I'm attempting to plan a Fantasy retelling of the story of Jeanne d'Arc(aka, my 100th unfinished project I'll try but fail at not losing steam during), however, in order to use some settings and themes I have planned, it'll require taking some minor(major) liberties with some parts of her story and I was just wondering: How much is too much? I mean, sure, in writing, effectively anything is possible but I seem to remember movies with fairy tale characters hunting giants and slaughtering wolves, Abraham Lincoln skulking after vampires and Pride and Prejudice retold with zombies, which shows anyone can take however many liberties they damn well wish to, but given some of those works' receptions, I doubt that means there isn't such a thing as too much.
I think it depends in large part on how you present the work. If you're clearly going for a fantastical, off-beat retelling, like Abraham Lincoln and the vampires, no problem. But if you're presenting your work as serious historical fiction I think there's a greater expectation that you'll be faithful to the source material. If you're doing a fantasy retelling, I assume there'll be magic or monsters or something that will make it clear you're not trying for historical fiction? If that's the case, I wouldn't worry about it. Have fun!
Well, knowing "have fun" is what I should be doing with it, it makes it easier for me to ask this following question: If I wanted to take enough liberties to show it isn't historical fiction but enough faithfulness to the original story to show that I indeed wanted to retell the story, how should I go about creating parallels and detaching those parallels to reattach coherently to the liberties I'm taking to make a coherent fantasy retelling?
I was going to write a historical fantasy where 28 Days Later meets World War 2. Didn't go through with it, but it's still on the backburner of one of my several brain-stoves. Now I'm writing a historical fantasy short-story based on World War 1. Nobody infected with the rage-virus this time around. I'm not familiar with what you're specifically trying to re-tell, so I can't help you. It's really a case by case scenario, and completely depends on what exactly you're changing, and why you're re-telling it. The important matter is getting the reader engrossed in the story and making it convincing, at the end of the day.
Don't be sorry. Thanks for taking the time to at least try to help me. Thank you. May Abraham Lincoln always keep you safe from vampires. I'll take your advice to heart, thank you. Best of luck with your No-Rage-Virus Historical Fantasy.
The best historical fiction I've read was the Flashman series of novels by George MacDonald Fraser. He took real, historical figures and put them into new situations, rather than changing history. I loved every one of those books, and the 'real history' provided backstory for many of the characters. I don't see why you can't have real, historical backstory for Joan of Arc, but make up the fantasy part as new story. It'd keep the historians off your back.
Depending on who was in charge at the time, part of recorded history is just fantasy anyway. So as long as you make your intentions clear, might as well add your creative juices to the mix.
I'm a lover of historical fiction, and I know it drives me nuts when somebody just glosses over the facts or twists things out of shape to suit their plot—but only if they're trying to pass it off as historical fiction. (I take historical fiction to be real history, with the bits nobody knows fleshed out for the reader to speculate about.) However, if you make it clear that your story is a fantasy using a character from history, this wouldn't bother me a bit. Just make it clear this isn't a story about Joan of Arc as she really existed. Either it's a fantasy or it's 'alternative history,' depending on how much you know and plan to use about the period.
That reminds me of a lyric from the musical Wicked: A man's called a traitor - or liberator A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader? It's all in which label Is able to persist
