Inspirations of Fantasy

We can say that all writers collect the seeds acquired from an assortment of influences and plant them in their gardens of literary creativity. Not only that, but there are the nuggets of life’s experiences and the flow of imagination that fuels the drive of the writer’s story. Fantasy fiction is that one facet of speculative fiction where not only the fantastic is given liberty to reign, but an author can interject a riot of influences in a pliable universe.

Religion and mythology inspired ancient epics like Gilgamesh, The Odyssey and Beowulf. Fairy tales sprouted from the folklore of legends and imaginative narratives of morals, humor and fears. Without these foundations, modern fantasy would not exist.

The titan of modern fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, poured all of his inspirations, passions and experiences into his creation. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and all other Middle-earth companion books, would not have existed if it weren’t for the intelligence, knowledge, faith and experiences of Tolkien bleeding into his work as he spent years building a world that would dominate the genre for decades. It wasn’t only mythology and early works of fantasy that inspired Tolkien’s epic, but it was his knowledge of history, language, culture, as well as his service in World War I. These motivations, joined with masterful storytelling, are what produced the saga adored by millions today.

I think what gives George R.R. Martin’s work of A Song of Ice and Fire such great intrigue and grandeur is Martin’s inspiration from historical events like the War of the Roses, and the historical fiction of French author Maurice Druon. Nothing is more fascinating than the accounts of history—true stories of real people and momentous events of the past. That’s what I’ve come to enjoy in fantasy—books that have some sort of inspiration from history and/or real life situations, making for a more believable fictional world.

Similar to the ancient epics, modern fantasy continues to be inspired by the faith and beliefs of authors. C.S. Lewis’ Christianity was a key influence on his Chronicles of Narnia; with the result of a messianic lion (Aslan). Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials produced a work of fiction that drew upon John Milton’s Paradise Lost to tell a story with Atheist overtones. Likewise, Brandon Sanderson’s many works of fantasy show reflections of Mormon ideas, such as mortals attaining divinity; and it continues in his largest epic yet—The Stormlight Archive.

Sometimes it’s simply just the activities and occupations of a writer’s life that sparks an imaginative epic. Though the love of fantasy fiction altogether can be the basis of inspiration for all fantasy authors, nothing forms the author’s story like that in which he/she is familiar with. Patrick Rothfuss’ life and experiences in college clearly comes through, masterfully, in his Kingkiller Chronicle, giving readers more than just a heroic adventure story. Before writing fulltime, the late Sara Douglass was a registered nurse, which gave her the ability to write some pretty graphic scenes of brutal childbirth and what happens to the human body in certain conditions. Playing role-playing games like AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) set the creative wheels spinning for Steven Erikson. He and a friend simply wanted to build a better and stronger role-playing universe, and thus the Malazan Empire was created, along with a whole cast of characters and histories, which would evolve into the Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

Obviously, fantasy stories can come from a vast pool of inspirations; however, it seems too often that writers draw their inspirations from the same sources. It can be nice seeing different renderings of similar settings and ideas in the genre, but it can get stale after awhile. We are definitely in a new age where most readers are anticipating something “original” in fantasy. If writers are dipping into the same limited reservoir of ideas, then you tend to have a stagnant genre. Yet when writers venture out a little and wade in a pool of fresh concepts—marrying it with exceptional storytelling—then the fantasy genre, once again, can celebrate another landmark in its great frontier.

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The Fairy Ingredient

Fairies are the stuff of myth and folklore from long ago; and they have been rather active in the fantasy genre. Fairies, Faeries, Fae, Fey, Fay—we see all the different types of spellings and representations. In fiction, we generally see two types of fairies: the small sprite or pixie (like Tinker Bell) and fae folk (human-sized). Children’s fiction tends to use the small fairies more so than teen and adult fiction, which leans more to the human-sized fae folk.

The depiction of small fairies in fiction ranges from kind to mischievous to evil. The fae folk take on the same depiction, depending on the author’s story, but we mostly see the fae as good-looking humans with magical abilities. The fae are more likely to turn up in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance; however, books like Jack Vance’s Madouc and Michael Swanwick’s dark fantasy, The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, are some exceptions. Also the fae character, Felurian, in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear is another example in the epic fantasy genre.

