Abstract
In fantasy and science fiction more than any other genres of fiction, mapping is an essential supplement, and often a precursor, to the standard creative process of character development and plotting. This chapter examines a particular kind of mapping, the particular kinds of spaces it maps, and the peculiar imaginary surrounding it: the urban transport system and its relationship to the contemporary sub-genre of urban fantasy with which it has emerged. The chapter considers a range of texts by writers including China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, Laurence Leonard, Michael de Larrabeiti, Neal Shusterman, Suzanne Collins, and Lauren Beukes. It concludes with a brief analysis of Michael Moorcock’s Mother London (1988) and Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day (2006).
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Pike, D. (2016). Commuting to Another World: Spaces of Transport and Transport Maps in Urban Fantasy. In: Fletcher, L. (eds) Popular Fiction and Spatiality. Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56902-8_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56902-8_10
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57141-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56902-8
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