Fractionated Fantasy
Mar. 23rd, 2011 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennythereaderOne of my favorite activities for times when I have nothing to do but think has always been classifying the various sub-genres of speculative fiction. I used to try to make these categories based on what type of story the author was telling, but always found myself making new sub-sub-sub-genres just to hold one specific title which didn't quite fit anywhere else. These days the categories I use in my Kindle (for fantasy, at least) are based on what sort of connection the story's setting has to our real world.
They are:
- Modern Fantasy The book is set in something that looks almost exactly like the here-and-now. But with magical/supernatural elements. The magic might be hidden from the majority of the world, or it might be widely known. If it is widely known it has somehow had no major effect on technology, social conventions, or any other aspect of modern life. Examples: Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, most of Laurell K. Hamilton's work, Charles deLint's Newford books.
- Historical Fantasy Pretty much the same thing as Modern Fantasy, but set in an easily identifiable place and period in the past. Examples: Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, C.C. Finlay's Traitor To The Crown series, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.
- Alternate History Fantasy A setting where the existence of magic has actually changed the world in significant ways. Examples: Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell, Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series, Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange series.
- Parallel World Fantasy Clearly not our world at any point in its history, but just as clearly is or has been connected to our world. The two most common ways this is done are [a] the fictional setting was settled by a group of people from our world in the distant past (could be voluntary, involuntary, or accidental) and [b] an individual or small group of people from our world visits the fictional world (again, they could have gone on purpose, by accident, or been shanghaied). Examples: Piers Anthony's Xanth series [both type a & b], Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series [type b], Sherwood Smith's Inda series [type a], Terry Brooks's Landover series [type b], Greg Keyes's Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series [type a].
- Secondary World Fantasy A setting that has absolutely no connection our world, except for the odd coincidence of humans being on both. Examples: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy and its sequels, Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series.
- Fantastic Pre-history A setting that claims to be the history of this world, before anybody started writing things down. Examples: J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth books (made more explicit in the supplemental books than in the 4 main novels), all the books about Conan the Barbarian, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (never stated, but implied.)
- Science Fantasy A setting that looks like fantasy (usually Parallel or Secondary world), but has elements that are clearly science fiction. Examples: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series (the fantasy to science fiction ratio varies from book to book), Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, Terry Brooks's Shannara series (esp. the recent books connecting it to his trilogy The Word and the Void.)
If you want me to edit in links to these books, just ask. I was too lazy to do it as I wrote the post.
They are:
- Modern Fantasy The book is set in something that looks almost exactly like the here-and-now. But with magical/supernatural elements. The magic might be hidden from the majority of the world, or it might be widely known. If it is widely known it has somehow had no major effect on technology, social conventions, or any other aspect of modern life. Examples: Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series, most of Laurell K. Hamilton's work, Charles deLint's Newford books.
- Historical Fantasy Pretty much the same thing as Modern Fantasy, but set in an easily identifiable place and period in the past. Examples: Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, C.C. Finlay's Traitor To The Crown series, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.
- Alternate History Fantasy A setting where the existence of magic has actually changed the world in significant ways. Examples: Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell, Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series, Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange series.
- Parallel World Fantasy Clearly not our world at any point in its history, but just as clearly is or has been connected to our world. The two most common ways this is done are [a] the fictional setting was settled by a group of people from our world in the distant past (could be voluntary, involuntary, or accidental) and [b] an individual or small group of people from our world visits the fictional world (again, they could have gone on purpose, by accident, or been shanghaied). Examples: Piers Anthony's Xanth series [both type a & b], Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series [type b], Sherwood Smith's Inda series [type a], Terry Brooks's Landover series [type b], Greg Keyes's Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series [type a].
- Secondary World Fantasy A setting that has absolutely no connection our world, except for the odd coincidence of humans being on both. Examples: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy and its sequels, Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series.
- Fantastic Pre-history A setting that claims to be the history of this world, before anybody started writing things down. Examples: J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth books (made more explicit in the supplemental books than in the 4 main novels), all the books about Conan the Barbarian, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (never stated, but implied.)
- Science Fantasy A setting that looks like fantasy (usually Parallel or Secondary world), but has elements that are clearly science fiction. Examples: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series (the fantasy to science fiction ratio varies from book to book), Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, Terry Brooks's Shannara series (esp. the recent books connecting it to his trilogy The Word and the Void.)
If you want me to edit in links to these books, just ask. I was too lazy to do it as I wrote the post.
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Another Category
Date: 2011-03-23 11:34 pm (UTC)Books where people from modern time get transported to some point in the history of the world, and have to survive. Often it involves attempts to change the course of history in some way.
Re: Another Category
Date: 2011-03-24 01:19 am (UTC)