Emma Bull’s 1987 Urban Fantasy book, War for the Oaks is a story of good and evil faeries at war with each other. Much of it takes place in the real world; and the fae require a willing mortal in their war to bring mortality to their immorality, so that they can have a proper war of killing each other. But, of course, the book is more than that.

Raymond E. Feist’s horror/dark fantasy, Faerie Tale, depicts faeries in the many forms of Irish folklore, from tiny sprites to the human-sized. In this story, the real world and the faerie world are intertwined, and there are faeries with a malicious intent against mankind.     

 

The fairies described above are a far cry from Disney or The Spiderwick Chronicles, but so are most of the fairies in the genre, from YA fiction to “adult” fiction. Most of the fiction involving fairies are fairies mixing in our world, and/or characters from our world going into their world. Two popular YA books, Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tale series and Aprilynne Pike’s Wings series, both center around a teen girl who discovers that she’s an actual faerie. Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series has the same kind of protagonist, yet she finds out that she’s half faerie. The bestselling Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton is probably the most popular in the Urban Fantasy genre, where the main character is a faerie princess dealing with political intrigue in her faerie world and private investigating in the real world. The Meredith Gentry books border on erotica, and I dare not read them, because of such content.

Books for the younger readers, like the Artemis Fowl series, the Dreamdark series, and the Faery Rebels series, put sprite-like fairies in more adventurous stories. The Artemis Fowl books actually divide fairies into a family of eight different types (elves, dwarves, goblins, gnomes, pixies, sprites, centaurs, and demons). The Dreamdark books have a fairy that hunts devils, and the Faery Rebels books deal with a faery realm on the verge of extinction.

Another popular YA series is the Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull. I thought Mr. Mull did a great job of depicting fairies in his stories, giving them the usual image of tiny, exotic, mysterious and feisty creatures. But they can also be well accomplished warriors as well.   

There are many other books with their different spins on fairies and fae folk, and the fantasy genre has its quiver full with tales for all types. For me, personally, I would like to see more of the sprite/pixie fairies cast in epic fantasy in some creative ways. Imagine fairies in books like The Malazan Book of the Fallen series or A Song of Ice and Fire series. I don’t know how that would work, but if done well it would be pretty cool (or not).

I would like for the influences of folklore, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Disney to kind of fade out a bit, so that this modern time of fantasy could expand a little more on the myth and carve out some interesting fairy characters. It’s been done with many other types, like demons, dragons, werewolves and vampires. Just the fact that some of the folklore about fairies is based on them being a race of creation that kind of got caught in the conflict between God and Satan, and they were neither allowed into heaven nor allowed into hell. How would a race of beings caught in such an unfortunate position react—not only to mankind, but to God, angels, Satan and demons? That could be an interesting story, if done well, and from the fairies’ perspective. That’s the great thing about fantasy fiction; you can take mythology, reality and imagination and just let them create something fantastical.

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The Dragon Ingredient

Dragons are probably the most famous of all beasts to dwell in the fantasy genre. Like eggs and flour are used in making cake, so dragons and magic have been used to make up a fantasy story—at least that seemed to be the norm for many years. Dragons have been written in many ways: from wild beasts that are to be slain; exotic creatures needing to be tamed for riding; or the talking colossal being to make alliance with.

Let’s list a few small examples in popular literary fiction:

• Smaug is probably one of the most notorious dragons in the genre. He was the treasure-hoarding beast in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, that plagued the town of Dale and took over the Lonely Mountain from the dwarves.

• Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books placed dragons in a Science Fiction setting where they were the product of creation through genetic manipulation. Their riders could communicate with them through telepath.

• In the YA books, Dragons in our Midst by Bryan Davis, dragons of long ago (King Arthur times) have transformed into human beings with long lives, and they married and had (human) children with their human spouses in modern time. These children had special abilities that were useful in their struggle against modern-day dragon slayers who sought their demise.

• The Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik, brings dragons into the Napoleonic Wars, where they are used in warfare.

Let’s face it, dragons are cool. They have been in fiction since the beginning; and they’ll never go out of style. But, with that said, are dragons becoming tiresome in fantasy? Are they turning into a monotonous cliché? I think it all depends on how an author uses them in their story. I, personally, don’t care too much for stories where dragons are the main focus; however, I think it’s different in regards to cinema (e.g., Reign of Fire, DragonHeart, How to Train Your Dragon, and Eragon).

