I’ve been asked often whether I prefer sci-fi or fantasy and why I haven’t written any science fiction yet. I used to dismiss this question by replying, truthfully, that I enjoy them both equally, but now that I have roughly a dozen stories complete and in progress and only one of them could qualify as sci-fi, I find myself asking the same question. If presented with a portfolio of the work of my 20s, I’m sure anyone would assume that I prefer to write fantasy and or magical realism, when this is not the case.
Rather, I feel, that fantasy stories need disabled and chronically ill characters more than sci-fi does, and the inverse, as well. Disabled and chronically ill readers are in greater need of characters who represent them in the fantasy genre than in it’s cousin. Obviously there are great examples of disability in fantasy stories, such as Oree Shoth in N K Jemisin’s The Broken Kingdoms, but to my perception, overall there is a greater lack of representation in general in the fantasy genre, while sci-fi, by contrast, is one of the only genres to somewhat regularly feature disabled or chronically ill characters, due to advanced technology filling in missing abilities narratively.
This is, of course, a narrative reflection of the social model of disability working, When provided with accomodations, devices, and or treatments that improve their functionality without necessarily curing them, disabled characters become equally able to participate in the plot. The difficulty comes when you choose, like I have, to maintain realistic obstacles and challenges for disabled characters, as, realistically, it limits their agency in the plot. It’s haaaaarrrd to write from the perspective of a chronically ill person. You always have to be thinking about limits, symptoms, triggers, and maintainence tasks just to get their body to function at a baseline. Exactly. Thhat’s the whole fucking point. It was when I realized this that I rewrote the entire first half of The Other Option to give Erin Chronic Migraine. And it’s made the story so much better. It definitely says something that working more overt and systematic ableism into the System was very easy. It fit like a glove.
Now I’m dipping more into Sci-fi, but still very small proportionately in the current body of my work. I would love some futuristic or science tattoos to add to my sleeve at some point, but it likely won’t be anytime soon. And that’s okay. The universes of sci-fi will be there ready and waiting for me when the time comes. Until then, live long, prosper, and never stop asking why, if magic exists, it can’t magic up some magically perfect accommodations.
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