Of Sex and Faerie

by John Lennard

Published 1 January 2010
Taking up where the author's book Of Modern Dragons (2007) left off, these essays continue Lennard's investigation of the praxis of serial reading and the best genre fiction of recent decades, including work by Bill James, Walter Mosley, Lois Mcmaster Bujold, and Ursula K. Le Guin. There are groundbreaking studies of contemporary paranormal romance, and of Hornblower's transition to space, while the final essay deals with the phenomenon and explosive growth of fanfiction, and with the increasingly empowered status of the reader in a digital world.

The essays cover work by Reginald Hill, Thomas Harris, Dorothy L. Sayers, Nora Roberts, J. D. Robb (since 2000 the world's best-selling novelist) , J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Ian McDonald, Octavia E. Butler, and The Tortallan World of Tamora Pierce.