To me, in literary fiction, the characters and the story plot have to be solid and engrossing. An author should not throw dragons in their story just to have dragons in the story, thinking that it’s going to add some kind of excitement (or bonus points) to the tale. If the writer is putting dragons in, then they better be crucial to the story or the setting; not just there for show. That’s been done enough times already. Dragons should be used in a unique way these days.

Naomi Novik’s Temeraire books are an interesting spin on the story of dragons. Even though there is absolutely nothing new about dragons being used in combat, putting them in our world in the historical setting of the Napoleonic Wars is appealing. Whether it was done well or not, that is in the opinion of the reader.

The release of Marie Brennan’s new fantasy book this year, A Natural History of Dragons, is the start of a new series set in a quasi-Victorian age. The book is written in the narrative of the character, Lady Isabella Trent; like she’s writing a memoir of her years of studying dragons. In this tale, dragons are simply mysterious wild animals that are difficult to study.

Another interesting take on dragons is Jo Walton’s Tooth and Claw book. This is a story with a Victorian-like setting with nobles and servants in an established civilization, filled with family honor, political intrigue, romance and marriage (they even have a church); yet, all the characters are dragons. The only fantasy element in this book are the dragons themselves. They fly, (some) breathe fire, and it’s customary for the children to eat their deceased parents, or for the strong to eat the weak, to gain strength and power.

Dragons are not necessary for a fantasy book, but when they are used in the right way, they can bring phantasm to a basic story, or embellish the setting of an engrossing epic. Dragons have become trite in the genre, and there’s really not much reason to use them anymore. In this day and age, great characters and great worldbuilding are the main ingredient in fantasy.  

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Flintlock Fantasy

In the past recent years, the sub-genre of “Flintlock Fantasy” (also labeled Gunpowder Fantasy and Muskets and Magic—a take off Sword and Sorcery) has been growing and gaining popularity. Some may describe this sub-genre in a few ways, since it derives from Historical Fantasy, but could be very much Epic Fantasy, depending on the world setting, and the foundation of magic and/or fantastical creatures.

First of all, Flintlock Fantasy is fantasy that has moved out of the typical Medieval European setting that we’re all accustomed to in the fantasy genre, and into a more industrialized period (like the 18^TH and 19^TH century). Magic, gods and other fantastical creatures still exist, but we get to see guns and cannons (gunpowder) used in the setting. This makes for a different type of world than the usual fantasy novel, because warfare has changed completely. In addition, this description of Flintlock Fantasy takes place in a secondary world, which is the norm in the epic fantasy genre.

Examples are as follows… Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer series is a wonderful example of good “Flintlock Fantasy”, complete with a unique magic system (involving colors) and muskets. Chris Evans’ Iron Elves series is a series I have not gotten a hold of yet, but it falls into this same category. A debut author that has been getting really good reviews with his new release is Brian McClellan, author of Promise of Blood (book one in The Powder Mage Trilogy). He created a magic system in his world where there are people called Powder Mages who have the ability to manipulate gunpowder as their magic ability; all set in a world of other kinds of magic users and gods. Another new author coming on the scene as having a Flintlock Fantasy book released this year is Django Wexler, author of The Thousand Names (first in The Shadow Campaigns series). I’m looking forward to reading both Mr. McClellan and Mr. Wexler’s books.

Just to mention a few more authors; Bradley P. Beaulieu’s The Lays of Anuskaya series may fall in this sub-genre as well. Col Buchanan’s Heart of the World books have gunpowder and airships; not to be mistaken for steampunk, despite the airships. Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes’ Dragon Brigade series had their characters fighting with pistols and muskets, mixed with dragons, floating land masses and airships. Even the notorious Brandon Sanderson did a cool spin by writing a Mistborn novel set 300 years after his successful epic fantasy, The Mistborn Trilogy. The novel is called The Alloy of Law; and Mr. Sanderson shows his world of Scadrial as industrialized, with a late 19^TH century-ish kind of setting, with revolvers, railroads, electric lighting, and the building of a skyscraper.

Another look at describing the Flintlock Fantasy sub-genre could fall in the style of The Pirates of the Caribbean, or the pulp-fiction classic of the late 1920’s and 1930’s, Solomon Kane, created by Robert E. Howard (who gave us Conan the Barbarian). These two examples are set in our world, around the 17^TH and 18^TH century, but they have magic, fantastical creatures, along with the use of flintlock pistols, muskets, rapiers and dirks.

