The Fantasy of a Whole Genre

I thought I should try and explain a bit about the genre of fantasy, since it happens to be a big part of what I read on a day to day basis.

There is a difference in types of fantasy that not many people know about (outside the fans, of course). Many different sub-genres exist within the overarching genre of fantasy. The two big categories are high fantasy and sword and sorcery fantasy. Others include urban fantasy, science fantasy, alternative history and a few others. But for the purpose of brevity, I’ll only focus on the big two for now. The definitions will be loosely based, simply because they are that difficult to nail down substantially. In addition, a lot of books and short fiction will bleed over to other genre elements, which makes it all the more difficult.

Please remember that most, if not all, of the books mentioned here can contain mature subject matter, whether that means sex, violence, or just mature themes. These will be marked with an *.

But let’s start with Sword and Sorcery.

Sword and sorcery fantasy is what most people associate the general fantasy stereotypes with. This is your standard Dungeons & Dragons universe. This is commonly associated with Dragons, Knights, Rouges, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and a whole host of other creatures and characters that exist within a predefined world. Commonly, a sword and sorcery fantasy novel will use the established worlds and common knowledge of those worlds within their novel, using generic styles to establish the world and focusing more on plot. If someone who is familiar with this universe, it allows a ease of access to the story, as most of the general setting is taken care of by previous writers and players. These, for the most part, are an easy read, as much of the story is already there, only the characters and plots are different (though not always, we’ll get to that in a moment). The various themes, magic system, religious structure, political and population settings are the same, almost always. This is not to say that sword and sorcery fantasy is not good to read, though. It can be very entertaining, but it tends to follow the same structure the world over:

A hero, usually: down on his luck/shining example in humanity,
Finds that he: has gotten in trouble/must save a person,
And: resists going on a quest/sets out on a quest immediately,
To find the: sacred object/demonic object
Which will: save the world/ destroy life as we know it.
And defeat the indomitable ancient evil.

Key Sword and Sorcery Series:

Dragonlance Chronicles*
Forgotten Realms*

I much prefer High Fantasy, which can be summed up in one sentence, though not completely. High Fantasy authors create their own world. They may rely on general principals of fantasy, of a medieval setting, with Kings and magic, but the key difference is that the world that they have built has been created from scratch. These series are often the more in-depth and interesting reads, being more highly involved with character, who are three dimensional instead of stereotypes. The characters within sword and sorcery novels often are a tweaked template that has been created before, while High Fantasy tends to create characters that are much more believable. The systems in place as well are created entirely for the novels. Each book has an entirely different set of rules, lands, magic systems, everyday life, and even the political and religious structures are highly defined within a good High Fantasy novel.

Key High Fantasy Series:

The Lord of the Rings*
The Song of Ice and Fire *
The Wheel of Time*
The Sword of Truth*

It should also be noted that High Fantasy Novels often exist on multiple levels, unlike sword and sorcery novels which often only exist on the surface. High Fantasy usually uses the characters and story to tell of philosophies, or religious opinions. They can extend to political ideologies or just studies on human nature and interaction.

So a good rule to go by is:
Sword and Sorcery fantasy – predefined, with only minimal tweaks to create a “unique” work.
High Fantasy – created from nothing, entirely unique in execution, and often has truly creative techniques within it.

One issue I always have to address is why I qualify The Lord of the Rings as a High Fantasy Novel, and not as Sword and Sorcery, as a lot of the details within Lord of the Rings fits the description of Sword and Sorcery novels so well. And I always argue that neither the land nor the stereotypes existed back when Tolkien wrote the novels. He created an entire genre off of his world that he built, because Tolkien’s work was one of the largest influences for creating Dungeons & Dragons in the first place. The fact that he created the world out of nothing (besides various myths and legends from across the globe, but that’s a discussion best left to some other time).

This is not to say that all Sword and Sorcery Fantasy novels are bad, or that all High Fantasy Novels are good. Each must be judged on its own merits, but in my experience, High Fantasy usually exhibits a feel of more care and time within it. As the author created an entire world, they have often put more effort into creating their work, where Sword and Sorcery authors often have most of the work (the world building) done for them already, so it often can lead to lazy writing.

