sf@SF

My Spring 2012 Near-Future Science Fiction Schedule of Assignments

2012-01-25T10:20:00.000-05:00

You can find my ENGL 216 syllabus at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/sf3/, but just in case the Fredonia site ever goes down, here's the (insane) schedule of assignments for my Spring 2012 Near-Future Science Fiction course. OK, maybe it's not as insane as it looks, at least for writing assignments: in addition to ongoing participation on our discussion board, students have to write at least two critical essays (not all four listed!)

T 1/24 Introductions, Overview, Set-up.
Th 1/26 Near-Future? Science Fiction?

The Bad Old Century

T 1/31 Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part One-Two (1-230)
Th 2/2 Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part Three-Appendix (231-323)

T 2/7 Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, Part I-XI (1-253)
Th 2/9 Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, Part XII-Historical Notes (254-395)

T 2/14 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, Part One-Two (1-203)
Th 2/16 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, Part Three (204-288)

The Bad New Century

T 2/21 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Part One-Two (1-110)
Th 2/23 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Part Three-Coda (111-190)
F 2/24 CRITICAL ESSAY I due by 11:30 pm in CE Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

T 2/28 Butler, Parable of the Sower, 2024-2026 (1-133)
Th 3/1 Butler, Parable of the Sower, 2027 (134-295)

T 3/6 MacLeod, The Execution Channel, Part One-Three (1-184)
Th 3/8 MacLeod, The Execution Channel, Part Four-Five (185-285)

M 3/12-F 3/16 SPRING BREAK: NO CLASSES.

The Corporate Century?

T 3/20 Brin, Earth, Part I-IV (1-218)
Th 3/22 Brin, Earth, Part V-VIII (219-481)
F 3/23 CRITICAL ESSAY II due by 11:30 pm in CE Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

T 3/27 Brin, Earth, Part IX-Afterword (482-667)
Th 3/29 Stephenson, Snow Crash, Ch. 1-16 (1-138)

T 4/3 Stephenson, Snow Crash, Ch. 17-43 (138-325)
Th 4/5 Stephenson, Snow Crash, Ch. 44-71 (326-468)

T 4/10 Morgan, Market Forces, Prologue-File #3 (1-289)
Th 4/12 Morgan, Market Forces, File #4-#5 (290-441)
F 4/13 FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL due by 11:30 pm on discussion forum on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

The Asian Century?

T 4/17 Gibson, Neuromancer, Part One-Three (1-156)
Th 4/19 Gibson, Neuromancer, Part Four-Coda (157-271)
F 4/20 CRITICAL ESSAY III due by 11:30 pm in CE Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

T 4/24 McHugh, China Mountain Zhang, China Mountain-Homework (1-208)
Th 4/26 McHugh, China Mountain Zhang, Daoist Engineering-Three Fragrances (209-310)

T 5/1 Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl, Ch. 1-18 (1-182)
Th 5/3 Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl, Ch. 19-Epilogue (183-359); course evaluations
F 5/4 CRITICAL ESSAY IV due by 11:30 pm in CE Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

TBA Final Project presentations
F 5/11 FINAL PROJECT due by 11:30 pm in FP Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

My Spring 2012 Near-Future Science Fiction Course

2011-12-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here's the reading list for my Near-Future Science Fiction course, organized roughly by when the novels that I'll be teaching next semester are set:

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Ken MacLeod, The Execution Channel
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower

Richard Morgan, Market Forces
Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
David Brin, Earth

William Gibson, Neuromancer
Maureen McHugh, China Mountain Zhang
Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl

I'm so psyched that less than a year after waking up with the germ of this course in my head, I'll actually be teaching it.

In addition, the American Studies Film Series next semester will feature near-future SF films. More on both when the film series schedule is complete and my syllabus for ENGL 216 is online.

Imagine: A Science Fiction Puppet Fairy Tale

2011-05-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

South Park dudes, look out! 'Cause a couple of my students have produced an epic science fiction puppet fairy tale called Imagine on a shoestring budget. Check it out:

Fantasy as Chick Lit?

2011-05-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

No, that's not what Alyssa Rosenberg is arguing over at The Atlantic. Just read it for yourself!

Mark Twain's influence on Fantasy Fiction

2011-02-23T13:38:00.001-05:00

Fantasy Fiction as a genre has come into its own over the last several decades. Authors like Tolkien and Lewis helped to form the genre, and authors like Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, and Robin Hobb have helped keep it alive; however, there has been a lot of debate on when and with whom the genre originated. While pivotal authors like Tolkien and Lewis are often given credit, other critics and scholars would argue for an origin found in fairy tales, or even earlier. Instead of focusing on one particular author or body of work as the origin of Fantasy Fiction, I would argue that Fantasy Fiction, like all genres, is more dependent on literature as a whole than some would believe. Authors outside of the genre contribute and impact Fantasy Fiction, because the authors of the genre are constantly influenced by work outside of it. Literary icons, like Mark Twain, contribute to Fantasy Fiction by impacting authors and the general public. Authors do not write from an isolated, independent perspective. Authors write from the perspective of a member of society, influenced by literature as a whole, whether that literature is contemporary or ancient. Anything an author has read influences the work of that author, affecting them on conscious and unconscious levels. Readers who closely analyze Fantasy Fiction can see the influence of Mark Twain. Twain’s influence can be seen in a realist writing technique, as well as topics covered in his books and essays. In Fantasy Fiction, readers can see, immersed among the magic and mysticism, discussions on slavery, opposing cultures and societies, realistic descriptions and understanding of fantasy based worlds, and characters based on a real world understanding of people. Twain’s influence can be seen in genres not his own, because as a literary icon, Mark Twain has impacted our society as a whole, affecting people on a level that defines his literature as iconic, something beyond words on a page.

Mark Twain subscribed to a realistic approach in his literature. Readers can view Twain’s disdain for unrealistic literature in his critique of Fennimore Cooper’s writings, particularly Cooper’s The Pathfinder and The Deerslayer. Throughout the critique, Twain berates Cooper’s lack of realistic situations and failure to understand or observe real world examples. He mentions examples spanning from an incorrect understanding of artillery to the misunderstanding of how a streambed works. Twain goes on to discuss Cooper’s unrealistic, ridiculous characters and the impossible actions of those characters. Cooper’s characters accomplish feats impossible for any real person, such as shooting the head of a nail at one-hundred yards. In Fantasy Fiction, we can see the impact of Twain’s realistic approach. Authors like Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin are products of realistic writing. Fantasy fiction is a genre based on the impossible, on magic and mysticism, on our imaginations; however, the worlds that authors create are based on our own. How can these worlds not be? Authors of Fantasy Fiction take what they know and stretch it with their imaginations. What authors know is a culmination of their own experiences. In Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, Jordan creates a world both fantastical and realistic. His magic system follows a set of rules explained in the first book. The rules he uses are understandable by readers; they are realistic, because we can understand and apply them. Even though the magic seen in Jordan’s work is impossible, it is still realistic.

The realism found in Fantasy Fiction does not apply only to the impossible, fantastic components of the literature. The realism in Fantasy Fiction also applies to the characters. Twain was a firm believer in realistic accents and modes of thinking. In Twain’s the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck does not talk like an educated thirty-year-old man, because he is not an educated thirty-year-old man. Huck is an uneducated, backwoods, young teenager. As such, he talks like one. Jordan and Martin utilize a realistic approach in their books. Although the characters of their stories live in a fantastical world, those characters are based on real people, so those characters act like real people. Jordan’s attention to realistic characters can be seen constantly throughout his books. In the first book of Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, Jordan creates a scene in which he is able to better define the human qualities of two main characters, forcing actions upon those characters that are believable.

