Genres within Fantasy

It was strange. This is Düsseldorf, isn't it?

Otto kept asking himself that, looking out at the wasteland before him. Just minutes ago he was on the subway. When he left, he felt a tingle in the air. He thought nothing of it. When he saw no one was around, he thought nothing of it.When he realised that the subway train was totally empty - during the usual rush hour on Sunday - he felt something was amiss, but thought nothing of it.

Of course, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was in the middle of a cracked, barren wasteland where Düsseldorf was supposed to be. Otto looked back, at the stairway. It didn't disappear. He knelt down and felt the ground, before punching it. "Ngh..." He flinched, drawing his hand back. It was definitely solid and real.

Otto was bewildered. What was happening? As he walked around the wasteland, trying to make sense of things, he felt the wind pick up. A sandstorm, he thought?

Then, he heard an ear-piercing call, and looked around.

A gigantic bird - about a hundred times larger than the largest eagle he had seen on the Discovery Channel - was hovering several feet away from him, flapping its voluminous wingspan as it stared hard at the man before it. Otto widened his eyes. This must be a dream. It can't be real. He was rooted to the ground for the next several tense seconds. Was the bird going to attack him? Was he going to die in this strange world that he arrived in not several minutes ago?

It was to his relief that the bird only landed on the ground, bowing its head slightly to the man, keeping its eyes on him. What happened after made Otto start doubting his sanity.

"Greetings, Imperial. Are you alright?" The bird asked.

Fantasy comes in a variety of flavours. This post shall discuss the different parts of Fantasy subgenres. Mind you, these are not absolute genres - most people really mix and match depending on what they like and what ideas they have.

First and foremost, there's High Fantasy. High Fantasy is the most common type of Fantasy that everyone associates the whole genre with. It is basically related to an epic struggle in a Fantasy world, with a clear hero and a clear Big Bad Evil Guy (Related to Emperor Palpatine, Sauron, and Morgoth). There is a clear all-encompassing evil that has to be stopped or the known world will be subjugated/massacred/blown up/burninated/rocks-fall-everyone-dies'd by an empire/evil race/totalitarian nation/aliens from outer space/really evil gods. In this genre, Gods are as common as politicians, and act about the same as well. All joking aside, this is the most grandiose and most common subgenre of Fantasy, although it is also the most clichéd one as well. This is often a budding writer's first genre. One example of a High Fantasy novel series is the Belgariad by David Eddings.

Heroic Fantasy, also called the Sword and Sorcery story in some circles, is the second most common genre, and about as bad in terms of being overdone. However, it is understandable, as some of the novels that fall under the Heroic Fantasy subgenre are J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy (A brilliant bastard, that guy. Brilliant, but also a bastard) and Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard. Also, George Lucas' Star Wars could also fall under this as well, due to its plotline following almost exactly like a usual Heroic Fantasy plotline.

Contemporary or 'Modern' Fantasy is set in the 'Real World', so called, but with elements of Fantasy such as fantastic creatures, magic, and Fantasy concepts. The above excerpt could very well fall under this subgenre. This is actually a subgenre with a broad spectrum of different types of stories - The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling falls under this, as well as Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Alternate History, or Historical Fantasy, is an intriguing subgenre. What do you get when you cross dragons with the Napoleonic wars? You get Temeraire by Naomi Novik, a novel where the wars are fought with Dragons as well as muskets, grenadiers and riflemen. How about if you introduce Julius Caesar's style of backstabbing into an European-style Monarchy, complete with an exiled prince and lots and lots of incest? You get A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. This is all about taking history or historical concepts, turning it around and putting in a lot of 'what ifs'. A very interesting mix, I'd say.

I'd say more, but I think I've said enough for now. The rest of the list is as follows:

Bangsian fantasy
Dark fantasy
Erotic fantasy
Fairytale fantasy
Juvenile fantasy
Fantasy of manners
Mythic fiction
Romantic fantasy
Science fantasy
Superhero fantasy
Comic fantasy
I'll update each one as I have time. I'm also not saying that the rest of the list is not as interesting, just that I, personally, have had less experience with the latter subgenres - I need some time!

And with that, I shall go.

The Beast Approaches...

Sharma looked warily around the islet - already the feeling of dread started to overcome him. He let out a small hiss of breath and moved onward to the cave. This was where it was supposed to come back to every night. The smell of sulphur was heady and hung in the air like cheap, foul-smelling perfume, and heat radiated from the walls of the cave. There was probably a hotspring inside, and where he found it, he would find-

Something was moving.

It coiled and hissed inside the cave, growled and roared, bleated and honked all at the same time. Then it came out - towering over him, twice his height and thrice lengthwise - and reared its three ugly heads at him, snake, goat and lion. It unfurled its batlike wings, twice the creature's length, and snarled at Sharma, who held his 7-metre-long sarissa spear in the direction of the beast. This was bad. He hoped to have the advantage of a confined space inside the cave, attacking it from afar, not allowing it to use the advantage of flight - or the chance to use its quills.

The chimera reared forwards then, its tail rattling, shaking the needles on the tip threateningly. The only thing Sharma could do was raise his shield and wait.

This was bad.

Yes, this is Fantasy. Dragons, heroes, swords, magic, and corrupt kings' advisors. Fantasy is a genre in itself, having its own nuances and its own fluff in addition to the usual ones included in any kind of fiction writing. For one thing, it's much, much easier to fall into a clichéd plot. A cliché is a worn-out novelty, something that gets old after a while. Of course, with all the usual ideas about Fantasy, it is very easy to get into a cliché, and once you're in that line, it's hard to get out of it.

Of course, the good thing is, you're allowed much, much, much more freedom in creating a story of your own. You can create and rearrange ideas outside of this world, from peoples, beasts, worlds, planets, and even tear the fabric of the universe apart and remake it in your own way. It's your own little universe, your own little baby, yours to take care of and yours to destroy.

However, I'm not going to cover mainly world-building. My focus is on writing Fantasy. This is not to be interpreted as how to write 'all Fantasy', but just my own opinions, and it is open for negotiation and change, which is up to The People™. Which, in all actuality, means you guys. Comments and criticisms are fine, by the way, but rough-housing and flaming is not. Don't make me throw Mjölnir at you.

Lastly, one more note: Some people think Fantasy is a child's game, a little dream reserved for the little children.

Well, screw 'em.

Jabberwocky is open for Business

Hello there, ladies and gents, guys and gals, children of all ages, Jabberwocky is open for business! Come in, come in.

This is a writing blog, focusing on Fantasy. There will be large blocks of text. They will be denoted by a smaller font and a different colour, so people can skip ahead of a story fit for a great-grandfather's life story. Well, not that much.

This is a new blog, so the first order of business for me would be: Setting up the template, the tagboard, and several other things such as links to some other blogs and such. This first post would not contain anything much, but another will be coming up soon. Look for it!

Langsuyar out.