Especially compared to today, where we have police forces and bureaucratic states, the stakes of an adventure story would be different. However, those who roam forums seem to believe that a modern law system would hinge on the flow of certain fantasy series. Just imagine how different the world of A Song of Ice and Fire would be with legitimate detectives, as in more than what Ned Stark was, real lawyers or a democratic state?
The whole plot would be unrecognizable and possibly less intense, then again George R. Martin would probably find a way to make it an excellent story regardless. Still, since fantasy and medieval are so interlinked, putting magic in a completely different timeline is a whole new ballpark.
It tends to make it more interesting, but people like tradition, which brings me to Tolkien. What is known about fantasy, can greatly be attributed to the world that he created and tropes he helped established. A lot of known fantasy authors grew up reading Tolkien or have engaged with his work in some shape or form. By osmosis, the long-time fantasy fan who becomes a writer gains an understanding of medieval history. They might set their story in the time period and draw inspiration from the most renowned fantasy series.
Essentially, fantasy and medieval history will often come hand in hand because of what comes down to tradition. With all that said, is fantasy necessarily medieval? Absolutely, there are countless of non-medieval and non-western, for that matter, fantasy novels who offer a completely different experience than what many are used.
I write the Craft Sequence series of books and games, set in a postindustrial and post-war fantasyland, where black magic is big business, wizards wear pinstriped suits and conduct necromantic procedures on dead gods, and day-to-day commerce rests on people trading pieces of their souls for goods and services.
The Craft Sequence books are legal thrillers about faith, or religious thrillers about law and finance. Plus there are hive-mind police forces, poet gargoyles, brainwashing golems, nightmare telegraphs, surprisingly pleasant demons, worldshattering magic, environmental devastation, and that deepest and darkest evil: student loans. Gladstone disregards many of the reason some go out of their way to set a fantasy series in medieval times.
His series is set in a reality that is similar to ours and uses magic. The magic system is one of the most intriguing aspects of the book because of the way is it linked to the law. One cannot use magic without forming a contract with a god and consequently study law. Like many fantasy series, magic and religion are closely linked and they run society. For the remaining of the article, I will focus on the book that was first published Three Parts Dead. There is no chosen one, or an old sage who already knows how the main character should defeat their enemy but refuses to tell them.
It also has a diverse cast, something that is desperately missing in a lot of mainstream fantasy novels. The two main characters of Three Parts Dead are women, the main protagonist is black.
Across the series there are queer characters, transgenders, and people of various ethnicities and well-developed female characters. Placing a fantasy series in a modern era gives the possibility to have a more welcomed representation of diversity. With an urban setting, the author has all the liberties in the world. By branching out into different timelines, as well as different cultures, authors are able to present a completely new perspective to their readers.
With a new time period to work with, authors can play with known conventions and warp them into something new or simply disregard it. The medieval period and fantasy genre will more than likely always be linked. However, that is not the limit of the genre. Exploring new settings can offer a completely different narrative. The story is more about down trodden knights who are seen as no more than mercenaries trying to find themselves.
To them magic are the muskets a far eastern country have recently invented. I really, really, REALLY want to write stories for a world following its chronological progression, from its earliest prehistoric era right up to the time that someone discovers the atomic bomb, trying to focus more on the realism aspect rather than the fantastical.
Unfortunately I have a hard time figuring out which direction to go with that, especially considering I have half a dozen other worlds and projects I want to do at the exact same time.
I like enjoy medieval worlds because the scarcity of science and technology increases its value and the power it brings. And for that matter, lots of nerds have remarkable success in the real world too. And even they like fantasy because the real world is just not cool enough.
Well… until the day two suns rise in the west and a king marches from the east with flying dragons lighting up his path, the nerds will keep the torch of adventure alive and burning by fantasizing about hobbits and dragons and knights and elves. This is a fairly complex question. While Medieval Fantasy has classic archetypes and story arcs that people like to experience over and over again, I think it really serves as an easy stepping stone for authors to tell new stories.
All Medieval Fantasy stories dip into a well of collective understandings shared aesthetics, archetypes, settings, etc. People have pre-built expectations and reactions to things they enjoy in the genre sword-play, epic music playing alongside a horse-riding montage, brave heroes coming together to face impossible odds and that lets the author use those tropes to tell their own unique tale.