“Be at ease, Lan,” Moiraine said. “Be at ease. Wisdom, you think I can help Master Fitch and the people at the inn? Well, you are right.” Nynaeve started to say something, but Moiraine waved it away and went on. “I can go back by myself and give some help. Not too much, of course. That would draw attention to those I helped, attention they would not thank me for, especially with the Children of the Light in the town. And that would leave only Lan to protect the rest of you. He is very good, but it will take more than him if a Myrddraal and a fist of Trollocs find you. Of course, we could all return, though I doubt I can get all of us back into Baerlon unnoticed. And that would expose all of you to whomever set that fire, not to mention the Whitecloaks. Which alternative would you choose, Wisdom, if you were I?”

-Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World, 257

In this paragraph, readers see Jordan explaining and setting limits on the abilities of his characters. Realistic limits. Despite her ability to utilize the magic of Jordan’s world, the character Moiraine admits she cannot produce an ideal situation that helps Master Fitch with his burning inn and also allows the party of adventurers to escape. Through Moiraine, Jordan also limits the abilities of the warrior Lan, setting a vague limit on the amount of Trollocs and Myrddraal he can kill, even though he is a warrior of phenomenal skill. The reactions of the characters and the decisions each character makes are believable and follow the reader’s understanding of each character.

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, whether he realized it or not, helped to define the impact and role of African American culture on American society. Toni Morrison discusses the role of African Americans as a contrast to white society in her article Jim’s Africanist Presence in Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain’s book seems a story based in constrasts: freedom contrasted by slavery, and white culture contrasted by black culture. Morrison discusses these contrasts in her analysis of Jim’s freedom: “Thus the fatal ending becomes the elaborate deferment of a necessary and necessarily unfree Africanist character’s escape, because freedom has no meaning to Huck or to the text without the specter of enslavement, the anodyne to individualism; the yardstick of absolute power over the life of another; the signed marked, informing, and mutating presence of a black slave” (Morrison, 309). Twain’s utilization of contrasts, especially in racial and social roles, can be seen in several fantasy books. Robin Hobb’s The Soldier Son trilogy utilizes contrasts throughout all three novels. At the onset of the book, the main character, Nevare Burvelle, is exposed to a post-war world where Nevare’s society has recently conquered and subjugated a society known as the “plainspeople”. The plainspeople are treated as second-class citizens, being extorted and controlled by the society that conquered them. Nevare is entrusted to a member of this society, the enemy of his father, so he might learn to survive and rise above the plainspeople his father helped to conquer. The focus of the trilogy is Nevare’s experiences with the plainspeople, followed later by a forest people known as “specks”. Nevare is forced, through magic, to find a balance between these differing societies, eventually losing the distinction that separated him from the plainspeople and specks.

Fantasy Fiction cannot be understood through a specific origin or starting point. Instead readers must understand Fantasy Fiction as a genre that has come into its own, changing and shaping itself based on literature as a whole. Contemporary Fantasy Fiction authors cannot target Tolkien or Lewis as sole influences, because authors are influenced by everything they see, hear, read, and experience, reflecting those experiences in the literature they write. Mark Twain influenced Fantasy Fiction, because Mark Twain was a literary icon. Authors who read Twain are impacted by him, by Twain’s writing style and influences. Twain’s demand for realistic situations and characters can be seen in the work of successful Fantasy Fiction authors, such as Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, and Robin Hobb. Readers can see Twain’s influence in the characters that seem believable and lifelike, in the systems of magic that can be understood, and in the topics Twain himself covered that have been revisited through a fantasy lens. Although Fantasy Fiction deals in the impossible and the imagined, authors base their worlds on our own, requiring rationalized characters, topics, and situations. As such, literary icons, like Twain, will continue to influence writers and readers, despite the genre.

Bibliography and additional reading:

Hobb, Robin. Shaman's Crossing. New York: EOS, 2005. Print.

Jordan, Robert. Eye of the World. New York: TOR, 1990. Print.

Martin, George R. R. A Game of Thrones. New York: Bantam, 2002. Print.

Morrison, Toni. "Jim's Africanist Presence in Huckleberry Finn." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: a Case Study in Critical Controversy. By Mark Twain, Gerald Graff, and James Phelan. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 1995. 305-10. Print.

Twain, Mark. "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." University of Virginia Library. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. .

Sad News, Happy News

2011-02-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Sad news first: we've lost Brian Jacques.

Happy news next: a friend of mine from Japan, Fusami Ogi, is helping to organize a conference in Singapore on Women's Manga Beyond Japan this February 21st through 23rd.

Will This Course Idea Seem So Cool in the Light of Day?

2011-02-04T04:30:00.000-05:00

All of a sudden, I've got the urge to teach another version of my Science Fiction course. But this time, instead of trying to sample a small number of novels on a small number of topoi, I've got this idea for teaching near-future sci fi that both gets us thinking globally and reveals something about the preoccupations of the time periods in which they were first written and read. So far, I've come up with works like William Gibson's Neuromancer, Masamune Shirow/Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Maureen McHugh's China Mountain Zhang, Cory Doctorow's For the Win, Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl. What am I not thinking of that would fit that kind of reading list? Particularly from pre-cyberpunk sci fi?

Questioning Fantasy: A Guide to My Students' Response Essays from ENGL 299

2011-01-04T23:11:00.002-05:00

Here are the questions my Fantasy Fiction class generated at the start of the Fall 2010 semester, along with links to their response essays that addressed specific questions:

BOUNDARIES OF FANTASY

Defining Fantasy

What is fantasy? Samantha Brethel, Alexe Brode, Steve Grzybowski, Derek Herzog, Christy Hewitt, Luke Hider, George M., Victoria Rader, Casey Takacs, Steph Ward
How ought fantasy to be defined? Steve Grzybowski, Luke Hider, George M., Victoria Rader, Casey Takacs
What characteristics/features must a work have--what conventions must it adhere to or expectations meet--to be considered fantasy? Samantha Brethel, Derek Herzog, Christy Hewitt, Luke Hider, Victoria Rader
What's the "recipe" for fantasy? Victoria Rader
Do the plots make up the genre or is it more on the style of writing chosen that makes a work belong in the fantasy genre? Derek Herzog
Does there have to be some sort of supernatural element for it to be considered fantasy? Samantha Brethel, Steve Grzybowski, Luke Hider, George M., Victoria Rader
How do we define the difference between the ordinary and fantastical? Christy Hewitt, Victoria Rader, Steph Ward
When is something not considered to be fantasy? George M.
How inclusive/exclusive should our definition be and how rigid/flexible should we be in applying it? Steve Grzybowski, Luke Hider, George M., Victoria Rader, Steph Ward
Is the genre of fantasy subjective? Alexe Brode, George M., Casey Takacs, Steph Ward

Fantasy's Varieties, Relatives, and Neighbors

What kinds of fantasy are there (sub-genres)?
How does fantasy relate to science fiction, horror, myth, epic, romance, magical realism, and so on? Samantha Brethel, Alexe Brode, Steve Grzybowski, Christy Hewitt, George M., Victoria Rader, Lizzie Reid, Zain Syed, Steph Ward
What is the line between fantasy fiction and genres like horror and sci-fi? Can this line be blurred? Samantha Brethel, Alexe Brode, Steve Grzybowski, Christy Hewitt, George M., Victoria Rader, Steph Ward
Why do so many border disputes arise and what's at stake in specific ones? Casey Takacs, Steph Ward

Origins and Development of Fantasy

When did fantasy start?
What author embodies the start of the genre fantasy fiction?
What distinguishes fantasy per se from its predecessors, influences, and so on?
How did fantasy develop?
What are the key turning points or transformations in the history of fantasy?
Will fantasy, as a genre, ever die out or become dated?
Do genres have life cycles?