Books that may get confused with the Flintlock Fantasy sub-genre can be Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill’s Carolus Rex series. These books take place in the Napoleonic Era, with elements of magic, faeries and machinations; but they seem to be more of a work of historical fantasy / alternate history. I would say the same of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire novels, which also take place in the Napoleonic Era. These books are basically Alternate History with dragons. Michael A. Stackpole’s The Crown Colonies novels take place in the late 18^TH century, giving us an alternate history of our world, complete with fantastical creatures, magic, and zombie soldiers. Last, but not at all least, is D.B. Jackson’s The Thieftaker Chronicles, set in Boston in the late 18^TH century, which could be described a little more akin to Urban Fantasy, just not set in contemporary times.

I personally embrace the definition of Flintlock Fantasy as epic fantasy that has been industrialized. The use of gunpowder in fantasy-like stories is nothing new—as mentioned above with Solomon Kane. And video games and indie writers have given the use of flintlock weapons in a fantasy setting a fun spin for a while now. But seeing Epic Fantasy evolve into something fresh and not overdone is exciting. As this sub-genre grows, it's going to be great to see how each writer develops their worlds using this element. Just like Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance has gotten out of control these past few years, I’d like to see Flintlock Fantasy begin to take up the shelves, continuing the great diversity of our beloved genre.

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Originality in Fantasy



Fantasy readers continue in pursuit of their favorite types of fantasy fiction; whether they be the typical sword and sorcery, quest fantasy, or dark fantasy. But many fantasy fans are growing weary of what seems to be the same old method in fantasy novels recycled over and over again.

There are a lot of complaints about books hanging on to the Tolkien-like setting. When most of us read the Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, the similarities to the Fellowship of the Ring was too obvious. When we read the Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, we could sense the same resemblances from the Lord of the Rings in some parts. Peter Orullian’s debut fantasy novel, The Unremembered, is said to have utter likenesses to Robert Jordan’s the Eye of the World.

How many of us have read the farm boy going to fight the great dark lord story? How many have read the story of the orphan seeking revenge for the death of their parents; or the orphan that becomes an assassin or great magician? How about the story about an empire having slave warriors to fight and conquer for them; only the slave warrior becomes the hero against the evil empire? Don’t forget the stories about magic swords; a boy/girl and their dragon(s); or the reluctant hero who was prophesied to save the world. I could go on about the different formulas that we see, not only in the fantasy genre, but in fiction in general.

This is not only an occurrence in books, but in cinema as well. How many romantic comedies have we seen where the male or female character has some kind of secret (or lie), and the love interest finds out about it. The love interest gets upset and never wants to talk to the other again; yet they make up at the end and live happily ever after. And what is it with all the action movies? We know that the main bad guy and the hero are going to fight at the end, and the bad guy is going to get destroyed; can we at least get a surprising twist?

There are a few formulas to storytelling, but hundreds of thousands of stories (if not more), using the same old formulas. Can we say that originality is dead in fiction? Can anything in Fantasy be original anymore? Some say no to the latter. I say yes.

I’m going to use two authors, whose stories I admire, as examples of what originality looks like in fantasy. Now, let me say that I think each book in their series goes on for too long, but they have characters that are interesting enough to keep reading about (even though it seems like they are doing next to nothing sometimes). The two authors are George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice & Fire books) and Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle).

George R.R. Martin has painted a dark and cold world where many dynasties are vying for power over a vast land (Westeros). We experience and learn of the world through the limited third-person point of views of many characters that you grow to love or hate (or a little of both). Though there’s magic in the books it’s subtle and builds up slowly through the series. There are dragons, but they are not set in the story with the same old casting as most books in the genre. Tyrion, probably my favorite character, is a dwarf—not the typical dwarf of fantasy, with the long beards, and living inside the mountains. No, Tyrion is just a normal human, born of “normal” people  with “normal” siblings; however, he was born a dwarf, like in the real world, and he’s a flawed and crafty individual. The books are loaded with political intrigue and battles; unlikely alliances; twists and turns; and disappointments (in regards to the fate or decisions of characters). You will not read Martin’s series and say to yourself, “Hey this looks similar to so-and-so’s book.” Why? Because it’s original. Writers are trying to emulate Martin now, because he has taken the Epic Fantasy genre and changed it into something unpredictable, gritty and realistic (for its period setting). As I stated in a previous post, I personally find the books too dark and graphic in some places, but I cannot deny that Mr. Martin is fantastic at what he does, and has produced an engrossing and epic tale.

