Comments | sihaya09: Notes on a Friday / What is Fantasy?

sihaya09

Notes on a Friday / What is Fantasy?

Nov 10, 2006 09:58

Virgo:: Sometimes, Virgo, you're too damn smart for your own good. You may describe a problem so brilliantly, for instance, that you think you've solved it merely by talking about it, and never get around to actually fixing it. On other occasions your fine mind runs amuck in an orgy of razor-sharp analysis, cutting things apart in order to ( Read more... )

writing, fwa

Comments 23

mermaiden November 10 2006, 15:06:45 UTC

I really like your idea with the Wendigo, my dear. The myth varied from tribe to tribe (just like any legend tends to do), so you could take the name and create the creature in whatever way you wanted.

I consider my stories a mixture of fantasy and horror... to me, fantasy is something that takes legends, myths and stories of fantastical creatures, feats and extraordinary human acts and makes them plausible and available for the mundane reader in the mundane world. A myth is technically fantasy to me.

old_swordsman November 10 2006, 15:14:34 UTC

Wendigo, eh? Cool. I am not all that familiar with the creature, but could it be that it followed Cree and/or her family from Montana somehow? New hunting grounds and whatnot?

When I think of fantasy, the first name that pops into my head is Charles DeLint. The bulk of his stories take place here, but "with the blinders off" I guess is how I would put it, and how I would define the fantasy genre in general. He does deal with some worlds beyond, but it is how they affect the people in this world that matters.

sihaya09 November 10 2006, 17:10:22 UTC

I really should read more DeLint. I have a total weakness for Urban Fantasy, which is why I tend to really get into Holly Black and Francesca Lia Block and Neil Gaiman... etc. Urban Fantasy just crosses over because it's so gritty.

old_swordsman November 10 2006, 17:43:31 UTC

Another fav of mine is Kara Dalkey's Steel Rose. It is competent as a work, but it counts as a fav because it is set in my hometown. :)

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sihaya09 November 10 2006, 15:32:25 UTC

Word. I can't really relate to other worlds, unless they mirror our own at some point in history. For instance, the reason why I got through Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's books are because they're basically an alternate history of the Renaissance. If it was just another world that was blandly hero, maiden, and dragon, I would have tossed it at the wall.

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wanderlamb November 10 2006, 15:58:47 UTC

Lol. See comment below about characters with names consisting soley of vowels....or hard consanates (sic)...it makes me lose track of everyone, you know.
Mmmmm....giant roast turkey! Who is the author.

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Yes, we Virgos are to smart for our own damned good...and stubborn. wanderlamb November 10 2006, 15:55:22 UTC

First off; Love the Wendigo conept as Native American mythology has long been a favorite of mine. I love it when ideas tap you on the shoulder and say 'hey, just listen to this for a moment...I had this thought....' Of course such a story could cross over into fantasy/horror or a psycological mystery/horror instead of just, wel, plain horror ( ... )

From a non-writer / -illustrator / -librarian / -publisher.... bellybalt November 10 2006, 16:45:43 UTC

The thing I've noticed about fantasy (as opposed to scifi) is the stark lack of advanced technology in the story. Not that its a requirement, and there certainly are fantasy novels that take place in high technology settings. But it does tend to be the case that there are no civilizations more technologically advanced than, say, the middle ages. As a consequence, most of the power wielded by the characters tend to me non-scientific (hence, non-scifi) in nature. At least not even remotely provable by science we use in the "real" world.

Or... maybe I'm just an illiterate dingle-head.

Re: From a non-writer / -illustrator / -librarian / -publisher.... sihaya09 November 10 2006, 16:53:59 UTC

A lot of the Fantasy I read takes place in our modern world, which is why I say that it's not all about the middle-ages model, though.

Re: From a non-writer / -illustrator / -librarian / -publisher.... bellybalt November 10 2006, 20:57:56 UTC

Yeah, I figured there could be modern day fantasy settings, I just couldn't think of any off the top of my head for examples. My fantasy reading is very limited. It just doesn't do it for me most of the time.

astaria51 made my point much better than I. Its mostly about how you explain the universe, be it magic & energies, or through science.

Re: From a non-writer / -illustrator / -librarian / -publisher.... astaria51 November 10 2006, 16:59:53 UTC

I agree and disagree ( ... )

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