VALUE(S) OF FANTASY

Quality of/in Fantasy

How is quality measured in fantasy books? Gabrielle Fletcher, Kayleigh Witkowski, Erica Yunghans
Who are the best fantasy writers and why?
How do they stack up to the best writers in other genres?
What exactly distinguishes "good fantasy" from "bad fantasy"? Gabrielle Fletcher, Adam Glasier
What attributes make up a great fantasy fiction story?
What medium is fantasy best suited for (if any), and why?
Why is fantasy on the lower/lowest rung of the literature ladder? Matt Pisarski
Who decided that plays written in the Renaissance are much better and for the intellectually elite than a novel about witches and dragons? Is it because the prose used is generally more simple? Is it because the plots are "different"?
How does fantasy stack up against other genres? Brittany, Zain Syed
What are the stereotypes/preconceived notions pertaining to fantasy fiction? Brittany, Kristian Everett, Derek Herzog, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Zain Syed, Casey Takacs
Is fantasy necessarily regressive, nostalgic, conservative, reactionary, irrational, escapist...? Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, Kristian Everett, Derek Herzog, Christy Hewitt, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney
How do readers of fantasy get around the stigma that comes with the genre? Brittany, Derek Herzog, Matt Pisarski

Fantasy's Functions, Purposes, Uses

Why does fantasy fiction exist? Lizzie Reid
What is fantasy good for (if anything)? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, C. Dunn, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Christy Hewitt, Josh Jerome, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Lizzie Reid, Zain Syed, Casey Takacs, Kayleigh Witkowski, Tiffany Wood
What is the purpose or role of fantasy in our culture? anonymous, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Lizzie Reid, Casey Takacs, Tiffany Wood
What functions, uses, stakes might fantasy have for authors, readers, critics, institutions, society at large? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, C. Dunn, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Christy Hewitt, Josh Jerome, Hannah Morris, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Lizzie Reid, Zain Syed, Casey Takacs, Kayleigh Witkowski, Tiffany Wood, Erica Yunghans
How have early fantasy writers affected today's society? C. Dunn
What do responses to and debates over fantasy reveal (about society, present or past, at large or in particular groups or institutions)? Erica Yunghans
Why do writers choose the genre of fantasy fiction? Eli, Eric Ellison, Adam Glasier, Lizzie Reid
Is fantasy fiction meant merely as a means of entertainment or is it meant to be something deeper? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Josh Jerome, Hannah Morris, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Lizzie Reid, Zain Syed, Casey Takacs, Kayleigh Witkowski, Tiffany Wood, Erica Yunghans
Can fantasy fiction be used as a platform for political, social, or cultural statements? Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Hannah Morris, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Erica Yunghans
What messages are authors of fantasy fiction trying to convey? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Hannah Morris, Erica Yunghans
What messages/attributes are typically included in fantasy books? For example, do they often include philosophical elements? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Eli, Eric Ellison, Josh Jerome, Matt Pisarski
What is fantasy fiction able to teach us? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, Hannah Morris, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Kayleigh Witkowski
Why are some of the key conventions of fantasy (world-building, good vs. evil, quest, coming of age, rise and fall of civilizations) so enduringly popular? anonymous, Kayla Carucci, Tiffany Wood
Why do we retell previous stories through fantasy? Lizzie Reid

Studying Fantasy

What is the state of the art in fantasy criticism?
What value can scholarly study of fantasy bring to the university, to the industry, to fan communities, to regular readers? Matt Pisarski
How is the study of fantasy fiction viewed?
What can scholars learn about fantasy from those outside academia?
Are we really learning anything relevant by studying fantasy fiction? anonymous, Mike Bayba, Christine Botham, Kayla Carucci, Eli, Eric Ellison, Kristian Everett, Gabrielle Fletcher, Josh Jerome, Matt Pisarski, Audrey Putney, Casey Takacs, Kayleigh Witkowski, Tiffany Wood

HOW FANTASY WORKS

Is magic in fantasy analogous to science/technology in science fiction?
What role does religion play in the writing of fantasy fiction? Mike Bayba, Josh Jerome, Hannah Morris, Casey Takacs, Steph Ward, Erica Yunghans
Are modern authors as heavily influenced by religion as Tolkien and Lewis were? If not, is that a product of our times? If yes, could it be argued that since so many were influenced by Tolkien and Lewis as forerunners of the genre, who were themselves heavily influenced by religion, modern authors are just as heavily influenced by religion, whether they realize it or not?
Why is identity (especially the quest for one's identity) one of the most common themes in fantasy fiction? anonymous, Kayla Carucci, Josh Jerome, Tiffany Wood
How do fantasy fiction stories relate to their time period and culture? Kristian Everett, George M., Hannah Morris, Matt Pisarski, Erica Yunghans
How many new ideas and stories can a fantasy author come up with, without repeating a story?
There are only so many mythological creatures, and it seems like the good v. evil story is getting redundant. How do fantasy writers stay original? Gabrielle Fletcher
What is the process of writing a fantasy fiction novel? How much time and commitment goes into fabricating a new world? Adam Glasier, Tiffany Wood

Everything in Our World Is Subjective (Middle-Earth Is Another Story)

2010-12-23T01:23:00.000-05:00

Steph Ward explains:

Everyone believes in different things. Some people may say that they believe that eating meat is wrong because it is cruel to animals, and some people may say that they believe ghosts exist because they saw one. Who is the average individual to question the beliefs of others? The concept of fantasy is very fluid and difficult to pin down when one takes into account how truly subjective it is. Depending on the beliefs of an individual a work of fantasy can easily be considered to be a work of speculative fiction. A majority of fantasy is completely subjective, based upon the personal beliefs of the individual, there are some exceptions to this subjectivity, depending on the way that the novel is set up. A novel that takes place in our world is much more difficult to classify as fantasy than a novel that is set in another world.

A belief can come from anywhere. Some sources of beliefs that may affect what we see as fantasy may come from places like our own experiences, our culture or our religion. Since so many fantasy novelists pull ideas from religions (whether it is Paganism, Christianity or otherwise) it only seems natural that beliefs in religion may alter our perception of what fantasy is. Take the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: this novel gives you an eschatological tale in which the AntiChrist has been born and will bring about the end of the world. The concepts of the Apocalypse, angels, demons and the AntiChrist are things that are very real to many groups of people because of their beliefs. So the classification of this novel becomes subjective. One’s religious beliefs may dictate that this is not fantasy at all, merely a speculation, a possible course of events about something that will inevitably occur. On the other side of the coin, if you are an atheist and do not believe in anything religious then this book becomes a work of complete fantasy, as you have no beliefs to ground it. Therefore, whether you consider this book to be fantasy or not is a completely subjective thing. There is no way to do it without disagreement from some groups.

