specialized ones only published 57% of the short stories (i.e. 64 texts), which is 9% lower than in 1985 and 20% lower than in 1984. I see it as an indication of a new phenomenon that should have a beneficial effect on the influence of science fiction and fantasy, as these statistics show that the diffusion of the two genres is no longer the sole domain of specialized magazines. Other literary outlets have stepped in (XYZ and L'Écrit primal, to name only two) and are welcoming science fiction and fantasy. In the long term, the genres can only benefit from this multiplication of outlets, provided that those magazines do not perpetuate unfortunate prejudices.
In 1986, science fiction took precedence over fantasy: 14 SF novels and 80 short stories, whereas in fantasy (including again fantastic and supernatural literature), we counted 6 novels (including a play), and 81 short stories. The difference is not as noticeable in the quantity as it is in terms of quality. With the exception of Marie Jose Thériault's collection, L'Envoleur de chevaux, which is very finely written, there a dearth of good fantasy short stories in magazines.
It is difficult to pinpoint an obvious trend in the current production. Diversity seems to be the main rule. Still, it must be noted that several texts treat the traditional SF themes with a humorous or satirical approach, which was not very frequent before. Besides April, who's made this his trademark, and François Barcelo, we now have Luc-André Mercier, Pierre Corbeil, Richard Jodoin, Jeannoël Chouinard and Jean-François Somcynsky. It is no doubt too early to speak of a trend, but this new wave of humour in SF deserves to be monitored.

Claude Janelle

Original Production	Science Fiction	Fantasy & Horror	Total
Novels	10	6	16
Short stories in...	74	65	139
a) collections & anthologies	15	20	35
b) specialized magazines	37	22	59
c) non-specialized magazines	22	23	45

Reissues and/or translations	Science Fiction	Fantasy & Horror	Total
Novels	4	0	4
Short stories in...	6	16	22
a) collections & anthologies	4	10	14
b) specialized magazines	1	4	5
c) non-specialized magazines	1	2	3

Combined production	Science Fiction	Fantasy & Horror	Total
Novels	14	6	20
Short stories in...	80	81	161
a) collections & anthologies	19	30	49
b) specialized magazines	38	26	64
c) non-specialized magazines	23	25	48