Fantasy Tropes: Urban Fantasy

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Urban Fantasy  

·       Fantasy in which magical beings live alongside humans in a recognizable contemporary urban environment. Most humans may or may not be aware of it.

·       Contemporary and urban – To a fantasy reader they are, somewhat jarringly, set in the here and now. Even though fantasy stories have often been set in cities in past time periods, the contrast between the reality we experience and what the characters are experiencing is one of the defining characteristics of Urban Fantasy. Magic entering into and disrupting our urban environment. 

·       Magic and technology work side by side. A potential source of conflict.  For example many of the fae are traditionally unable to tolerate cold iron, which is how humanity gets one up on them.  How do the fae deal with living in a modern city?

·       Authors have fun figuring out how different magical species could operate, often covertly, in our world.  How would they blend in? How would they be revealed?  What would the results be?  

·       Can be very, very set in the landscape and environment. Minute description of the contemporary environment – naming local landmarks, for instance – help with the sense of disconnect for the reader.  What do you mean Minnehaha Park is the battleground for the fae? (War for the Oaks, Emma Bull)

·       Often violent – Humans are not necessarily the apex predator anymore and this causes conflict.  Either humans are trying to keep the supernatural in check – (Anita Blake, vampire hunter) – or the supernaturals are policing their own for their own self-interest – trying staying hidden or as nonthreatening as possible.  (Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs)

·       A lot of very strong women protagonists who do what they have to do.  Authors are able to create roles for their women characters that defy or subvert traditional gender roles because they’re dealing with an “other” Earth. Watching the authors and characters figure out romance is … interesting, and sometimes a little uncomfortable making, especially when they involve the rules of magical societies. (Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff)

·       Tend to not soften the realities of magical beings’ cultures/necessities – vampires drink blood and werewolves spend part of the time being wolves – and what those imply for everyday life. 

·       Protagonists often up against beings or situations that are stronger than they are. (Seanan McGuire – Discount Armageddon.  In Cryptid series.)

·       Often tough humor thrown in. (Dresden Files by Jim Butcher)

Fantasy Tropes: Epic/High

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Epic/High

·       This is the trope that non-fantasy readers most heavily associate with fantasy. Some of the RA sources I reviewed for this presentation made assumptions about the entire fantasy genre based on their understanding of this trope.  It is historically an important part of the genre, and it’s very big in scope, but it’s definitely not the be all and end all of fantasy.

·       Epics are profound in scope as well as size.  They discuss the big questions – about purpose, destiny, what does it mean to be human, etc.

·       J.R.R. Tolkien, with his quintessential modern Epic Fantasy stories  -  “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” brought back the traditional epic, and set a precedent in fantasy literature. 

·       Epic fantasy doesn’t necessarily need to be S&S – it’s defined by its scope, mission, and emotional content rather than by the presence of swords and sorcery. However, much of it does fit into that trope as well.

·       Generally involves a diverse group of characters heading out to remedy a desperate situation as best they can. Their different talents make for a strong group.  Sometimes there’s one character that stands out, sometimes there’s a true ensemble cast.  But they’re all heroes.

·       The fall of a civilization or end of the world hangs in the balance. Desperate times and desperate measures.

·       Characters are challenged and you see the best and the worst of the characters. They need to make difficult decisions and reach down into themselves to find strength they didn’t know they had. There’s a lot of character development.

·       Internal and social rules and boundaries often challenged – characters change state – pig farmer to High King and vice versa, with the accompanying abilities, as in the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander where Taran does just that.  Magical feats are performed that were previously thought impossible, right down to crossing the boundaries of death.  In David Eddings’ Belgariad series Belgarion brings a horse back to life, something strictly against the magical rules of his universe. 

·       Elegiac in tone for two reasons:

o      Often at least one character is asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, and decides the cause is worth it.

o      The characters are working unbelievably hard for a world-shaking goal and when they achieve it it’s the peak moment of peak moments.  But even as you, the reader, are rejoicing and sharing in the joy, you know that this is but a moment in time and not only will the story end for you, but there’s no way that the situation in the fantasy world that has become so real to you, can be maintained.  It is one moment in history that will not last.  And that is sad.

·       Good and evil are fairly clearly drawn, if sometimes hidden. 

·       The journeys are often on a grand scale – great distances and taking a long time. Maps are very common.

·       Can be very long. Can be many series within the same universe.

·       Has a definite arc; has an end point with a mission achieved. Often at least one quest involved.

·       Tends to get the reader very emotionally involved with both the characters and the situation.

·       Has very dark moments, which serve not only the storytelling, but also to highlight the over-all optimistic tone of the story – the dark is only temporary - and the triumphant ending.  Great heights require great valleys to be properly appreciated.

