Comments | limyaael: Crossover fantasy

limyaael

Crossover fantasy

Mar 14, 2004 14:21

Quote of the Day:

"There is assuredly something wrong with you." -Ruskin, to Swinburne.

( Crossover fantasy rant )

subgenre rants, fantasy rants: winter 2004

Comments 40

coincidence... lian_li March 14 2004, 14:02:03 UTC

Another very nice crossing-over-book would be 'The Brothers Lionheart' by Astrid Lindgren. Yes, it's a children's book, but it'd be the only crossover fantasy I actually like. Apart form the fact that it is a wonderuful book on death ( ... )

Re: coincidence... marukka March 14 2004, 15:50:37 UTC

I'd never have thought of 'The Brothers Lionheart' as a crossover, or even fantasy. They're just 'books by Astrid Lindgren' to me :) When I think of it it makes sense, though, and it is a good example - have you read 'Mio min Mio', also by Lindgren? It's a bit similar, if more symbolic.

Re: coincidence... limyaael March 15 2004, 06:44:53 UTC

Going to a medieval fantasy world would suck. I suppose authors who write this kind of fantasy might have more sense than I give them credit for, and that's why they try to Disneyfy their worlds. But really, if the only difference is that the character gets called "Princess" and appreciated more, why write the story at all? (I think the comment below is very true: A lot of these are written for sheer author gratification).

dawnkiller March 14 2004, 15:24:55 UTC

Re: #3) This is something I wish was brought up more often than it usually is, because there's interesting potential. A good example I've read was in Matthew Woodring Stover's "Blade of Tyshalle," where a high-tech reality decided to wipe out the indigenous fae population of the fantasy reality by introducing a hideously virulent form of rabies into their ecosystem. The people they liked, or the people who were native to the high-tech reality and who were on assignment in the fantasy land, would be or already were vaccinated against or had built up immunity to the disease. Everyone else . . . pfff ( ... )

marukka March 14 2004, 15:52:33 UTC

And hey, YOU could introduce a whole new brand of virii to that world simply by arriving with a cold

I would love to read that story.

I'm realising that the worst part of well thought out rants and comments is that I'll never get to read those books ;)

dawnkiller March 14 2004, 16:13:22 UTC

Well, in my case, at least, I do write actual fantasy as well, so who knows? :) (Ahaha, yeah right. *G*)

I would actually like to see an anthology of "crossover fantasy" by writers like Guy Gavriel Kay and George RR Martin, who are good at tackling the harsh realities of fantasy in its own right. In Kay's case it might be a little redundant, but it'd be really interesting to see how many different authors rip down convention in this genre. Little things like utilizing common sense should be enough, and yet strangely it seems to be a problem a lot of writers have in this area. I'd guess it's probably because the intention of most crossover fantasy is usually vicarious wish-fulfillment, and obviously you don't want your wish-fulfillment to be ugly and fatal. I think the only way to get an "honest" crossover is for the writer to not be invested in that sort of thing -- to write one because they have an idea for a story that they want to tell, not because they personally think it would be cool to visit another world. Too much personal ( ... )

maureenlycaon March 15 2004, 06:09:34 UTC

Too much personal investment can really muck up narrative honesty regardless of what genre you're working in.

Thank you for giving me the thought of the day! I've been learning that the hard way in my own fiction.

Thread 9

bbhtryoink March 14 2004, 16:31:09 UTC

So does this mean we'll never get to read Faean/Arcadia? Or crossovers between any other of the numerous worlds you've got up there in your head?

Shoot. I'd like to see a Faean elf meet a Syberth's Wood tirsel bird and see if they can work out an understanding. =) Or see Herran meet Pheron and see who drives the other up the wall first. Or, hell, one of those elves who were supposed to be fading and aren't meet up with Destiny: harsh words all around!

You see what sort of twisted and warped ideas I have to work with, here? *pokes brain*

limyaael March 15 2004, 06:49:27 UTC

*chuckle* The universes are so different to me that it would be difficult to cross them over seriously. It would be fun to write those kinds of stories as humorous, though.

Though there's the little problem of Elwens losing their magic when they go to other worlds...

chiyo_no_saru March 14 2004, 17:55:19 UTC

...*whimper*

I hate to confess this, but that's what I'm writing - however, I'm doing my best not to make it "Insert Character here!" world, etc. Also, I love the bit about the diseases - that never even occured to me. A damn good point, though. A charactert would be vaccinated against some, though, right?

limyaael March 15 2004, 06:50:34 UTC

*evil grin* Depends on what the world is like. If it's very like a medieval society, maybe. However, there are diseases that evolved on Earth that have no connection to medieval societies at all. Why not throw a few of those in the fantasy world and see what happens?

selenite March 14 2004, 18:24:59 UTC

This might be to your taste:
http://www.baen.com/chapters/W200302/0743435893.htm?blurb