Patrick Rothfuss only has two (fat) books out now, but he is definitely one of the giants in modern fantasy fiction today. The reason is because of his exceptional, original storytelling. His story of Kvothe in his Kingkiller Chronicle is interesting and entertaining. Rothfuss gives us a character that tells his own story (in first-person narrative) about his legacy. Kvothe becomes an orphan in the story, due to the death of his parents, and he wants vengeance for their death, but this is not the main plot of the books. Rothfuss tells a whole other type of story through Kvothe, giving us the tale of his life at the university, and his later tales of his adventures outside the university. The books have magic, but the magic system (mostly alchemy) is excellent, in my opinion; giving the readers something more than just the wizard’s staff or the magical object. The magic is a large part of the story, but it is not the drive of the story—the character is. Rothfuss makes it where the readers actually love following Kvothe through his story; and it’s a cool, interesting and fun piece. The books are completely original and memorable.

There are other original good stories out there, but the two authors that I’ve mentioned above are the ones that have stood out to me as being something refreshingly unique in the genre. Let’s not mistake originality with good storytelling. You can have originality, but to the point where it’s too original and does not make for good storytelling. There are writers that spend so much time trying to explain their “original” world instead of letting the story, through the characters, reveal the world to us. There are writers that can take one of the typical formulas described above and tell a great story, with a unique voice of their own, but it wouldn’t classify for originality.

There is nothing like opening a book by an author you’re not familiar with and discovering an original piece of fantasy fiction that was unexpected and different from anything else that you have ever read. It’s like finding gold in a pile of stones, or a diamond in the rough. 

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Star Wars is Fantasy

 

I’m a big Star Wars fan; not to the point of being geeky or fanatical, but just enjoying the Star Wars universe, stories, and characters. It is big, fat epic fiction for all ages and all people. It is a phenomenon in and of itself. Nothing else can compare—not even Star Trek or Lord of the Rings (in my humble opinion).

I think, in general, Star Wars is seen (categorized) as Science Fiction. There has been a debate for years over whether Star Wars is in fact Science Fiction or Fantasy. There’s even a book based on such a debate called, Star Wars on Trial. I’m not going to waste time and brain cells being technical about what makes a story Science Fiction or Fantasy, but I’m just going to speak as the average reader and fan that I am, and just state the obvious.

Now, it’s assumed that since Star Wars takes place in outer space, with spaceships, laser guns, planets, and aliens, it is automatically classified as Science Fiction. A true Sci-Fi fan/expert would tell you that Sci-Fi has to have a degree of plausibility in the make and setup of the world of the story. When you think about it, there is no plausibility in the world of Star Wars. Things are just the way they are in the stories. There’s no grounds for plausibility with the Force (even with the vague explanation of the midi-chlorians). The Lightsaber is scientifically impossible. Spaceships speeding through a galaxy over thousands of light years in a matter of minutes, hours, or days is utter imagining. The hardcore Science Fiction fan would require that such things be scientifically explained, with just an inkling of possibility that such things could happen (like maybe sometime in the future—even if it’s the far future).

Now, George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, has been on record, stating that Star Wars is more Fantasy than Science Fiction; so that should just put the debate to rest. Think about how the story begins: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” Just this beginning right here tells you that you are getting into a story that does not even take place in our world, let alone our time. Science Fiction usually takes place in the future (even an alternative future—but still the future). Here, Lucas is starting his story, basically saying, “Once upon a time…” We all know that when someone starts a story with, “Once upon a time,” it’s going to be a made up fairytale, myth or fable. We’re not going to expect feasibility in the telling of such a story. No, we’re going to expect a fantasy-like story, typically consisting of kings, princesses, and knights. Stephen King wrote a booked called, The Eyes of the Dragon, published in 1987, which is told just like an old-fashioned fairytale: “Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a king with two sons.” When you hear a story start out like this, you know it’s going to be a tale, not Science Fiction.

