Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot
...And he told me that it's all pretend anyway so it doesn't have to make sense. I say fiction or not, it still has to make sense and if there is some special explanation for something illogical, they need to clue the reader in. So, what do you think...it's all pretend so who cares, or I am right to demand an explanation.
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I can't help but to think of the original Twilight Zone series here. Many of the classic episodes require a giant leap of disbelief at the very beginning in order to set the stage for the story that unfolds.
An episode titled "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up" comes to mind: A couple of state troopers are investigating reports of a flying saucer crash in a relatively unpopulated area, while in that same area, a bus driver and his passengers wait out some bad weather in a diner. They soon realize that there's one more among them than were on the bus, and the immediate supposition is that one of them is actually a Martian. I actually rather liked that they didn't try to explain anything at all about the flying saucer crash, that the level of panic fell far short of what one would expect should a flying saucer crash land on Earth, or even the assumption that a Martian would be indistinguishable from a human. You just accept the basic premise and enjoy what follows.
Of course, an episode of an anthology show and a novel are two completely different things, but in my opinion a good writer can ask a whole lot from you up front so long as he/she delivers a well-crafted story from that point forward.