Also, good fiction tells the truth. As one commenter noted, often through allegory. It's often a way for people who can't talk about their situation to explore and discuss something adjacent in a healthy way. Fiction can teach about people and their motivations, and the things that unite and divide them. It can teach about politics in a non-partisan way. It can bring human rights issues into the forefront of our minds. It can depend on the skill of the writer, but also the engagement of the reader. At the end of the day, if you're happy with a story purely for entertainment, that's enough. But you can always ask yourself, what can I take from this story and apply to my life? How can the lessons the characters learn benefit me? Who can I relate to, why do I relate to them, and how do I feel about that?

Fiction is IMPORTANT. It gives us a chance to really think about what it means to be human.

I could literally write a book about all of the reasons that sci-fi and fantasy are just as important as literary fiction.

But I don't have the time right now.