It is Speculative Fiction whose Family Tree has branches, and stems, in folklore and ancient world myths.
Fantasy in books, movies, operas, and games are usually set in magical worlds and universes. Creative writing teacher and fellow author Jacqueline Seewald in our previous blog post makes a valid point that fantasy deals with the past. And, she is right the fantasy genre is currently rooted in historical and medieval fiction.
Obviously with all the stories about castles, trolls, elves, dungeons and dragons, and parallel realms that look like the English/Irish/Scottish/Wales country sides, at some point in our lives, we have all read the influence of medieval literature in post modern fantasy novels, and short stories, or we watched a fantasy series in movies or TV that featured these elements.
Speculative literature continues to draw readers and will always have a wide audience because it engages and captives the imagination of readers and authors alike.
Aristotle was the first to introduce the concepts of plots and archplot though he did not state as much about plot as many are led to believe. As writing teachers, and MFA schools have adapted the term, the fantasy genre’s main structure became the archplot.
Robert McKee expanded on the concept of the archplot. Thanks to Hollywood the Fantasy Genre is broken up into main three subgenres: 1) Science Fiction 2) Magical 3) Morphed Fantastical Realities.
Many games, and apps lean on the fantasy genre in the sense that they use augmented reality, virtual reality, futuristic reality, and consistently manipulate the concept of reality , time and space in their storytelling journey’s. The theme of Reality is huge in the fantasy genre not just in books but also in fantasy movies, games, apps, and TV shows. Some of the most captivating fantasy writers love to play with the concept of multiple dimensions.
Below we list a few more fantasy subgenres the abovementioned are the main 3 subgenres and the most widely recognized by audiences.
Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, and Harry Potter all have something in common. Yes, they are all famous books/movies; but what binds them together is that they all belong to a very popular genre of fiction – fantasy.
Fantasy fiction is a type of writing where the story is set in a place or contains elements that aren’t real and which cannot happen in real life. They may involve magic, mythological creatures or technology that is eons ahead of our time. These stories may take place on another planet, in another universe or in another dimension.
Essentially, the fantasy genre contains characters, clothing, language, technology, and belief systems/behaviors that don’t exist in reality and might never exist in he present moment in our version of planet earth.
Five reasons why people love fantasy: (Hint something about folk tales and myths have a lot to do with such interest).
• It is more creative than other types of fiction.
• It adds a bit of magic to our mundane lives.
• It allows the reader/viewer to escape his/her challenging reality for a while.
• It celebrates humanity and all that we are capable of.
• It gives us hope for a better future.
Types of fantasy fiction
Fantasy is a huge world, which contains many types of sub-genres. These include:
:
• Epic fantasy
Epic fantasies are stories where the characters are involved in an epic battle of life and death. These stories usually follow the characters’ journey of self-discovery towards their final, glorious victory or horrifying defeat.
Example: The Lord of the Rings
• Historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is placed in ancient or medieval times. Historical fiction will be a fantasy only if it involves magic or contains supernatural characters.
Example: His Majesty’s Dragon
• Romantic fantasy
This sub-genre doesn’t fall under a specific timeline. But, this is a through-and-through romance, involving characters who are either alien or possess supernatural powers.
Example: Twilight Series
• Dark fantasy
Considered to be the scariest type of fantasy fiction. Dark fantasy deals with frightening themes like black magic, violence or contains nightmarish characters. Not a really big fan of the genre it’s very dark and often we find a lot of Satanism and scary Beings reside within this genre. In fact we forbid this genre for teens and sensitive people because the content of some of these authors is evil. There are elements of horror fiction in this sub-genre. Ironically, some Christian writers are part of this genre because of the end of times and dark themes.
Example: The Gunslinger
• Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy fiction is based in contemporary times and often covers themes involving urban mythology. Typically, the characters will be the age of the targeted reader.
Example: The Kitty Norville Series
• Heroic fantasy
Similar to epic fantasy, heroic fantasy follows a single hero/heroine in his/her quest to save the world. This sub-genre involves action and adventure, with hints of romance.
Example: Song of Ice and Fire
• Arcanepunk
Arcanepunk is a sub-genre of fantasy that is a mixture of science fiction and fantasy. These stories will have elements of realistic science, plus the supernatural.
Example: The Death Gate Cycle
• Magic realism
Magic realism is a style of fiction that involve non-magical primary characters living in realistic settings but who encounter subtle signs of magic or the supernatural. These stories do not speak of magic directly, but there are traces of fantasy throughout the novel.
Example: Kafka on the Shore
Stay tuned for new upcoming book/movie reviews, short stories, comics, writing apps, and fun stuff from other writers around the world.
Edited by Elizabeth Simmons∞ a writer to read her zany tweets follow her @literaryebooks visit her at Pinterest or chat with her at Goodreads.