Good Omens is particularly subjective because it deals directly with religion, something that people already have extreme beliefs about. The debate of “Is this fantasy?” does not always have to be this heated. It is hard to find an individual who does not believe that The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a fantasy novel. This is not to say that it is not a subjective belief. Certainly, some may claim that Middle-Earth does exist but these beliefs seem much less rational to us than the claim that angels exist. Why is this? This occurs because The Hobbit does not take place in our world. This novel takes place in another world entirely, one that the author admittedly made up. It is much easier, and much more rational, to have subjective beliefs in our world than it is to have subjective beliefs about another world. In Middle-Earth, we have only what we are told by Tolkien to form our beliefs on. In Good Omens, which takes place on our Earth, we have all of our personal experience and beliefs about our world to take into account before we can make a decision.

Much of Good Omens is supported by other tangible things, things that we already know exist. The novel makes mention of the Bible, of the Satanist and Christian faiths, of Nostradamus and other prophecy makers, things that we know actually exist or existed. On top of that it adds things that could exist, things that many people do believe exist such as angels and demons. The novel also takes place in our world. We have enough information, from our own life experiences and from those things the novel makes reference to that we know exist to be able to make a subjective judgment on the things that could exist. When Gaiman and Pratchett say, “Many phenomena--wars, plagues, sudden audits--have been advanced as evidence for the hidden hand of Satan in the affairs of man...” (15), it is easy for me to make a subjective call on whether this statement is fantasy or not. That is because it is based in my world and I have experience with all of those evil things listed. I may have been told by the Bible, or by my parents or a hundred other outside sources that Satan causes evil in the world. Since I already know this it is very easy for me to subjectively say that this is not fantasy at all, this novel is actually taking a set of beliefs from outside sources and building a story out of them. However, if I had been raised to believe that neither God nor Satan exist and that the Apocalypse is a bunch of bologna I would say that this is a fantastical concept that is imaginary only. But, if we look at The Hobbit, which takes place in another world, the classification of the novel is much simpler because we have no influence from outside sources. When Tolkien explains that hobbits are “a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort...” (2), I do not have to decide whether a hobbit is a fantastical creature or not because this novel does not take place in the world that I live in. I cannot have a rational, subjective belief about a world that I have no experience of. Good Omens references things that I know, and a world that I am familiar with, so I can make a subjective judgment based on my beliefs about the world as to whether I think this novel is fantastic or speculative. The Hobbit does not allow me to do such things. I have been told that Tolkien created Middle-Earth. This is not my world, so this is fantasy.

Whether something is fantasy or not depends on our beliefs. Our beliefs depend on our experiences and influences from our world. A novel that takes place in our world is open to much debate as to whether or not it is fantasy. That is because people have such varying beliefs on our world. Any novels that take place in our world can never definitively be called fantasy, or anything else. There will always be debate because the human experience and beliefs vary so greatly. However, if a novel does not take place in our world it is much easier to simply slap a fantasy label on it and be done with the whole ordeal.

Fantasy Is Ambiguous

2010-12-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

Alexe Brode explains why:

The question of "what is fantasy" is really hard to define. First, it is relatively ambiguous, meaning it has many meanings. Secondly, there are so many genres in the world, how does fantasy not fall under something else? These are just many questions that need to be answered to better understand what fantasy is in all actuality.

The word fantasy can mean anything from a mental image, imagination, a visionary idea, to even an illusion or hallucination. Fantasy is so ambiguous it is hard to come to one definition. If one was to sit down and conquer this definition it would take years. This is one genre that could fit really any type of book one reads. For example, take the definition of a mental image; reading anything can give a person a mental image if the use of figures of speech is used properly. I could read something a five-year-old wrote and probably get some sort of mental image from it.

Fiction, science fiction, horror, children's literature, each and every one of these can fall under fantasy because most if not all can lead you into a separate world where everything written in the book comes true. Would these be considered sub-genres? Or is there really a major difference between fantasy and these? Fantasy seems to deal more with dragons and magic, as the above do not. Is this the difference? Then one looks at "Snow White" or "Cinderella"--are they considered fantasy or is that children’s literature still?

In all actuality, coming up with an answer about what is fantasy is relatively hard. I guess it depends on the reader or mainly on what others think. The reader could just make up their own classification for what is fantasy, or just stick to what the editor says the genre is. Fantasy is such a broad and ambiguous term that the answer will be just as broad and ambiguous.

My idea of fantasy is one that just transports you completely into a separate world where you can't really distinguish between reality and fiction. The Jhereg book did this to me. I want more after reading the first, even more after the second, and I'm dying after the third. Now I just wish the world was like the book so I could be an assassin and not deal with school and such and just get paid to kill people. It's like an escape into a better life it seems, somewhere that someone feels safe because they know they can’t get hurt but they enjoy all of the action.

Fantasy is ambiguous. It can't be defined into a set definition. It can be one genre or many as far as we know. It is hard to tell fantasy apart from other genres because it all contains the same content and there isn't a special ingredient that separates them. So the question of "what is fantasy?" seems to still be left unanswered, because in all reality anything can be fantasy if you set your mind to it.

Defining Fantasy--and Science Fiction

2010-12-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Samantha Brethel breaks it down:

The fantasy genre is very interesting because of the discrepancies people have in assigning the criteria a book must have to be considered a work of fantasy literature. However, after discussing it in class, I have come to the conclusion that for a novel to be considered fantasy, it must have a few of the following elements: some form(s) of supernatural elements or mythological creatures; have a character-driven plot; and incorporate some sort of journey or mission. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit incorporates these elements fully, making his novel one of the most famous fantasy books. And the entire Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is also a series that fully incorporates the elements necessary to make a novel belong to the fantasy genre, and to really keep this genre separate from science fiction, where the lines become blurred.

The plot of The Hobbit is indeed character driven; the dwarves and Bilbo go on a journey to the Lonely Mountain to take back their treasure that was stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. The entire novel consists of their journey getting to Smaug's lair, and then the battle to get back their gold. You follow the fourteen of them, and occasionally Gandalf the wizard and a few others, until they do actually defeat Smaug.

The same is true of The Magician's Nephew, the first (though written next-to-last) in the Narnia series. The two main characters are Digory and Polly, the children who first enter the world that is to be Narnia long before Lucy, Edward and their siblings go through the wardrobe. The readers follow the kids as they go into Charn and Narnia and meet Jadis, the soon to be White Witch, and Aslan the Lion. We follow them between our world and the other worlds until they finally get back to their world and get the apple to cure Digory's mother. The story ends with a nice little conclusion about how the children grow up and live happy lives.

Both novels incorporate a number of supernatural elements and made-up creatures, something all fantasy novels must have. Tolkien's story has not only dwarves and a wizard, but goblins, giant spiders, hobbits, wood elves, river elves, a Necromancer, a super-powerful giant man, a dragon, and a strange hobbit-hybrid creature named Gollum. Each one of these creatures has its own history and own culture; hobbits are specifically creatures of comfort who eat several times a day and never do anything exciting. That is their own specific culture, which is very different from that of, say, a dwarf, who lives underground and tunnels for treasure and loves adventures. The wizard Gandalf is a good wizard, and later on in the series you meet another wizard who is evil. Not every creature of every race is the same in every story, and the same is true of the creatures within this specific story. Bilbo breaks the barriers of hobbit normality by going off on the adventure with the dwarves.

The creatures invented with Lewis's story also are specific to his creation. While witches were not invented by Lewis, he invents her powers to make her unique to his story. Aslan, the talking Lion who creates the land of Narnia is also tailored to specifically meet the needs of this story. Of course Lewis didn't invent lions, but he did create this specific lion. In later stories in the Chronicles, other magical creatures are introduced (though most of them are talking animals).

