We are all mad here: Reading fantasy and science fiction in a thriller and literature-driven country

This article is about being in a minority group of people and forgetting that you are, in fact, part of that minority. A long time ago, I fell in love with reading again. After years of not reading, I found my way back to it through the Twilight series. I refound my enjoyment of books. When I picked up Twilight, I was in Canada, where the young adult hype was already in full swing.

Recently, there was a person who reminded me of the fact that in the area in the Netherlands where I live, being a fantasy reader is strange. She said to me, "You must have a really twisted mind to be able to read those kinds of books." It was very insulting. At the moment, I was dumbfounded, but when I was in my car driving home, I got pissed off. The result of my frustration is this article.

In the Netherlands, the young adult genre had a long way to go before it became what it is now. Nowadays, there are young adult books from Dutch authors, big releases from foreign titles are available much faster, and stores have young adult shelves separate from children's and adult books. It is a major improvement from the poor state the book stores were in, at least in my opinion.

With the coming of the young adult books, the amount of fantasy and science fiction on the Dutch market started to rise. However, up until now, these are still minority genres. I am so used to being in my fantasy bubble that I forgot that the public in the Netherlands does not even know what fantasy or science fiction entails. When they hear fantasy, they only think of books like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. In the case of science fiction, well, that's aliens and space adventures, right? Star Wars is what would come to mind, but not much else.

In the Netherlands, there are only two genres that matter: literature and thrillers/mysteries. Those are the biggest genres by far, then there are some romance readers, but that is not considered "valuable reading". Publishers and authors will go as far as publishing their science fiction books as speculative fiction, because they do not want to end up in the science fiction niche. I think this is a shame, because the science fiction genre will not grow when publishers keep publishing science fiction as literature.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the Hebban ranking. Let me share the top 3 books in English, as these are mostly translated works anyway. At number three, it is a real chunker, called Al Het Blauw van de Hemel (translation: All the blue of the sky) by Mélissa Da Costa, a French author. This is literature. Funny, this has been translated into many other languages except for English. At number two, a thriller by none other than Freida McFadden, I think most thriller readers will know this name. It is the Dutch translation of The Wife Upstairs. At number one, an author who has become so popular that every book she publishes goes straight to number one in the ranking. The author is Anya Niewierra; she is the only Dutch author on this top three, which I think is an accomplishment all on its own, but that is a discussion for another day. Her new book is called: De stilte, which translates to "The Silence". And you might have guessed it already, this is also a thriller.

The first science fiction book can be found at place 51 of the ranking, which is sad; it is the newest Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. The first fantasy release can be found at place 57; it is the Dutch translation of Bury My Bones In Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab. I am disappointed that it is not higher up on this list, but maybe it is a little bit too early for the rise, as it has just been released.

There are a lot of people who do not understand anything about my favorite genres and just assume that what I read are just stories like Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. The genre is much wider, but as I said in the introduction of this post, books are often not categorized in the appropriate genres.

To further my point, I will give you another example: when you look at the children's books and young adult books, these books are all marked with signs. A witch hat for fairy tales and myths, an alien for science fiction & fantasy, and a ghost for horror books. There isn't even a distinction between the labels for fantasy and science fiction, and they chose an alien for it, a symbol of science fiction. The genre that is even less loved than fantasy.

In the adult section, you will find almost no witch hats, no fairy tales for adults! Except for J.R.R. Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham, for some reason, this book is a fairy tale instead of fantasy. Horror is not marked with a ghost as far as I have found, looking at the Stephen King books, most of them were marked as crime or mystery. I know that some of the Stephen King books fall in this category. However, if it has supernatural elements, it should be marked as horror. Also, you could find science fiction in many different sections of the library; there is not one place for them, they could be among the thrillers and mysteries, or they could be marked as romance or literature. This goes for some fantasy books as well, like for example, that Hades x Persephone series by Scarlet St. Clair, is marked romance only, no fantasy or fairy tale/mythology markings in sight.

It is no wonder that common folks get a confused look on their faces when I talk about fantasy and science fiction. If you were never taught, how the hell are you to know the difference between book genres? I recently also wrote an article about how high school ruined my love for reading because schools only pushed one genre, literature. This article will be going up later. The schools have improved, and I am glad to see this development. Although I think part of my generation has lost all love for reading and will never pick up a book again.

Being a fantasy and science fiction reader in the North of the Netherlands is hard. You will never be seen as a normal reader; the old stigmas remain in place. It is sad to see that even after 20 years, this hasn't changed. The person who insulted me was my reminder on how narrow-minded this part of the Netherlands is. It was also a reminder of why I kept my reading tastes hidden from most of the world. I work in a library, and these are the genres I stand by. I can recommend a book in almost every genre, as my knowledge of books reaches farther beyond just my preferences. The fantasy and science fiction education has begun; I will not stop until at least some people have a sense of what they are talking about.

Fantasy and science fiction are far from dead; the popularity of romantasy is growing as fast in the Netherlands as it is in other countries. If you go to the bigger cities, you will find that the collection of fantasy and science fiction continues to grow. The number of fantasy events, such as Comiccon and Castle fest, has also increased; there are more events than ever before. As for science fiction, this is still a tough cookie to sell, but books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins are beloved by readers across many genres. There is hope for this genre, too.

I think what I have been trying to say with the post is not to judge someone's reading taste based on the genres they prefer. If you do not know the genre, ask them about it, instead of going by your assumption of what the genre is. Ask them why they like reading this particular genre, and they will be so grateful that you took the time to listen to what they enjoy, maybe you will find a new favorite genre, or just have learned something new.

One last thing I wanted to add, don't judge the books people read, be glad that they are reading anything at all.

If you can't get enough of my content, consider finding me on my other websites. If you are interested in music, I write about it on Finding Flight Cases. If you love collecting books, I have started a secondhand online bookstore, Arcane Archives. I would love to help you find your next fantasy or science fiction read.