What Lucas did differently was that he made his fairytale using a whole other type of setting. He’s using a galaxy as his world; planets as kingdoms; lightsabers as swords, Jedi and Sith as knights and wizards. Spaceships coasting the blackness of space are just a cool spin from the seafaring vessels. The blaster replaces the bow & arrow or crossbow. Speeders replace the horses. Luke Skywalker starts out as the typical farm boy seeking adventure. Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi are the wise old wizards. Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are the dark lords, or dark wizards, that have put their brutal curse on the land (or galaxy). Princess Leia is the beautiful princess that must be saved (and she can kick butt too). The Force, of course, is magic.

I can go on and on here… Star Wars is nothing more than big, fat Epic Fantasy with a sci-fi-like setting. That’s what makes Star Wars so unique. It’s a thing of its own; never done before. It’s complete entertainment. It’s complete action. It’s complete fantasy.

Another comparison to Star Wars, in regards to advanced technology in Fantasy, is He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and ThunderCats. There are laser guns, spaceships, and all kinds of stuff in those cartoons, but they are total Fantasy—filled with swords, magic, princes, kings, wizards, dark lords, and on and on. That’s the beauty of the Fantasy genre, there is so much that can be done in it.

In closing, those of us Star Wars fans who actually read the books and see just how deep and epic the Star Wars universe is, we understand that Star Wars stands on it’s own, as an epic tale with a boatload of fantasy elements. Also, let me just note that there are quite a bit of Fantasy authors who have contributed to the mass of Star Wars books. Terry Brooks adapted The Phantom Menace into a book; as well as R.A. Salvatore and Matthew Stover who adapted episodes II and III (they have also written many other Star Wars books). Greg Keyes, Troy Denning, Christie Golden, Paul S. Kemp, Michael A. Stackpole, and Elaine Cunningham, have also authored Star Wars books, just to name a few.

So, Star Wars is Fantasy… Science Fiction is only its nickname.    

Black Authors Writing Fantasy…Where Are They?

Several years ago, a thought crossed my mind, wondering if there were black authors that wrote Epic Fantasy. I couldn’t really think of one. I was at a writer’s conference back in 2003, and I was talking with an editor from Tor, and I mentioned to him that I was not familiar with any black authors writing in the fantasy genre. He mentioned Steven Barnes and the Dark Matter anthology, but that was pretty much it. When I researched Steven Barnes and the Dark Matter anthology, I discovered that the fiction was mostly Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction; with maybe some Urban Fantasy. That still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Where were the black authors writing Epic Fantasy? Something set in another/alternate world, with characters of color. I couldn’t find any at that time. After that, I pretty much gave up and continued reading what is normally available in the genre (at the mainstream level, of course). A few years ago, again, I started looking for black authors writing fantasy, and I stumbled upon N.K. Jemisin, a little before her book, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, was released. I thought, cool, finally a black author writing fantasy—and it’s a woman, which is even cooler. Later on, I discovered David Anthony Durham, with his Acacia book coming out. Again, I thought cool. These two authors have put out some pretty solid fantasy, and the books and their series are being well received. Then I thought: But…is this it? Just these two authors? Nnedi Okorafor has some works of YA fantasy which is being well received; they are not Epic Fantasy, but they are pretty imaginative.

Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, DAW Publishing (a major Sci-Fi/Fantasy publisher) published 4 books by Charles R. Saunders. This was the Imaro series, which is kind of like a “black Tarzan”, in comparison to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. Imaro takes place in an alternate Africa; an epic adventure with sorcery wars and stuff. The books were not well received when first published and went out of print pretty quick. A few years ago, these books were re-released. So, I can see Charles R. Saunders pretty much being the first black writer to put out fantasy books (correct me if I’m wrong). Despite the history of the series’ failure, a major publisher published the books. Maybe Mr. Saunders was ahead of his time back then, or it was bad marketing on the publisher’s part; or maybe readers in general (black or white) were not in to Imaro, the great African warrior. I have not read any of the Imaro books, but I read a little of the excerpt on Amazon.com, and I thought the beginning was pretty good. I’m not a fan of heroic fantasy, so I’m still weighing whether or not I will try reading the books.