Science fiction and fantasy are two separate genres, but often it is hard to differentiate between the two. I think Tolkien and Lewis help to make that distinction very clear; if there is an absence of technology (i.e. something invented by man, or seemingly futuristic) it belongs to the fantasy genre. If it's in a more futuristic setting or incorporates technology like spaceships, aliens, or otherworldly inventions, it definitely falls into the science fiction category. Other novels that incorporate some of the same things found in Middle-Earth and Narnia can be considered fantasy because of the absence of science-fiction elements.

Both of these fantasy stories have their main characters going on journeys to get something and get back home, and their treks through the magical lands with the fantasy creatures are what drives the plot. We read these stories to see what will happen to the characters and their friends on their journeys; will they make it back alive? Will they accept that there are magical worlds and mythological creatures that can help them on their ways? These very elements justify these novels as belonging in the fantasy genre. They aren't science fiction, nonfiction, romance novels, or coming of age (though The Magician's Nephew might fall into that last category). Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lewis's The Magician's Nephew both embody these characteristics and define the genre that is fantasy literature.

The Bildungsroman: Kristian Everett

2010-12-22T18:50:00.000-05:00

The Bildungsroman in fantasy fiction

Bildungsroman, a genre of literature focused on coming of age experiences, is not specific to the fantasy genre; however, fantasy fiction authors utilize this subgenre throughout their work, frequently using it to define the morals and expectations of their own society. The Bildungsroman has been used successfully throughout the genre, arguably producing its most successful works: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore, The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, The True Game by Sherri S. Tepper, and countless others. Despite its frequent usage and repeated messages, this subgenre of fantasy has remained popular; it continues to represent several of the best selling fantasy books, affecting generations of young readers. The Bildungsroman will remain a popular and important subgenre, its ability to affect readers both young and old supporting its continuation.

The Bildungsroman can be understood as a very basic concept, one capable of adaptation and reinvention as society changes. Similar to gender roles, the Bildungsroman is a product of the society it’s written in, changing the values and morals it passes on to fit that society. This ability of the Bildungsroman can be seen in a comparison between The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Tolkien was writing from a time period of stricter values, values leaning more closely to the right. His times affected his writing, as reflected in both the world itself and the characters he created. The men are men, the women are women. Characters like Aragorn, Arwen, and the majority of the fellowship of the ring all uphold strict gender and societal values. Unlike Jackson’s movie adaptation, Tolkien does not use Arwen to save Frodo from the Ringwraiths. Tolkien relies on a male character, an elf prince named Glorfindel, to aid Frodo and lead the party towards Rivendell. Aragorn, another strong male character, directly confronts the riders, fighting them off on Weathertop. In comparison, J.K. Rowling plays with gender roles, as well as the values she wants to instill through her writing. Instead of the rigid, predictable characters of Tolkien, Rowling manipulates traditional roles. Hermione is a stronger female character than many portrayed in The Lord of the Rings. While she still comprises several traditional female characteristics (compassion, emotion, and harassment of the male characters), Hermione rescues Harry and Ron several times. She is the most intelligent of the three, utilizing her knowledge and logic to rescue Harry and Ron from danger. In addition to Hermione, Rowling redefines the role of the wizened wizard. Whereas Gandalf, throughout much of Tolkien’s series, is seemingly all knowing and powerful, Dumbledore displays the ability of older generations to make errors and contain faults. Rowling seemingly attempts to create an older, wizened character that is ultimately human. Although both authors utilize the Bildungsroman, they do so in differing ways, passing on different values and morals. The values and morals they pass on directly reflect those of that author’s society and times.

Although the Bildungsroman is utilized by authors to pass morals and values onto youth, its affect on readers differs depending on the age group reading it. The morals and values impressed on youth through the Bildungsroman will have little impact on older audiences. After a certain age, readers have a set of morals instilled in them, values unlikely to change due to a single book or series. In the case of older audiences, the Bildungsroman serves to revisit youth and experience those issues once more through the lens of adulthood. Like the Pensieve in Harry Potter, Bildungsroman literature allows us to revisit previous experiences and memories. This allows older readers to bring greater understanding to their lives.

The Bildungsroman, while focusing on youth, can span several ages. Harry Potter spans ages eleven to the late teens. The Lord of the Rings focuses on a character several decades old; however, in the eyes of that character’s society, he is still a youth. Xanth focuses on a character in his early twenties. The exact age does not matter; in fact, age itself does not matter. In Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, the vampire Louis, despite his over 100 year lifespan, is forced to undergo the transformation associated with Bildungsroman literature. Over the course of the book, Louis must adapt and change. He is forced to accept the change he has undergone, what he has become. By the end of the book, Louis can be seen to have matured into an adult vampire. This has nothing to do with age. Instead, the transformation is emotional, it’s psychological. This is a key example of what Bildungsroman is really about. Instead of aging, it’s about growing up and being accepted as an adult by one’s own society. The key issue of the Bildungsroman in fantasy fiction is whether that character is considered an adult in the eyes of their society. The main objective of the Bildungsroman, as it pertains to the character, is to force experiences onto the character, forcing them to undergo changes which result in their achieving adulthood –not a specific age– in the eyes of their society.

The importance of the Bildungsroman can be understood in its ability to impact society; it influences several generations at once, despite being targeted towards youth. The impact it has on all generations allows it a sway over society comparable to any classic literature. Books such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings exemplify this potential impact. We can see this potential effect by analyzing the social impact these two series have had. While both series have remained immensely popular, what sets them apart is the impact they had on the youth. Students who previously disdained books began to pick them up. While it can be argued that Harry Potter did not create a generation of readers, as it has previously been claimed, it still affected youth in a positive way. The values and morals found in Harry Potter affected how these children viewed what was right and wrong. It influenced their outlook on the world, as well as how they viewed themselves in relation to that world.

How we understand Bildungsroman can change as the author varies. The emotional and psychological maturation of the main character is what’s key to Bildungsroman, not the age of the character or how many years pass. While the characters tend to be young, they can be any age from eleven to two-hundred. Bildungsroman is an important subgenre of literature because it allows authors impact youth in a positive way. It allows authors to shape and mold them with positive morals and values, values dictated by society. It is also important because it impacts readers outside of its target audience. Older readers are able to reexperience portions of their lives. They are able to revisit important events which shaped who they are today, reminding them of who they are and how they got there. Ultimately, the Bildungsroman is and will continue to be an important facet in literature, especially as a subgenre in fantasy. Its impact on a wide audience allows it to adapt with each generation, keeping its message relevant and understandable.

What Is with the Vampires?!

2010-12-22T17:39:00.005-05:00

Christy Hewitt
ENGL 299
Critical Essay, Option #4

Alright, I’m going to say it, I am a Twilight Fan. Though I do not take any shame in being a fan of sparkling vampires I understand that many people are probably rolling their eyes. Authors write books for people to read them, they write books to attract a fan base. Stephanie Meyer is one of these authors (even though some people wouldn’t even call her an author), and she has also paved the way for authors that just so happen to write about vampires.

A fan base is defined as “the regular supporters and enthusiasts of a team, musician or musical group, entertainer, or other celebrity.” I have been a fan of vampires since 1997 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer came onto television. Anything and everything that has to do with vampires I am usually tuned right in.