I tend to love High Fantasy more than Sword and Sorcery, because of its deep and intricate plot, but many people prefer the light Sword and Sorcery novels. Which one you choose depends on what you like. Neither is wrong, neither is right, it is all a matter of opinion.

Manga Lecture #3

Manga became the form most widely read medium in Japan, because of the difficulty of the language. Japanese uses a system of three different alphabets, with one (kanji) containing over 7000 characters alone, which makes it slightly more difficult to read than English. Thus, a medium with less text is better. Because of this, manga - which is a combination of words and pictures - became popular.

Manga encompasses a great deal of subject material, and as it is the most popular medium to read, is not just relegated to children, but extends to topics adults will enjoy as well. People, from the time they can read until the time they cannot, read manga in Japan. Often the age range is declared to be 2-97 or even longer, depending on the person. As such, the material is often aimed at older readers.

Though much of manga is aimed at children, there are many subjects addressed that are not appropriate for the age group. Children of eight will not necessarily understand or appreciate philosophy, religion, biography, or many other subjects addressed in the adult oriented series. Though this is not entirely the case, as many series aimed at adults also contain graphic adult content. A series might discuss philosophy, but also contain sexual content or excessive violence. So if a reader is easily offended by such material, they should check before reading a series both the rating itself and the reason for the rating in the first place.

To be continued.

Manga Lecture #2

I suppose I should mention the reason why manga is read the way it is (right to left). Japan was originally a scroll based reading culture, and to read a traditional scroll, you would hold the bulk in one hand (usually the non-dominate one) and unravel it with your dominant hand. As the majority of people were right handed, this meant you would generally hold the scroll in the left hand, while pulling with the right. Japanese therefore required writers to write in a way where you would read as the scroll was unwound. Manga carried on this tradition, even in book form, due to the language’s orientation. Today, even when translated into English, many companies keep the original style of right to left paneling, so as to keep the flow and the author’s intent intact.

However, there are some that are published in a technique called “mirroring.” This is when the panels are flipped around, to accommodate western readers. In the early days of manga publishing within the United States, many were published in this way, for it was believed too many people would be confused by the shift in reading styles. But with the growing popularity and demand for current manga, this process was mostly scrapped, due to the effort and time it took to completely remodel the mode in which the original comic was published in. While this practice is still continued in some companies, for the most part it has fallen into disuse.

Next up is popularity.

Twilight Rant #1

It is a wonderment to me how the literary community honors and respects those that do not deserve it. Particularly one genre really angers me, the shitty vampire romance. I am speaking, of course, about the Twilight craze that has swept the nation. I honestly don’t understand why so many love it. Let’s put aside the obviously bad writing style and complete lack or grammar for a minute (did she even have an editor?). Instead, let’s focus on the subject matter.

For some reason, we have gotten it into our head that vampires are a sexy “other” that humans aspire to be. Yes, they reach out to the need for immortality in our present powers, and preserving the body in young and healthy ways. It is a pleasing concept, to think of the knowledge you could possess, all for giving up solid food and sunlight. But it is a lie. Vampires, for all their appeal, are monsters. As inhuman as the zombies or sea-monsters that terrify our nightmares.

Vampires are terrible beings that feed on life force. The monster that has risen above all the rest to become the king. The most brutal and destructive creatures; the most powerful force for corruption that exists in our myths. But I see the market flooded with passionate romance between vampires and humans, when they should be looking at their next meal. There’s nothing sexy about it.

Beyond that, there is the like of the romance itself. Set up as a romance, it is nothing short of an abusive relationship. Don’t believe me? Check the figures: Twilight

With the onset of people like Anne Rice and Stephanie Myer, vampires are becoming a joke. If you want my opinion, there are a few books a tales out there that correctly portray how vampires should be considered. As monsters of terror. They are few a far between in this saturated market of sap, but I believe I have found the most relevant. Let me tell you what you should be reading if you value horror as I do.

1) Dracula- Bram Stoker (obviously)
2) The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
3) 30 days of Night (comic) – Steve Niles/ Ben Templesmith
4) I am Legend – Richard Matheson
5) The Strain – Chuck Hogan, Guillermo del Toro
6) Salem’s Lot – Stephen King
7) Hellsing (manga) – Kihoto Hirano

I’m sure there are others out there, but I have yet to find them.