Is Pastoral Fantasy Back?

[sartorias]

I took a look at two new fantasies, Uprooted and Crimson Bound that contain some remarkably similar elements, but which are vastly different books. I would love to discuss these books and pastoral fantasy. (Especially--she said cautiously--as life is slowly returning to his regular rhythms.)

Comments

[asakiyume]

I haven't read either, but I'm very curious aboutUprooted--on Twitter one person say "It's every fairytale I grew up with my Babcia telling me made really fresh and new," which I thought was delightful, and the cover is really pretty. And I was interested in what you had to say about Crimson Bound on Goodreads.

[sartorias]

Uprooted has a goodly dose of the horror side of fairy tales. If you're ready for that, definitely read it. It truly does have that 'feel' of fairy tales, with a decidedly modern approach.

[whswhs]

I'm not exactly sure what pastoral fantasy would be

[sartorias]

Yes, what might be called "Arcadian" fantasies--wherein the woods play a fundamental role, often standing as examples of sublime nature, in contrast to the noise, stink, and general negativity of cities. However, there is also the strong element of the woods being alien, and frightening, full of unseen and savage life wherein humans are not at the top of the pyramid.

A lot of the eighties sidhe books were considered pastoral, if I recall right. Little, Big, definitely.

[whswhs]

So is Narnia pastoral? "He's not a tame lion" and all that?

[sartorias]

Yep. It definitely derives from the pastoral tradition, as do certain tales from George Macdonald, Lord Dunsany, etc.

[sartorias]

Have a wonderful trip!

[anna_wing]

It's not a term with which I'm familiar, but at first sight "pastoral fantasy" evokes organised country life, in the fields-and-farms-and-manors sense. So Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books would be pastoral fantasy, literally, being about a girl from a sheepherding region, and so would Alison Uttley's "A Traveller In Time" and Elizabeth Goudge's "The Little White Horse" but stuff that is mostly about the terror of the wild woods would be, well, something else.

PG Wodehouse's Blandings Castle novels are definitely pastoral fantasy!

[sartorias]

Yes! Good thoughts.

[thinkum]

Thank you for this excellent preview/review! I was looking for more information on Uprooted, and this perfectly fit the bill. :-)

[sartorias]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for dropping by!