I first heard about Twilight in the summer of 2008, I saw a name on the Internet, Edward Cullen and I wanted to learn more about it, so I googled him and got his Wikipedia page. I immediately thought, “It’s a vampire series, perfect,” so I ordered the first two books and started reading them. Within the first three chapters I was already in love (probably because I’m a girl). I finished the four book series by the end of summer and eagerly awaited the arrival of the first movie. While I do credit myself for many people reading this series I only think I expanded the fan base a little. By the end of 2008 Twilight was a name everyone knew. They knew about the sexy vampires and the love story and even though there were plenty of people who wanted nothing to do with it, there were plenty more that wanted every piece of this series as I did.

The fans were growing and growing and soon the name “Twi-hards” was coined. This name was given to us and we embraced it. We stood in line at midnight to buy Breaking Dawn, we stood in light at midnight when the first movie was released and we bought every trinket imaginable that could relate to this series. I convinced as many friends as I could to read the books and they jumped on the bandwagon as well.

The question that has haunted me for the past two years (and I’m sure others) is why vampires, why now? They have been around in history and entertainment forever, literally, they don’t die. All of a sudden in the past 2-3 years they have become one of the most admired things in TV, movies, books, even music. Along with Twilight came the surge of TV shows like True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries (both based on a book series). Movies like 30 Days of Night, Underworld, Daybreakers, and even Wolfman became extremely successful. Other book series like House of Night, Vampire Academy, and even spoof novels on vampires are popular. I’ve been trying to come up with a reason why all of these things are so popular now and the only thing that makes sense is that it is the new pop culture phenomenon. With the rising popularity of fantasy fiction, vampires have jumped on its coattails and helped progress the genre as well. At first it was The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia, then it was Harry Potter, now it’s vampires, specifically Twilight. There have been thousands of fantasy novels made in the past ten years but only a couple have caught the eye of the public.

Honestly, I think half of it has to do with gender. Ninety-nine percent of the fans of these vampire series are women and even if men are fans it’s not like they would tell people that. There are very few females out there who don’t watch, read, or enjoy at least one of these vampire series. Another thing that helps is the extremely good-looking men cast to play these vampires. These actors are being chased around the mall because women genuinely want the men to bite them. The stories that accompany these novels are well written (even though some people believe they aren’t), and they are portrayed in film and TV very well. The suspense factor keeps us on the edge of our seats. With all of that said it seems as if the entertainment industry is the one to thank for the progression of this new obsession. We love vampires, we have made that clear, so what do they do? They push out as many vampire series as they can and the public just eats it up. The make sure the series has a cast of good looking actors that brood very well, they make sure the stories will keep an audience on edge, and they made sure we want to come back for more.

Something else that I am sure Hollywood knows it that people watch most of these series because they want to escape the norm, to get away from everyday life and dive into something completely unnatural. These vampire series allow them to do this. Twilight lets its fans jump into the world of supernatural vampires.

Fans also want something to continue following. Whether you are a fan of a music artist, a celebrity, or a book series the most important thing that a fan needs is material and that is what Twilight gave. The fans aren’t obsessed with this book just because of the love story. There is a really cool supernatural element that captures the attention of each of its readers. They escape into this world of vampires and as soon as they come out of it, five more vampire series are at their fingertips.

Stephanie Meyer created a phenomenon whether people like to say it or not. How did she do it? She simply wrote a love story about a vampire and a human. There have been plenty of these types of stories in the past, like one of the originals, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air I was certain that there wouldn’t be anything like it, but then Twilight came along I was taken back by the material and story that accompanied this author.

So what if Stephanie Meyer was influenced by Joss Whedon and the Buffy universe, who takes the ultimate prize? In my book that’s easy, Buffy…hands down. Buffy the Vampire Slayer lasted for seven seasons on the air and help the audiences attention during that whole time, maybe a disappoint season here or there. All Stephanie Meyer did was take what she knew about vampires and created a world around it proving these facts true or false. Joss Whedon created a world, in which vampires existed, and they were evil, and there was one girl who could stop them. A girl that both fell in love with vampires and killed them on a daily basis, which got me thinking…maybe this is where some women fell for the idea of vampires. Maybe back in 1997 the entertainment industry caught wind of this vampire phenomenon and they’ve been shoving it in our face since then. The fact that there are very few stories told in which a girl is the heroine may have influenced Joss Whedon to make this kick ass character. Buffy has a take no prisoners mentality and a confidence that most women should have and there just so happened to be vampires involved in her world. The vampires were really the icing on top of a great concept for a show (I mean really, has anyone seen the musical episode)! Stephanie Meyer may have developed a huge hit and she may have changed the face of the entertainment business when it comes to stories about vampires but lets be honest, Joss Whedon will always be king of vampire stories in my book.

Vampire novels are so successful today because Hollywood wanted them to be successful. They started off with Twilight and have moved on to other series. These series allow fans to escape into a world that is unnatural and that is what they keep coming back for. Joss Whedon and Stephanie Meyer created a stories that skyrocketed vampires into the forefront of today’s pop culture and whether people like it or not, vampires don’t seem to be going anywhere soon.

Web Authoring Projects: ENGL 299, Fall 2010

2010-12-22T00:00:00.005-05:00

Christine has created the blog Fantasy at Its Finest, where she comments on fantasy fiction and on the progress of her project of creating facebook pages for various characters from it.

Lizzie Reid has created the blog Narnia Booklet to share her illustrated interpretations of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Tiffany Wood has created an online hyperboard for serious discussions of fantasy fiction called Fantasmic.

Erica Yunghans has created Dragons Afoot, a blog devoted to tracing the evolution of dragons in fantasy fiction.

[Update 1 (12:21 am): Plus, you can download a song Eli Lowry composed (by himself) and performed (with others), based on lyrics from The Hobbit!]

Creating Borders in Fantasy

2010-12-21T16:23:00.002-05:00

With any genre, the question that comes to mind right away is one of borders. Where does one genre end, and another genre begin? No genre has as much controversy surrounding its borders as fantasy. There are numerous works that can be seen as fantasy, but could also be seen as Sci-fi or Horror, or even a detective story. However, in the case of fantasy, I think it is actually a needless argument.

The word fantasy has been corrupted through usage for thousands of years. If you look at the origins of the word Fantasy, it comes from the greek phantasia which means imaginary visions or perceptions. This is the basic definition I will be using for fantasy, as I find it eliminates many of the arguments about what is and isn't fantasy.

Science fiction is a genre that likes to be held separate from fantasy, especially by critics. It is often seen as being of greater value, despite the fact that it becomes dated so quickly. There are two things that make science fiction just another form of fantasy to me. Firstly, to quote Arthur C Clarke, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For example, does it matter if it's magical healing pixie dust, or advanced medical nanite dust? Not really. In science fiction, technology serves the same purposes in a plot that magic does in any kind of fantasy. Additionally, the science used in Sci-fi is not usually real, or even possible by the technology of the era in which it is written. At that point, the plot is relying on something imaginary to function.

That right there is what makes it possible to classify a broad range of works as fantasy. I believe that for any kind of fantasy, the main criteria is that it relies on something that does not, and more importantly, to the best of our knowledge could not exist in our world. Through this system, it is easy to classify other things as fantasy as well.

For example, horror that is not of the psycho-killer du jour variety is pretty clearly fantasy when using this criteria. Dracula for example relies on the existence of a creature that eats people's blood to live much longer than humans. The same criteria of relying on imaginary things can be applied to the wolfman, and everything written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Lastly, and most unpleasantly, there are the godawful supernatural romances. These things sadly rely on magical creatures like vampires and werewolves to push their poorly written, often somewhat pornographic narratives ahead. It almost makes me regret making the fantasy categorization so broad, as it includes a lot of godawful rubbish. Examples of this style of fantasy include the Twilight series and the Anita Blake series.

