From Paul Jessup comes a post with the title "This is not a manifesto."

He talks about how manifestos in the SF world usually lead the way to subgenres.

He proposes a new subgenre (although I am not convinced it is new) that resonates deeply with me.

"Imagine a fantasy that is in a contemporary setting, with contemporary problems. But things are different, in ways we can’t understand. Lots of little and big things are immensely different...

Imagine a fantasy were mood and character and theme all take precedent over all else. Characters are the reason for the plot, the reason for the action. Plot is what happens when the characters react to one another...

Imagine a fantasy with complex narrative structures that bend past the normal linear problem solution set up. That the whole structure itself is part of the story, that the narrative is as important as character, as theme.

Imagine a fantasy that stays in your brain, changing you after you read it.

Imagine a contemporary fantasy without faeries or stealing Native American mythology and spiritualism. Imagine a fantasy that uses surrealistic imagery* to taunt the reader and subvert the reader on a symbolic level..."

I guess I just need an example now of what he means, because maybe my idea of what he means isn't exactly what his idea is.

I imagine something like a Da Vinci code done in a world where magick happens, or like Vellum grounded in one reality...