Ah well, at least I know I'm on the right path. And it looks like Joe Abercrombie's next book is going to have some Western themes, so needless to say I'm looking forward. Despite the existence of stories set in other times I feel I must use the term stuck, because it is by in large stuck there. Looking through the shelves of any bookstore, or anyone's list of favorite books, I can hardly find one that is not set in a middle ages type setting.
I just ponder why, given then wide breadth of inspiration and information out there it is so. I think part of it might be that a book with fantastic elements is more likely to be labelled as "fantasy" if it's has a Medieval-ish setting.
If it's a fantasy in a futuristic setting like Star Wars, it could be regarded as sci fi. Or if it's a fantasy in a modern day setting, it could be regarded as horror, or even magical realism depending on the tone. Last edited: Feb 3, Westy The Fifth Dominion.
Joined Mar 27, Messages 3, Personally this is the sub-genre of fantasy that I generally steer clear of, but there is a vast range of fantasy authors that aren't in this sub-genre at all, and many have written my favourite novels - Jeff Vandermeer, China Mieville, Clive Barker, Jeffrey Ford, Jeff Noon, Neil Gaimam, etc.
This is my kind of fantasy! I think your bookstore must be a little bizarre, then, and you can't really base your opinion on a list of people's favourite books as they might not like certain subgenres say, steampunk and as such they wouldn't appear on their lists.
Is there a lot of mediaeval-era fantasy? Is there an equal amount of non-mediaeval fantasy, or at least non-traditional mediaeval fantasy e. I would say so. JustaStaffer Registered User. Joined Apr 28, Messages Maybe the better question would be, why do we of the royal variety buy more anachronistic middle age fantasy than other types?
Jon Sprunk Book of the Black Earth. Joined Oct 2, Messages JustaStaffer said:. What happens as a result is a lot of people are fantasy fans without knowing they are because they think that it's JUST stories with knights, dragons and wizards and stuff.
Like when I say "fantasy" I doubt Field of Dreams springs to mind but what could be more fantastic than a guy who hears a voice and ends up with a team of dead baseball players romping around in his cornfield? Danogzilla Couch Commander. Joined Jan 10, Messages Quite a lot of "traditional fantasy" is set in a Renaissance analog.
Joined May 3, Messages 2, Machine guns and carpet bombing have taken all the fun out of fighting. Harrison Ford may be fun when he fights a double sworded sheik in the Cairo Bazaar, but there's nothing heroic or epic about getting mass slaughtered from a distance. Although some of the mages in fantasy epics are more dangerous than a H-Bomb , so my argument kind of defeats itself.
Yeah but there's still everything before the American civil war left as fodder though which I believe was the big debut of the machine gun and it's capacity for mass slaughter.
I could be wrong there but it's about that time, early to mid 's, everything before that offers great fodder for less than modern adventure and warfare. I haven't read the book but the movie Last of the Mohicans had tremendous action scenes, all mobility and speed, rush to the next loaded musket, kill someone with it, move on. Much of this drama took place on land, but naval warfare was also a large feature of the war. In Game of Thrones , the inspiration for the battle at sea against the Iron Fleet — and the character of the ruthless king of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy — may well have been inspired by the battle of Sluys in , between the English and the French.
Barbavera had previously taken the isle of Cadzandt opposite the Zwin, which he subsequently pillaged and murdered over Flemings. Sign up to receive our newsletter! Our best wishes for a productive day. Already have an account with us? Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. Sign up to our newsletter to get more from History Extra — podcasts, features and news.
War is the cornerstone of much historical fantasy fiction and many iconic fictional characters were born amidst fire and blood. The most famous of these is the legendary King Arthur, who has appeared throughout history as the chivalrous hero of England. In mock battles, jousts and tournaments, Edward III popularised and glamourised warfare. Arthur was his poster boy; he even created a Round Table at Windsor Castle. He refashioned himself as a descendant of Arthur and re-invigorated the concept of chivalry.
In doing so, he gained the support of his people in the war against the French. King Arthur is not the only popular fictional character that found its roots in the Middle Ages.
Between —40, the story of Sleeping Beauty emerged from the romantic narrative Perceforest, which describes the fictional origin of Great Britain. The original story is of a princess named Zellandine who falls in love with a knight named Troylus. When he returns, she is still asleep, but he impregnates her anyway and she later has a baby. She finds a ring when she wakes and realises that Troylus is the father of her child and they eventually marry.
0コメント