·       The world building is very developed – often several different races of people, detailed descriptions of places, complex politics, finely drawn cultures and customs.  And often the inference that there’s much more that you haven’t seen. Landscape itself plays a major part.

·       Destinarian and with a sense of moral order and symbolism to the adventures. 

Fantasy Tropes: Sword and Sorcery

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Sword & Sorcery:

·       Began with Robert E. Howard’s “Conan the Barbarian” stories

·       American invention – American-type hero on an American-type frontier in whatever pseudo-time period the author chose.

o      Everything in the story exists in relation to the protagonist, who's out to fulfill his goals and that’s it.

o      Just enough world building to serve the story.

o      Not much, if any, character development. 

o      Stories tend to lack subtlety.

o      Lots of fighting, violent, might makes right.

o      Accomplished warriors, possibly armed with magic swords, fighting other warriors and magic-users of all sorts.  More sword vs. sorcery.

o      Formulaic

o      No question of who’s good and who’s evil, if moral distinctions are being made at all.

·       “In Robert E. Howards’s hands … the barbarian’s shrugging contempt for effete civilization is married to a wintry fatalism clearly reminiscent of the doom-laden worldview expressed by heroes of Nordic saga.” Clute & Grant, eds. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy p. 481.

·       Fritz Leiber quote from 1961. “muscular heroes in violent conflict with a variety of villains, chiefly wizards, witches, evil spirits and other creatures, whose powers are – unlike the hero’s – supernatural in origin.” (Clute and Grant, 1997). Leiber wrote a very popular sword & sorcery series Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

·       Genre has evolved and matured.  Now with a wide range of quality and sophistication, it has become fantasy involving

o      Swords

o      Sorcery/Magic

o      Magical beings

o      Pre-industrial settings

·       Episodic; Made up of linked adventures – sometimes previously published as short stories. Always room for another adventure. Often more adventure than quest.  “Sword & Sorceress” series of anthologies, edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley

·       Good & evil can be very clearly drawn.

·       Can cover the range of light to dark, serious to humorous.

·       World-building can range from just enough to tell the story well to intricately detailed worlds. 

·       Traditionally used to indicate stories written on a more personal level – about a person or group of persons with their own agenda(s) and who are trying to make their way in the world - someone out on a quest to avenge their father or their village.  A thief working to steal something and then running from the authorities. A sword for hire wandering the world. Not necessarily true anymore, it’s become something of a catch-all trope for stories that fit the basic requirements and are hard to fit anywhere else.

·       It is hard to find consensus on the definition of this trope. I’ve seen stories that I’d put here referred to by their setting – medievalist.  Some don’t make any distinction between quest, heroic, high, or Sword and Sorcery fantasy. So be sure to quiz any patron that comes in asking for any of those things what elements they’re looking for, and search accordingly.   

Common Elements of Fantasy: Hero

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

The Hero:

·       Conversation about the nature of heroism and the hero.

·       Perspective of Hero is key.  That determines what's heroic – it's a very personal thing.  Also, it's partially an internal journey so without the hero's perspective it loses a lot of meaning.

·       Sometimes the hero creates the situation in which he must become the hero.  In Ursula K. LeGuin's “Wizard of Earthsea”, Ged loosed a great evil and has to become a great mage to banish it again.

Heroic Journeys

·       The heroic monomyth that Joseph Campbell distilled in his Hero with a Thousand Faces” – “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

·       Hero’s journey – Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of fertility and love – descending into the darkness and finding that your ultimate enemy is yourself and embracing that.

·       Transformation – (“Riddle-Master of Hed” by Patricia McKillip – Transforms from the Farmer-Prince of an island nation to something much bigger and more mysterious.)

·       Growth into/discovery of power – form of coming of age that is not age specific – coming into oneself.  This is a much-loved fantasy element.  (“Fistful of Sky” – Nina Kiriki Hoffman – both coming of age and coming into her powers. )

Different types of hero:

·       Anti-Hero – a protagonist who is heroic and not at the same time.  A hero with many less-than-heroic characteristics and yet manages to get the job done. (“Sir Apropos of Nothing” by Peter David, 1^st in the Apropos of Nothing series.)

·       Reluctant Hero – A hero who has no desire for the job and yet gets forced into it anyway.  Sometimes by someone else.  Sometimes because they’re the only person with the right qualifications.  Sometimes purely by circumstances. (Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett. Sam Vimes, commander of the City Watch, just wants to keep what order he can in Ankh-Morpork. Unfortunately he keeps unwittingly getting himself involved in crises that with ever expanding consequences, and solving them. The epitome of the person promoted above his comfort level, but never above his abilities.)