So, why are there not more black authors writing Epic/High Fantasy? I think the answer is pretty easy… Black people, in general, are not in to fantasy. The same could be true of other people of color (Latinos, Asians, etc). I think Americans in general love watching the big fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, etc; and people of color will watch those movies, but cinema is a different medium than the written word. When I was growing up, movies like The Dark Crystal, Legend, and the Never-ending Story (and Star Wars, of course) were like the best thing to me. Watching cartoons like He-Man, Dungeons & Dragons, Smurfs, and The Hobbit were so cool to me, because of the fantastic elements. Now, those movies and cartoons I’ve mentioned were a few of many that I enjoyed (Conan the Destroyer, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, was one of my favorites back then), but I couldn’t have been the only black kid that dug that stuff. Surely, black kids all over the nation loved these movies too…right? And they grew up and wanted to write stories about fantastic worlds and characters…or are people like me the exception? It sure feels that way. There is always a few.

When I was a kid, I loved walking to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of the bookstore (back when there were a lot of them) and looking at the great covers, thinking that the pages within were just the best stories of all time--and there were so many to choose from. Well, I didn’t start reading fantasy until my late teens (probably more after high school), and I found out, that despite the really cool book covers, not all the stories were all that fantastic. I thought maybe it was just me. Maybe I’m reading the books wrong. After a while, I discovered that I was just plain finicky, and not all these stories were so great. Even if there are a lot of people praising the book(s) (hint: The Wheel of Time series).

So, getting back on topic, I can only conclude that Epic Fantasy is not the genre that a lot of black writers desire to tell their stories. How many writers and publishers out there are afraid that the same thing that happened to Imaro over 30 years ago would happen again. But, hopefully, it’s not like that now. Hopefully, a good story can just sell because it’s a good story that readers enjoy; not because of who wrote it and what ethnic the characters are. My hat off to the handful of authors mentioned above that wrote their stories within the fantasy genre, and giving the genre different kinds of characters than what we are used to seeing. I think the genre needs more diversity; and maybe this would be the next fad. Who knows?   


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Search For Good Content

 I have been on a journey in search of good books to read in the Fantasy genre, but I seem to be having difficulty in the hunt—or at least it’s more difficult than I had expected. I don’t want to spend my hard earned money on a book unless I’m confident that the book is going to be worth my time and money. At least when I go to the library I can take my chances, because it’s free. But even getting a book from the library would still cost me my time—I value my time. So the method I use in searching for a good read is through good critics like the Fantasy Book Critic blog, and the bulk of reviews found on Amazon.com. Even with good reviews from these sources, I’m still hesitant to give some books a try, because it may not hold the content that I’m itching for. That’s the basic premise of this blog.

My main struggle is finding books that have good content. It seams that Epic Fantasy these days is leaning toward dark and gritty. If done well, dark and gritty is okay, if the story is good. But how many books do we need to go this route? Dark and gritty, that is. Why is a book only good if it is laced with sex, profanity and violence? I’m enjoying the early A Song of Ice and Fire books as much as everyone else, but most of us know that there are graphic scenes within the books that are not necessary for the story or the characters. I guess when you have a story that drags on and on, you have to throw in some graphic scenes to keep the readers awake.

During my search, I have enjoyed the Fate of the Jedi series, which continues the story of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo with intrigue and quick pacing as they battle an ancient evil (I know…I know… Star Wars is considered Sci-Fi). But in the fantasy genre, I really enjoyed Tracy Hickman’s The Annals of Drakis trilogy. It’s a typical Epic Fantasy, with warriors, elves (bad elves, that is), dwarfs, dragons, and a variety of other fantasy races, but I found the story and the characters very enjoyable throughout the whole series. The hero, Drakis, in the story is the typical Caucasian warrior, but there is a black lady warrior in the story who’s strong and likeable, and becomes very important to the hero in the series; which I thought was really cool, because you don’t find much stuff like that in the fantasy genre. You don’t find many people of color in the fantasy genre, period (I will write about that in my next blog). There was no sex, profanity, or graphic violence in the books, and it was really good!

I have enjoyed Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles (The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man’s Fear). They contain some suggestive scenes and language, but few enough. These books go on and on, and the characters seem to just hang out at times, but Rothfuss made Kvothe (the main character) and the other characters so interesting and likeable that you almost kind of enjoy “hanging out” with them. But even with that said, I like for my stories to pick up the pace. I am looking forward to the 3^RD book in the series though.

For anyone reading this blog, I’m interested to know your thoughts on Fantasy books and the kind of content you look for (keep ‘em pithy). Also, if you have any recommendations for me...I’m open. In addition, I’m also looking for some good Historical Fiction that takes place in the 1800’s that is not cheesy and/or graphic romance, steam punk or about the U.S. civil war. Does such a thing exist?