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Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Royal Ingredient


It’s quite difficult to find a fantasy novel that does not have some sort of character or plot dealing with royalty. Even if the central focus of the story and its characters have nothing to do with sovereigns, thrones or kingdoms, there still tends to be someone or something in the plot that relates to things of royalty. I believe this is mostly due to the setting of most fantasy worlds taking place in a medieval-type era. The Middle Ages was a period of emperors, kings and lords.

Another look at this is that the utter most of us do not stem from royalty; therefore, experiencing the royal lifestyle is the dream (or fantasy) of many people. I think that’s why a lot of the western world is so fascinated with the royal family of England—it’s like a fairytale—something so far from us, and unattainable, that it’s like a fantasy.

So it has been since the dawn of fantasy fiction that kings, queens, princes and princesses have been the orbital point of stories. There are tales of dynasties holding their thrones (or trying to take back their thrones); tales of regicide and machinations; tales of usurpers. There are so many methods in the use of the royal ingredient in fantasy; and it has almost…almost become as common as magic (excluding urban fantasy).

Are there any fantasy books where there is no ruler somewhere in the story? Is it possible to have an epic fantasy without some element of the royal or imperial? I’m sure such books exist, but they are few (and I’m sorry to say that I cannot think of any at the moment).

I think the royal element tends to bring the grandeur scope of things into fantasy worlds. Palaces, castles, crowns, scepters, thrones, riches and servants, these are cool things (apart from magic). I just feel like a good fantasy would be amiss without some of these things in the mix.

The British folklore of King Arthur may have had influence on the genre—a legendary king mentored by a wizard (Merlin). Princesses and princes have been quite common in the fairytales of old; as well as kings and queens. Early fantasy novels like The Well at the World’s End by William Morris, published in 1896, and an influence to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, contains characters of royalty; including Lord Dunsany’s novel, The King of Elfland’s Daughter.

I’ll leave this thought with you… Imagine A Song of Ice and Fire without the royalty ingredient. It would be more like the Hatfields and McCoys; which may be quite good, but it would lack the grandeur scope—lacking that epic scale.


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Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Follow Up to The Dark and Gritty




A couple of months ago I posted about The Dark and Gritty in fantasy fiction; and I just found a post by bestselling author Elizabeth Moon on Orbit Books’ website that I feel gives an excellent illustration to the point I was trying to make.

Check out her post here.


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The Dark and Gritty

Saturday, September 7, 2013

George R.R. Martin vs J.R.R. Tolkien


For awhile now, there's been talk about George R.R. Martin being the next Tolkien (or the American Tolkien). But how can you even compare the two? Tolkien started the modern fantasy genre. Martin didn’t really start anything. People say that Martin brought in a new kind of fantasy—realistic and gritty. But Glen Cook started “realistic” and “gritty” fantasy over a decade before A Game of Thrones was published. Sure, Martin has produced deeper characterization and intrigue in his books, but I wouldn’t say that he started anything.

In my opinion, to compare Martin to Tolkien is not fair to both writers. First off, Tolkien is an inspiration to nearly all modern fantasy authors, Martin included. Tolkien has put the “epic” into fantasy, and set the mold. No one today, if ever, will be able to build the kind of detailed world that he did—and who has the degree and time to create their own language like Tolkien did? He spent decades on this stuff. His knowledge and time spent creating his world is in itself “epic” in scale. Tolkien gave the world a story that people of all types and ages could enjoy over and over through generations. It is set in stone as a classic, and recommended reading, even for those who do not read fantasy. The story of Middle-earth has been a source for academic purposes, and a tool for the craft of storytelling and world-building. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings is a world-wide literary phenomenon, that will continue to pass on to my children’s generation, and to their children, and their children’s children, and so forth.

Martin is a fantastic writer that has produced a good, gritty, graphic piece of fantasy fiction. A Song of Ice and Fire is a treat in modern fantasy, and is a trend-setter, but that’s about it. Like Twilight is to Paranormal Romance, or like Fifty Shades of Grey is to Erotica, or like Harry Potter is to YA Fantasy; A Song of Ice and Fire is to modern Epic Fantasy. That’s it. It has just become popular. Just because A Game of Thrones is hugely successful doesn’t make Martin out to be some great, groundbreaking writer of our time who will set the standard for a new genre. There’s no doubt that Martin has and will inspire a lot of new authors, but every great and popular author does that. It’s nothing new. A Song of Ice and Fire is not something that can be past along to one’s children; or is acceptable to many types of people like the Lord of the Rings.

So let Tolkien be Tolkien, and let Martin be Martin… Let the Lord of the Rings be the Lord of the Rings, and let A Song of Ice and Fire be A Song of Ice and Fire… And may I add, let A Song of Ice and Fire be completed some day (two more books to go, yet no end in sight). It’s not right to compare the two authors. Tolkien is of a whole other literary time and generation; and Martin has yet to complete his series, and has grown into huge success for only the past few years. He is still with us, and has not left a legacy of great, epic literary accomplishments.

Let’s put aside the comparisons between these two authors, because it just doesn’t work. Let’s enjoy the classic, and let’s enjoy the modern—and let’s enjoy the diverse fantasy genre.

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