Common Elements of Fantasy: Quest

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Quest

·       Character(s) are on a mission to find something– spell, item, person, information, etc., for a definite and significant purpose. Sometimes to destroy it instead of use it, like the ring in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The purpose might not be clear in the beginning, but the importance is.

·       Not lightly undertaken. Sometimes preordained or spiritual, but always requires struggle, danger, sacrifice, and hard work from the questor. Basis for characters’ internal quests.

·       Internal (control of magical abilities) or external (Holy Grail), explicit (Knights of the Round Table spending decades looking for the Grail) or implied (wizard working towards being High Mage – of course she’d need to be in control of her magical abilities).

·       Often the element around which the rest of the story – or at least that thread or phase of it - revolves.

·       Many characters in fantasy are on a quest for something even if the story is primarily about something else.

Fantasy Characters

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Characters

Magical characters come in a variety of flavors.

Animals:

·       Animals, of varying degrees of intelligence and/or human-like characteristics

o      Animals as intelligent as humans, which makes them magical. Might have their species characteristics intact to various extents. Can be singletons, can have their own societies, can be fully integrated into human society. Many of these stories don’t have fantastical characteristics beyond the presence of intelligent animals, but some are full-on fantasy worlds. For a fabulous essay on animal stories read “Cheek by Jowl:  Animals in Children’s Literature” by Ursula K. LeGuin in her book “Cheek by Jowl.” (“Redwall” Brian Jacques, 1^st in Redwall series)

o      Animals as helpers. Can play many roles.  Familiars - part of the power system of a magic-user. Used as eyes and ears. Magical servants. Beloved regular animals who play a key part in the lives of their humans.

o      Magical beings in the form of animals. Not really animals at all. Can be higher level beings or parts of our own souls. Allows the characters to interact with spirits on a corporeal level. (“Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman, first in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy.)

Mythical creatures

·       Mythical creatures – dragons, unicorns, spiders, krakan. Intelligent or not. Can be creatures of chaos or order. Sometimes working with humans. Sometimes main characters or an obstacle to overcome. Readers are likely to come and ask for books with dragons, more than anything else, I think. (“In His Majesty’s Service” by Naomi Novik, first book in the Temeraire series.)

Fae

·       Fae – Non-human, non-animal sentient beings of great power and with belief and value systems that usually bear little relationship to ours.  Can be portrayed as ruthless, violent, and not really friendly to humans. Gleaned from traditional folk sources; often spread with immigration from whatever culture they originated with. Tinkerbell is not representative. (“Ink & Steel” by Elizabeth Bear, part of a duology from the Promethean Age universe.”

Shapeshifters

·       Shapeshifters - Generally human to animal and back again. An individual might have one alternate form or many. They might be a magic-user or inherently magical. Many are from traditional lore, like werewolves. .Even though some are traditional horror fodder, they are also found throughout fantasy playing differing roles. (“Kitty and the Midnight Hour” by Carrie Vaughn, 1^st in the Kitty Norville series.)

Traditional Horror creatures

·       Traditional horror creatures – werewolves, vampires, mummies, zombies. These have genrecrept all over, including into fantasy. Their appearance the lives of historical and literary figures in books such as “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” both by Seth Grahame-Smith are representative. They’re often treated sympathetically, or at least not as objects of unmixed horror, more misunderstood, and can be fully functioning and vital members of whatever society they’re part of. (Betsy the Vampire Queen by MaryJanice Davidson – all sorts of monsters.)

Want to make a mention of  “Sunshine” by Robin McKinley.) (Voodoo Wars)  Best vampire novel I’ve ever read.  

Settings of Fantasy: Time

From my MLA 2012 Fantasy presentation

Time:

·       Past/Present/Future in relation to Earth’s timestream – These usually apply to Alternate Earths or Slipstream Earths, places that are intimately involved with versions of our reality.

·       Internal time stream of a different land – the timestream of a place completely separate from Earth would have no reference to earth events. Author must create their own timeline.

·       Time moving differently – Where there is a connection between Earth and a Different Land, time becomes an issue. It might move very differently between the different worlds or planes and that can be a major element of the plot.  “Rip van Winkle” by Washington Irving.

·       Alternate time – Alternate version of an Earth time period not taking place on Earth. Medievalist worlds are numerous, for instance. Katherine Kurtz’s Dyreni series is a great example.  Many of the elements of medieval society are present – a very powerful church that is pretty close to Catholic, monarchy, chivalry, gender roles, feudalism, etc.  But it is obviously not Earth – different geography, cultures, presence of magic, etc.