ASFFQ : 1997
The
year of the great sagas! The phenomenon is growing, not merely
in YA literature, in which series featuring one hero or heroine
in various adventures is the norm, but also in literature for
adults. In 1997, four important Quebec SF sagas were in the works
or reaching their conclusion.
First, honour where honour is due, Jacques Brossard concluded L'Oiseau de Feu, his great fiction work begun in 1989, with the fifth and final book. This pentology took a total of nine years to be published, which may have had an impact on the loyalty of its readers. Certainly, the two last books did not receive the attention they deserved from the media. The commercial strategy of the publisher of Tyranaël, by Élisabeth Vonarburg, was very different: in barely sixteen months, Alire published the five volumes of this immense saga, the three last ones coming out in 1997.
Esther Rochon also continued with the publication of her Chroniques infernales, with the novel Ouverture, book 3 of a series the final number of volumes of which the author herself does not know . As for Francine Pelletier, in 1997 with Nelle de Vilvèq she began a trilogy, Le Sable et l'acier, which will be concluded in 1998. This new phenomenon can be explained by a favourable publishing context (a publisher specialized in SF, Alire, that is also able to keep up with its authors' production) but also, and above all I would say, by the maturity reached by some Quebec SF writers.
Whereas the SF novels include several high quality works among the 14 published in 1997, the state of the SF short story does not provide much cause for rejoicing: it finishes way behind fantasy, as far as original stories are concerned. Indeed, 91 fantasy short stories were published in 1997 (71%) versus only 37 SF stories (29%). The SF short story is in the minority everywhere, in collections and anthologies, in the mainstream magazines and even in the specialized magazines that are traditionally their stronghold. In the latter, there were only 22 SF stories versus 36 fantasy stories. It is true that imagine... put out only two issues in 1997 and that, to add to the imbalance, one of those two only included fantasy short stories. Nevertheless, it is still true that the majority of newcomers in genre literature choose the path of fantasy. This year, the ratio is close to 84%, 35 of 42 new writers. Is it because that genre demands a less encyclopedic knowledge of its past and present workings and is also less demanding of its reader? Perhaps.
In mainstream literary magazines such as Stop, XYZ and Moebius, SF is only represented by three stories (8%) whereas fantasy has 20. The latter has always been more present in those publications, but the gap grows wider from one year to the next. As for the SF stories published in collections or anthologies, there is a total of 12, versus 35 fantasy stories.
In short, fantasy is invading all publishing outlets and is even victorious on the long fictionfront with 22 novels or novellas. However, it must be noted that fantastic fiction, which has begun to grow significantly over the last few years, contributes to inflating the numbers for fantasy, since we still include it in our statistics. Nevertheless, those who deplore a dearth of fantasy stories will have to adjust their position! Unless they're talking about good fantasy stories...
With an original production of 128 short stories and 36 novels, the year 1997 is exactly average for the decade. The same comment applies to the number of authors having published at least one original story, 88 this year. As for perceptible trends in writing and themes explored by all writers, new and established, it is for you to discover them through the summaries and reviews that fill most of the pages of the ASFFQ...
In conclusion, 34 authors had their works reprinted or translated without having produced an original text. This part of the publishing sector seems very healthy, with 112 stories (76 fantasy texts collected in three anthologies, Le Fantastique même, Que le diable l'emporte! and Les Meilleurs Contes fantastiques québécois du 19e siècle, and 37 SF stories) were offered to new francophone, anglophone and... germanophone readers.
Claude Janelle
| Original Production | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 14 | 22 | 36 |
| Short stories in... | 37 | 91 | 128 |
|
12 | 35 | 47 |
| b) specialized magazines | 22 | 36 | 58 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 3 | 20 | 23 |
| Reissues and/or translations | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Short stories in... | 37 | 76 | 113 |
|
33 | 75 | 108 |
| b) specialized magazines | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Combined production | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 18 | 22 | 40 |
| Short stories in... | 74 | 167 | 241 |
|
45 | 11 | 155 |
| b) specialized magazines | 26 | 37 | 63 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 3 | 20 | 23 |
