That's a pretty bold statement...not to say, untrue...I really don't think that real world politics have anything to do with people's interest in fantasy writing. Currently the big hot thing here in Scandinavia are crime novels, there's tons of em being written constantly...is this a sign that young people have a secret desire to murder people?
I think it's more about the concept, and the world of crime. Not really a desire to murder people. I myself find crime type of stories interesting, and have wrote one myself. If it was a desire for murdering people, i couldn't imagine the violence.
Oh I agree, I also think it's because of the realism in a lot of them. I do wonder why it's such a big thing here in Scandinavia...there are så many crime-writers, it's insane, and they sell well...guess we just like that kind of thing ^^
For me personally fantasy is my go-to genre because I am a very imaginative person. I feel like it's a part of me, and will always be. My love for certain mythological creatures like dragons and werewolves are very deeply rooted in me as a person. I grew up with fantasy, in television, gaming and stories, and it all remains when I am an adult. Writing fantasy is a creative outlet for the immensely lively fantasy I have. To create an entire world to the deepest detail, with map, history, bios of characters and description of unknown creatures and races even though 95% of the stuff I create won't be mentioned, but it's extra work that makes the story perfect.
Fantasy has the benefit that you can write historical stories without being bound by history. As someone who despises historically-inaccurate storytelling masquerading as the truth, having something which is explicitly fantasy is a more palatable solution. Plus, y'know, nazi zombies. Are we defining "literary" as in opposition to lesser quality, or as in opposition to genre? For the latter, Shakespeare is surely genre given that he wrote primarily comedies, tragedies, histories, and blends of the three. In many cases his emphasis on plot outweighed his emphasis on character. Not that it really matters. "Literary" claiming that it's not a genre is like a Frenchman claiming he doesn't have an accent and arguing that only foreigners have accents.
Plus, there's just a bunch of amazing stories to be told through the lens of fantasy that can't be told any other way That was beautiful
Hi, Actually I quite liked the "picket fenced gulag" comment. Reminds me very much of the Stainless Steel Rat and why he chose to become a criminal. Cheers, Greg.
Perhaps Scandinavians write about crime for the same reason that UK/US writers write about fantasy...there are as many serial murderers in Copenhagen as there are fire-breathing dragons in Manhattan...???
Holy shit there are two dragons in Manhattan ??? (Peter Lundin and Dagmar Overbye... although to be fair Lundin committed his first crime in the states, then fled back to denmark where he killed three more. ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_country - UK and US have the most, though Germany has a surprising number too... although given that human nature is the same everywhere it may also be the the 'leading' countries are just better at identifying and catching them
The UK does seem to produce a ton of crime TV shows though...have convinced me that the small villages in the UK are just filled with blood hungering murderers...
speaking from the millennial front, i think that fantasy books are becoming so popular in the US because of their escapism. why read stories set in reality where you feel lost and disadvantaged (i'm not trying to make this political, it's just how a lot of millennials feel) when you could read about something fantastic and outside of the realm of possibility? along that same vein, the heroes of fantasy books often fall under the prototypical "chosen one" category: a young-ish guy/girl who starts out small, scrawny, weak, downtrodden, etc, who suddenly realizes he/she is much more than they originally thought and rises to become a savior of some kind. i think millennials enjoy stories like this because they want to read about someone who goes from having no control to having all the control and owning it. there is a lot of appeal to reading stories like that, likely because it can seem so impossible to manage the challenges and frustrations of the real world. this could easily segue in to a conversation about running away from problems and hiding behind smartphone screens, but i'll leave that for another thread.
Nope the small villages in the UK are filled with inbred peasants who look funny at 'forriners' that is anybody from the next valley
I love military history, horror and drama. Somehow theses interests combine to inspire me to write fantasy. Yes, genre blending can be done in any genre, but, for some reason, fantasy is my mixing bowl of choice.
It helps that fantasy isn't a story. It's a setting. The typical "fantasy story" is actually a coming-of-age road trip / war adventure where a farm boy discovers they're the chosen one and goes off to fight the evil tyrant. That kind of story's fine, but there's no reason why fantasy has to be that. You could have crime fantasy, or romance fantasy, or if you're Mel Gibson making Braveheart; historical fantasy.
The perfect example of that is fantasy work by forum member JE Loddon. I love 'Braveheart', but, you are so right about it being 'historical fantasy'. Only Hollywood could give us that genre.
I got into fantasy writing because of my conlanging; once you have these languages, what are you gonna do with them? Create people to speak it.
That's pretty intense. Isolation, barring the one ex-university intellectuals writers write about—although that can be depressive also—is omnipresent. Just as the guy in the article says, we turn a blind eye to it. Mostly, at least in my case, because I have no idea whatsoever as to how to help those people. Hack, being a teacher, I more often than not don't know how to help my students break free from their own hellish Catch 22. I once saw an elderly woman sitting on a bench by the river next to a university campus. Felt sorry for her but I didn't know what to do, you know? What would I say? Ma'm, aren't you feeling lonely? Would you mind me keep you a company? Sure. Once I actually, naive imbecile that I am, approached an old lady going at a snail's pace with her crutches. Myself vibrant and sporty at university, it was agony just to watch her struggle. It was evening, it was dark, I felt sorry for her, so I offered I'd accompany her to her home. She was very unnerved about it—for obvious reasons—I mean how possible is it that a young guy has the best of intentions. At night. Most likely she thought I was going to snatch her purse. So anyway she said would I mind leaving her alone, at which moment I realized just how fucked up the world is. Was an eye-opener. The old should die surrounded by their family. Not alone. One of the greatest failures of the Western Society.
When I was a kid, I was taught that if I was ever lost or in trouble of some kind, I should ask an adult for help. The assumption people made back then (circa 1970) was that adults were good people who would help kids. Nowadays, I am an adult, but kids are taught to avoid me like the plague. Stranger danger, it's called. As an adult male, I am by definition (apparently) a monster who will molest any child within reach at the first opportunity. This hurts. A lot. The presumption is that I cannot possibly have the best of intentions. So I, too, realize just how fucked up the world is.
Oh yeah. Precedent is a bitch. Digital age is weird. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm too good for this world. People used to at least pretend they respect upright citizenry and uphold a (facsimile of) moral code. Now they don't give a flying shit.
