Can first person work in Sci Fi or Fantasy?

First person is found in all genres. Having a spaceship in the story wouldn't suddenly stop it working.

The three books in my sig are all in first, as are the Dresden Files, Sandman Slim books (those are in present too), Rothfuss's Kingkiller books (mostly anyway), Hobb's Assassin series, Morgans' Altered Carbon, Heinlen often wrote in first, Neuromancer, the Stainless Steel Rat books, Oryx and Crake, Left Hand of Darkness, I'm certain some of Cherryh's stuff...


So, er, yeah I think it can be done

A bit late to the consensus, but yes, of course it can work. More to the point, why would you think that first would not work as a valid POV in these genres? I thought of most of the examples Flibble mentioned, and a few others besides - all published, reasonably successful books.

Like every other factor in writing, it's all about the execution.

Then that's on them. I tend to ignore, or at least discount, the opinions of readers with inflexible rules of 'I only read X and never Y'.

There are fads in certain genres (especially YA genre fic, for whatever reason), but that's even less reason to follow the trends. Trends burn out. Good writing doesn't.

I get the impression that this advice exists because new writers often fall back on 1st person, especially 1st person present, thinking that the 'immediacy' of it makes it easier, when in fact it's hard to do well. As Mr F points out, there are plenty of examples of 1st person in the genre.

Yes, and it often does. Why wouldn't it?

I guess my befuddlement over this question pretty much gives my opinion

Seriously, I've read a bunch of SF and F stories that are in first person. It's a particularly popular pov for urban or contemporary type settings, and for YA, but it crops up in adult secondary world fantasy (and in SF) too.

Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice is written in first person, and it swept the "big" SF/F awards last year. Scalzi's Old Man's War is very popular, and it is in first person too.

Some recent fantasy titles that are in first person include books by Kate Elliot, NK Jemisin, Robin Hobb, Jones/Bennett, and Jay Lake.

Whether or not a reader likes any or all of these examples? That's a matter of taste, I think, not a statement of whether or not the approach works (or is marketable).

The problem with pet peeve threads is that they quickly devolve into lists of things that we personally don't like, rather than things that are bad writing.

Just wondering why you would think it wouldn't. There was a time when it was recommended that beginning writers use third person because it was supposedly easier, but I think it really depends on the story and the writer. If you can stay in character as you write, you can be just as successful either way.

Scroll though the bestseller sin those genre and you will find some in 1st. All else is moot.

I'm guessing it has to do with the explanations -- a first-person narrator can only tell you what they saw/know about while a third-person narrator can fill in blanks, switch to other PoVs, etc.

Recently all of specfic I've read is third-person, but that's because I prefer the distance. As the examples above show it's fully possible to write scifi first-person well.

Samsonet said:

I'm guessing it has to do with the explanations -- a first-person narrator can only tell you what they saw/know about while a third-person narrator can fill in blanks, switch to other PoVs, etc.

Recently all of specfic I've read is third-person, but that's because I prefer the distance. As the examples above show it's fully possible to write scifi first-person well.

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Well, it's more complex than this, because third person can be very immediate and in the head of the pov character (i.e. deep limited third), while first person allows the narrator to step back and tell the story from some future point in time, when he/she has already figured a lot of things out.

Or maybe they're lying to the reader, or completely wrong about something >.>

And I've read multi first person novels. It can work quite well, actually.

So many choices writers have. Sometimes it's just a matter of style or preference, and sometimes it's because a given story just works best in a certain pov or narrative distance/depth.

Loads of first person in sff, esp YA. Also, multiple firsts - look at Pitacus Lore as an eg of that: he's not my cup of tea, but he's done well with shifting first.

Why do you think 1st person wouldn't work? I've read many Sci Fi and Fantasy novels in the first person. If you were asking about the second person than that would be a different story.

As with your previous thread, the fact you asked this makes me wonder whether you read widely in these genres.

The current content of bookstores answers your question.

Octavia Butler

Hell, yes. Why not?

I've written in first and third, fantasy, science fiction and contemporary. I've just finished a 3rd person fantasy; I'm about to start a first person sci fi. It's a case of mix and match. Whatever suits the story and the audience.

There are some wrinkles when writing science fiction and fantasy in first person. You have to find a believable way of explaining world-related issues to the reader. For example, how does your first person narrator explain how your world has managed faster than light travel? What do you assume that your reader knows?

But those are minor wrinkles and there are similar issues with 3rd person fantasy and sci fi stories.

Sorry, can't see a question here.

Of course. Why wouldn't it?

Albedo said:

I get the impression that this advice exists because new writers often fall back on 1st person, especially 1st person present, thinking that the 'immediacy' of it makes it easier, when in fact it's hard to do well.

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All writing is hard to do well.

kuwisdelu said:

All writing is hard to do well.

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This.

The Harry Dresden books are among my absolute favourites and I reread them periodically because they're just so much fun. They're first person. And they're done very well.

If you think first person is a problem, I'd suggest you go through the first person books mentioned in this thread and read them all. Then find some more that are first person and read those. Then ask yourself that question again.

I wrote my first fantasy in first person present tense. I've had enough agent to know it wasn't the reason it didn't get taken on. A couple did grumble about the present tense but none mentioned the first person as a barrier.

The first truly modern SF novel, by the Godfather, H.G. Wells, is The Time Machine, and it's a framed first-person narrative.

caw

blacbird said:

The first truly modern SF novel, by the Godfather, H.G. Wells, is The Time Machine, and it's a framed first-person narrative.

caw

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And Frankenstein, also considered the first science fiction novel (possibly by different people), is also in first person. Also, the majority of YA SF/F would probably like a word with people who say it can't be done.

emax100 said:

I was suddenly wondering if there is a consensus here on whether or not first person narration can work in this genre. Who thinks it can certainly work, who thinks it never works and actively dislikes it and who thinks it can be enjoyable if it is not done too much and the writers have enough finesse in doing it?

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Not really sure I understand the point of this thread... are you writing by consensus, or by what works for your story?

As has been said here, first-person SFF stories are nothing new. They have been, and continue to be, successful... not because of the POV alone, but because the stories told by them engaged readers. Some stories work better in first. Some work better in third. Some (few) even seem to work in second. Some authors are also better at using one or the other POV. But I've yet to read (or hear of) a book where everything else was great, but it bombed because readers didn't like first-person POV in their sci-fi or fantasy.

I second the question jjdebenedictis asked: how much do you read in sci-fi/fantasy? A simple skimming of the shelves at your nearest bookstore would tell you what POVs are "in" right now.