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 War Ingredient

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?