The Heart of Fiction: Fantasy (2 of 2)
As promised, continuing the exploration of subgenres of fantasy from last week:
High Fantasy/ Epic Fantasy- High Fantasy is hugely rich and epic and generally what people think of when they think of fantasy. Its the long sweeping sagas that take lifetimes to write and lifetimes to read and people will argue long after you are gone. Interestingly when I speak to aspiring fantasy writers they generally have a “20 book series” in them. None of these books are written, one is outlined, the details are in their head and they have languages and social customs written but have not come up with actual plots. It takes a highly disciplined mind to write an epic fantasy or a high fantasy that is not a retread of something already done and if you do it will be compared to the big ones; Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time.
Historic Fantasy- Variants on this include specific time periods like medieval and Arthurian that have a huge fan base. But historic fantasy has a historic setting, with a high interest in maintaining accepted historic elements like factual settings and elements but also contains something extra be it supernatural or fantastic. A great example of this is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Great historic work, also contains time-travel so its fantasy.
Portal Fiction- The world exists and then there’s this other world; an amazing place full of fun, magic, danger, beauty and wondrous things. This world is separate from our world and they do not intersect but you can travel from one world to the other. The Chronicles of Narnia, Wizard of Oz. Portal fiction is hard to do well without it looking predictable and boring but if you can get the reader to suspend disbelief then you’re gold.
Low Fantasy- Don’t flame me! Low doesn’t mean it sucks or is not imaginative, low fantasy is closer to magical realism where a magical world exists within our own world but is only for the initiated to be part of. Often the initiated can travel between the two worlds but cannot discuss them. Often Young Adult Fantasies are closely tied to low fantasy, perhaps one reason for this is because young adults often feel at odds with their world as though they are a part of two worlds. (Because they are! Not quite adults and not quite children, they are part of two worlds, worlds within worlds if you will.) One of the most famous examples of Low Fantasy in our modern culture is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Young Adult Fantasy- Fantasy written for a younger protagonist. It used to be that young adult fantasy was written for a young adult audience but I would challenge this notion as authors and publishers have now come to accept that the consumers of literature are not necessarily the intended audience. Young adult fantasy is written for young adult consumers, generally aged 12-18, but keep in mind that the protagonist is two years older than the intended consumer. Therefore Harry Potter’s target audience, when written was supposed to be preteen to early teen. The reasoning is that teenagers will see a teenager about two years older as still contemporary but cooler and therefore someone they want to be like. They want to see characters challenged in ways they would want to be challenged and make choices they would want. Young adult fantasy (or literature for that matter) must deal with magical elements that adult fantasy deals with but in relate-able ways and in age appropriate challenges. That does not mean no violence or sexuality, but you are probably off your market if you write a paranormal fantasy where a single mother of three goes to college and moonlights as a engineer for a Frankenstein-type project only to find the “volunteers” are actually death row inmates that were offered expunged records for their “cooperation.” (Ooo that could be a fun story to write) Examples of Young adult fantasy are Harry Potter, Inkheart, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Children's Fantasy- Like Young Adult but scale it back more, Think The Wizard of Oz series (there are 14 of them), Peter Pan, Redwall
Superhero Fantasy- Comic Books and Graphic Novels: Here the heroes are heroic and the villains are really bad or sometimes the lines are blurred. There are magical powers, deals with devils, industrial accidents, science and wealth dedicated to over the top cosplay. Its Avengers, X-Men, Spiderman, Batman, Superman and Justice League. The fans are many and they are rabid; do not venture into these lands without your shots. (I am a total Geek and I love it! I’m a Marvel girl all the way!)
Magical Realism- Is the author sleep deprived or just extremely creative? My guess is a bit of both. Magical realism is when the fantastical elements seep into the real world. Examples are Big Fish, The Green Mile, Like Water for Chocolate, The Night Circus.
Did I hit on them all? Nope, not even close. Did I touch on your favorite? Is your favorite flavor of fantasy the furry/ horror/ orc/ romance/ science fantasy subgenre wherein the misunderstood half-orc, half rabbit falls in love with the Cthulhu worshiping space captain that spends their time hiding their romance from prying eyes as they hunt down intergalactic shape-shifting puppy smugglers? Granted I’m sure that’s a tight genre but like I said there’s a flavor for every taste.
Tune in next time so we can explore another genre of speculative fiction, Those SciFi Pieces!