While I do understand and appreciate your concerns, I feel that he is being held to a standard other fantasy authors are not expected to meet.
If he had chosen to write a British-inspired fantasy like Game of Thrones, where he picked and chose bits of Anglo-Saxon historical culture, terminology, and mythology, changing it up a bit for his alternate world, would that be as offensive?
As an Australian is he only allowed to riff on the culture and traditions of his own heritage? And if that's not 100% accurate (and it wouldn't be, once he introduced mythical creatures), is it forgivable because he's working with elements of "his people" so he can't be as offensive as if he stepped into another geographical/cultural region?
I just want to understand how far cultural responsibility within the fantasy genre extends. Do we only care about it if the author photo on the back reveals a vastly different real life heritage than that of the main character in the book?
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If he had chosen to write a British-inspired fantasy like Game of Thrones, where he picked and chose bits of Anglo-Saxon historical culture, terminology, and mythology, changing it up a bit for his alternate world, would that be as offensive?
As an Australian is he only allowed to riff on the culture and traditions of his own heritage? And if that's not 100% accurate (and it wouldn't be, once he introduced mythical creatures), is it forgivable because he's working with elements of "his people" so he can't be as offensive as if he stepped into another geographical/cultural region?
I just want to understand how far cultural responsibility within the fantasy genre extends. Do we only care about it if the author photo on the back reveals a vastly different real life heritage than that of the main character in the book?