Fortunately, this classification system does have a redeeming feature, and it is that it brings in the classic epics and romances, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh or the romances of Chretien De Troyes. These works are considered classics, and are taught heavily at many academic levels. The ancient epics nearly always feature magic and gods, with few exceptions, while the romances feature evil witches and wizards and love potions. These epics and romances are actually the foundation for what most people refer to when they think of fantasy.

The idea of classifying things is so prevalent in modern society, especially with things like books. Part of this came about as a result of the publishing industry trying to make it easier for people to find books they like in a bookstore. However, this systemic categorization by publishers has left a great deal of things poorly sorted, and does a great disservice to the name of fantasy. It is by looking back in time that we are able to see that many of the distinctions we create are just that--created. When the wisdom of the ancients is consulted, it becomes clear that any attempt to divide fantasy up into smaller categories like science fiction and horror and romance are just that--fantasy.

How Have Tolkien and Lewis Affected Today's Society?

2010-12-20T15:04:00.003-05:00

Here's C. Dunn's overview:

To begin with, Tolkien and Lewis, writers of The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia respectively, did influence some well-known and not-so-well-known stories, almost all of which are of the fantasy genre. One example of Tolkien's influence is Dennis L. McKiernan's Iron Tower trilogy which "was intended to be a direct sequel to The Lord of the Rings but had to be altered" [1]. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling "mirrors some themes from ideas from The Lord of the Rings" [1]. A couple of examples of Lewis's influence include A Series of Unfortunate Events (Daniel Handler) and even the Harry Potter series. In addition to works of prose, there were also the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Last Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Video games based on The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have also been made. While the video game based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has only been made based on the movie, The Lord of the Rings has had video games based not only on the film adaptations, but also the novels--and even games just based in the world of Middle-Earth. These games weren't the only ones based on The Lord of the Rings. It had a much greater influence on games in today’s culture. Because of its influence on fantasy, the late Gary Gygax was driven to create one of the most prominent role-playing games of the '90s: Dungeons & Dragons. This game was based on Tolkien's concepts of elves, dwarves, humans, and even hobbits (even though Gygax called them Halflings, they have very similar characteristics to those of the hobbit race). Dungeons & Dragons is still in production today, on their 4th edition of the game (which many avid Dungeons & Dragons players have come to shun). Dungeons & Dragons, in turn, had a large influence on the most popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) of today, World of Warcraft. The great Dungeon Master, Gary Gygax, passed away on March 4, 2008 at the age of 69. On March 25, 2008, Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of World of Warcraft, released patch 2.4.0 of the game, which was dedicated in memoriam to Gygax with this paragraph from the patch notes:

Blizzard Entertainment would like to dedicate the patch in memory of Gary Gygax. His work on D&D was an inspiration to us in many ways and helped spark our passion for creating games of our own. As avid D&D players and fellow game developers, we were all saddened by the news of his passing; we feel we've lost a true adventuring companion. Thanks for everything and farewell, Gary. You will be missed. [2]

So, if it weren't for Tolkien's influence on Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons would likely not have been made, or at least been very different, and if Dungeons & Dragons hadn't been made, then World of Warcraft could very well have been excluded from the history of games as well. It should also be noted that, while Dungeons & Dragons has been and still is a game with a large fan base, World of Warcraft, as of October 2010, has 12 million subscribers.

Several music bands have been influenced by Tolkien, ranging from one or two songs to the whole band's theme. Some examples of this include such songs as "Elvenpath" (by power metal band Nightwish) and a few songs by the rock band Led Zeppelin. Examples of a greater influence by Tolkien in music include: "Gorgoroth take their name from an area of Mordor, Burzum take their name from the Black Speech of Mordor, and Amon Amarth take their name after an alternative name for Mount Doom" [1].

To summarize what I've explained here, if it weren't for Lewis and Tolkien's stories, Harry Potter and other stories who were influenced by Lewis and Tolkien would likely be quite different, if they even still existed; a handful of video games wouldn’t exist; Dungeons & Dragons, if it actually existed, would likely be radically different; World of Warcraft probably wouldn't exist, at least not how it is today. Lewis and Tolkien were very influential writers on not only the works of fantasy literature today but games that have over 10 million people playing.

Bibliography
[1] Works Inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien. Wikipedia. 10-15-2010. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_inspired_by_J._R._R._Tolkien#Literature
[2] World of Warcraft Patch Notes 2.4.3. Blizzard Entertainment, 7-15-2008. 10-15-2010. www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/patch2p43.html

What Is Fantasy Good For?

2010-12-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

Kayleigh Witkowski answers:

Throughout my literary education I never read Fantasy until this class in college. The subject always seemed non-essential to me, since it was not important enough to be taught in the classroom. Teachers always regarded Fantasy as a genre you read for fun or your own enjoyment. This approach to Fantasy that I learned through my teachers made me think that Fantasy was worthless and held no importance in the literary world. Upon completing the novel The True Game by Sheri Tepper, I have come to disagree with my former teachers. I think fantasy, in particular Tepper's novel, offers many valuable attributes and life lessons that would be perfect for an English classroom.

Within the English education major, you read a countless number of books in hopes to integrate them within your own classroom someday. I was aware of some of the more publicized versions of fantasy for adolescents such as The Giver and Harry Potter; however, many other fantasy novels, including Tepper's, were foreign to me. The criteria that many teachers look for when selecting books is on the basis of critical thinking, multiculturalism, morals or life lessons, and literary elements. In the few fantasy fiction books that I have read, I have noticed accounts of all these criteria. So why shouldn't fantasy be used in the classroom?

Tepper's novel The True Game offers its readers a story of morals, identity, and self-discovery through the main character Peter. Peter is on a quest throughout the novel to find his talent within his world. I believe many students will be able to find Peter very relatable and be able to make their own life connections to the story. There are some similarities between Tepper's novel and Rowling's Harry Potter, since both stories revolve around a young man searching for his identity within magical worlds. However, there is a central difference between the two novels in terms of narrative point of view. Within Tepper's novel, Peter tells the story as if he is talking to someone from his own world. This narrative technique causes the reader to construct Peter's world on their own through the dialogue and small hints the characters provide.

Within Tepper's novel Peter lives in another world from ours and is preparing for when he enters "The True Game." Due to the multidimensional setting of the novel, students have room for critical analysis and deconstruction of the two worlds, and comparison to our own. The True Game is a book for the creative imagination that provides the reader with a page-turning experience to discover what Peter's talent is and how his world works. Also, many students probably have not had the exposure to fantasy fiction within school; thus, the immersion of a new genre in their individual literary understanding could be beneficial. I have no doubt that Tepper's writing style and story of Peter will keep students engaged while reading it.

Within fantasy literature the idea of the 'real' is prominent. Presenting this genre to students can help them to speculate what is 'real' in literature as well as develop their own understanding of the issue. This discussion could also sidetrack into the topic of realism within literature and open up to novels such as The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Fantasy Literature also opens the door to creative thinking/writing within a student, and provides them with great examples of beautiful figurative language and literary techniques. Also, in regards to assessment within a classroom, students could opt for creative or aesthetic responses, such as re-writing the ending or creating a film.

Fantasy fiction does hold many positive attributes to a classroom. Tepper's novel, as well as many others, fit the criteria of a good book to provide to students. There are many activities and learning experiences that can be gained from incorporating Fantasy in the classroom. I think one answer to the question "What is Fantasy good for (if anything)?" is that fantasy would be good for education.

Influences on C.S. Lewis's Perspective

2010-12-20T01:45:00.001-05:00

Hannah Morris takes a look:

Perspective. Defined by Dictionary.com as "the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship," perspective is the lens through which individuals view the world. People from across the globe have differing ideas about how the universe works due to contrasting customs, religious beliefs, and geographic locations. It is inevitable that humans will have different perspectives about their environments and that the biases they create will shine through in their everyday lives, especially in their work. This is particularly obvious in the work of authors.

Authors of all kinds are inspired to write based on their own experiences and beliefs. A prime example of this can be seen in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. This classic piece of literature is one that was heavily influenced by the Christian Bible and Lewis's religious beliefs. This relationship is particularly strong in the second book in the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Here Lewis constructs a fantasy world, Narnia, based off of the Biblical description of the creation of our world. He also creates characters that symbolize Jesus Christ, Satan, and numerous other Biblical figures. After reading this piece it is undeniable that an author's environment had an immense impact on his work, and how the audience reacted to it.

While the Good Book is never actually mentioned in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, its influence is clear through the character of the almighty Aslan. In the first book of the Chronicles, The Magician's Newphew, we are introduced to this ferocious yet compassionate lion. Similarly to Jesus Christ, Aslan creates his own world and calls it Narnia. This world is intended to be perfect and Lewis even includes a reference to the Tree of Good and Evil. This tree is forbidden and the residents of Narnia are advised not to eat from it. However, much like Adam in the Garden of Eden, a wicked witch indulges in the tree's fruit and therefore Narnia is corrupt. Fast forward a few fictional years and Narnia is entirely under the control of the evil witch. She has transformed this once prosperous land into a frozen dungeon where anxiety runs high, and even the trees are spies. It is here that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe begins. Aslan has left the area and all of the animals in Narnia are desperate for him to make a glorious return. This is directly related to Jesus' return to earth. According to the Gospel earth had become a wicked place, and the death of God's Son was the only way for humans to be forgiven for their many sins. As The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe continues the connection between the two becomes increasingly obvious, until the great Aslan sacrifices himself in order to save the rest of the animal kingdom. Over and over the reader is bombarded with allusions to the Bible and Lewis' influences become increasingly clear.

In conclusion it is obvious that C. S. Lewis was heavily influenced by his surroundings when penning The Chronicles of Narnia. His Christian beliefs and knowledge of the Bible are evident in the entire series and his references to them are particularly clear in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Reading this piece is comparable to reading the Bible and substituting animals in place of main characters. This shows that authors of all kinds, and especially those from the fantasy genre, are influenced heavily by their environments and perspectives of the world.

On the Existence of Fantasy

2010-12-20T01:12:00.002-05:00

Lizzie Reid gets metaphysical:

Why does fantasy fiction exist? What is so enticing as to inspire multitudes of authors and readers alike to turn the genre? More precisely, what is so entertaining about magic, fantastic creatures, and worlds somehow different (and often more miraculous) than our own?

I've always been drawn to fantasy. As a little girl I reveled in stories of mermaids, princesses, fairies, and unicorns (the usual 'girlish' trappings of the genre), but that's not to say I wasn't also completely taken by warriors, dragons, demons, and a prevalence of magical swords. During "pretend" I was definitely a warrior princess who shot sparkling arrows that never missed their mark. I might pin this childhood fascination down with social conditioning. What American child hasn't seen Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin? And then there are all those fairy tales you're fed for bedtime stories. But this is not entirely accurate for everyone, and certainly only one piece of the mystery. After all, it doesn't explain why every culture in existence has its treasured tales of heroes, heroines, beasts, and evil magicians. Not to mention the fact that even now, in my ripe age of 20, I am still captivated by fantasy.

I think its easy to say that the roots of fantasy as a genre are fairy tales, myths, fables, and legends, spanning across all cultures. A perfect example of this would be J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which draws from ancient tales in Celtic and Norse mythology, both in world-building and character design. Goblins, elves, dragons, dwarves, forests infested with evil, and rings with inherent magical powers. All of these elements were borrowed from earlier tales, reinvented to fit into a grand fantastical world shrouded in mystery. So wherein lies the birthplace of dragons? Or of elves?

Maybe our ancient counterparts knew something us modern humans have lost. Perhaps those pesky Druids killed off every last magical creature they could find, and their only haunting legacy is the imprint they left on the human imagination. More likely the answer lies within the imagination.

Humans are notoriously good at making things up, and we have a tendency to overlay metaphorical meaning onto otherwise mundane objects. With these two skills in hand, and the appetite of our souls, I'm sure that the creation of unicorns is not far off. This is the very basic beginning of an explanation on the origin of the fantastic (in all forms), but that would be a very lengthy, messy thing for a two page blog post.

It's in the nature of the imagination where we can begin answering the "whys" of the genre. A healthy imagination is like a healthy appetite. Growing bodies need nutritious foods, and likewise, growing minds need nourishing information. So, what better sustenance than that of a genre full of stimulating imagery, characters and creatures rich in myth, social and political critique, and above all: immense entertainment. Fantasy is literature, literature is art, and art (though not exhaustively) is the spiritual expression of self and/or humanity in some metaphysical way.

So when asking the question: "Why does fantasy fiction exist?", it's nearly impossible to give a single straight answer. Rather, I think it's important to look at many factors. It's entertaining; it's linked to our past in so many ways, and it's linked directly to our spiritual make-up. Fantasy serves the purpose of filling in voids created by an oppressive mundanity we might face in everyday life (if we allow it to). That is to say, it is not a crutch for people who find their life deathly boring, but a multifaceted tool that can be used for the betterment of our reality. It does serve a purpose, and just like that of literature of the "highest quality" (wherever shall we find it!) fantasy fiction can be an extremely insightful remark on humanity. And it's more enjoyable to read.

Escape, Entertainment, Education

2010-12-20T00:21:00.000-05:00

Kristian Everett explains:

Fantasy fiction is often accused of being escapist, containing characters and plot lines which whisk you away to other worlds and societies, drawing attention away from what's "real"; however, while fantasy fiction may indeed be escapist, literature which can provide an escape from the stresses of life should be valued. While academia insults and degrades fantasy fiction, the general public embraces it. We value forms of entertainment which give us ways of coping with our ever more stressful lives. This can be seen not only in fantasy fiction but also in the lucrative businesses of film and video games. We pay for escape, for entertainment, and for relaxation.

Institutions which provide entertainment with an escapist element receive billions of dollars a year. This tremendous profit margin conveys some sense of our value for entertainment. Film and video game industries produce products taking us away from our everyday lives. We go to the movies to watch characters interact in unknown worlds, overcome impossible odds, and find romance; we play video games to become these characters; we read fantasy to do both. In the United States there are a growing number of people on medication for anxiety, stress, and depression. Clearly, our daily lives are taking such a toll on our quality of life that we feel incapable of handling it on our own. Films, video games, and fiction provide an escape that's becoming necessary in order to deal with our lives.

Fantasy series such as Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Eragon are all examples of the escapism of fantasy affecting larger and larger portions of our population. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in the production of these films and most produce an extremely lucrative profit. While we may scoff at fantasy fiction because it doesn't deal with real life, the general public eats up these film adaptations. Film adaptations are nothing more than faster, easier forms of the books, combining our desires for escape and entertainment with the demand for quick satisfaction: why read a book when you can watch the film in a fraction of the time?

Fantasy, however, does not simple serve as an escape for audiences and readers. