Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy

by Jo Walton, Ada Palmer

From two of the most acclaimed writers in the field today, a groundbreaking look at how SF and fantasy writing—and reading!

Jo Walton and Ada Palmer are two of the most innovative and insightful writers to emerge in the SF and fantasy genres in this century. As writers of fiction they’ve each won multiple awards. As commenters on SF and fantasy in print and in visual media, they’ve both sparked new conversations that expanded our imaginations and understanding of how SF and fantasy work, and what more it could be doing.

Now, in Trace Elements, Walton and Palmer have come together to write a book-length and supremely entertaining look at modern science fiction and fantasy, at how our genre is written and how it is read, that will join nonfiction works like Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Language of the Night, Samuel R. Delany’s The Jewel-Hinged Jaw, and Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud on the short shelf of titles essential to all readers of our genre.

Subjects covered include the nature of genre itself, the history of SF publishing, the implicit contract between author and reader, the ways SF and fantasy disguise themselves as one another, what SF&F can learn from outside influences ranging from Shakespeare to Diderot to anime, the role of complicity in reading, the need to expand our “sphere of empathy”, and finally the need for optimism, the importance of rejecting “purity” culture, and the fact that the human story for centuries to come will be composed of hard work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 24, 2026

About the author

Jo Walton writes science fiction and fantasy novels and reads a lot and eats great food. It worries her slightly that this is so exactly what she always wanted to do when she grew up. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montreal.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a big fan of Jo Walton's takes on science fiction for years (Tooth and Claw is my favorite of her books I've read so far, but her Thessaly trilogy is overdue for a reread). She reads omnivorously and has the best-informed perspective on what SF has been and is becoming. Her book on the Hugo's is an example of some of my favorite kind of writing about books. I don't know Ada Palmer's work at all, but clearly she brings a deep knowledge of manga and anime to the mix, as well as a more overtly political viewpoint.

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

This collection includes personal essays from both women, giving us insight into their journeys to publication and experiences with disability. Definitely worth a read. (There are also poems, which I mostly skipped, but ymmv.)

Some of my favorite essays here are the ones that zoom out for an industry-wide view. The examination of imprint SF vs. "external" SF gave voice to ideas I've felt but struggled to articulate - why, for example, Ishiguro's highly praised Klara and the Sun feels so boringly basic to me, who grew up reading Asimov's Robot stories. Literary SF annoys me because it's written and praised by people who don't read SF and think they're offering original takes on topics that have been well-mapped by generations of SF writers. For Walton and Palmer, they much more diplomatically describe it as the difference between a 101 explanation and one written for people in a 300-level class.

The essay breaking down the history of fantasy/SF publication was fascinating, and I learned a ton about mass market paperbacks that I never knew, even as a librarian. I got less out of the multiple essays about manga, only because I always find that literature difficult to get into. (It's so mind-bogglingly vast and the number of volumes you have to read for a single story is not inviting for an "external" reader who has barely dipped a toe into the format.)

Walton's essay "What's Reading For?" answered some lingering questions I have had about her ability to finish several books a day, and gave me a new place to aspire to in my reading life: "Reading is the most fun I can have at any given moment." Delightful.

The essay "Spear Point Theory" is immediately going into my canon of useful ideas from its very first sentence. As a lifelong SF fan, I live for the moment the spear punches through at full power. I'm now going to have to reread some favorites (and re-watch Farscape) to re-experience those moments with this fresh insight.

I very much disagree with Palmer's critiques of "Providentialist" thinking. I do believe in Providence because I'm a Christian. Though I appreciate the way SF explores interesting ideas in an infinite variety of possible worlds, in our world there are wrong answers to certain questions. At one point Palmer writes "Western SF basically never pauses to ask whether extinction is a better choice than the bomb. When this does come up in Western SF, it is, sadly, often unexamined and the answer is always to keep killing, and even when it is examined, with the idea that the killing has a cost, that cost is always paid." I'm not totally sure what she means in the second sentence, but choosing extinction is insane. Next question.

As a stylistic quibble, I think both writers should lay off using italics for emphasis. I've always thought italics should be used as sparingly as exclamation points. The sentences rarely changes meaning without the italicized words, so if it lacks punch use stronger words.

Overall, anyone who loves SF and fantasy would get a lot out of these thoughtful essays. I'm glad I read them, and they've added to my reading list (check out my "jo-walton-says" tag for books I've added over the years because of her essays).

Received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.**

I don't read much writing that dissects genre, writing trends, or the possibilities of fiction, so this was a real feast for me. There are a lot of wonderfully interesting essays here, some thought-provoking, and some eye-opening. The first three in particular are really excellent at the latter: getting into the weeds of why imprint SFF and external SFF feel different was incredible in a did-not-know-I-needed-to-hear-that way. I also really enjoyed the deep dives into anime and romance and The Princess Bride. (I was way less enthused by all the mentions of AI rights. I know it's meant to refer to person-like AI, but spending the last year or so watching artists and writers get their hard work ripped off by AI, plus having it obtrusively shoved into every corner of online life has given me a reflexive flinch to "AI," never mind the much more galling "AI rights." Crazy how fast the night changes, huh? But even that element was thought-provoking.)

There are, of course, a few less than interesting pieces. I'm not sure why we needed the acknowledgements of another book in this book (and since they were there, why wasn't the standard form for acknowledgements played with a bit? after all these essays on trying out new narrative styles in writing, c'mon!) and some of the poems didn't really hit for me. But overall, this is a really compelling collection. If you're at all interested in genre fiction, or, hell, just love thinking about fiction in general there is definitely something you'll enjoy here.

On the other hand, if you're looking to keep your TBR - or To Be Watched list - nice and lean (why, though?)...run, don't walk. This is not the book to help you with that!

[Alan]

Rec. by: Previous work, and a Goodreads giveaway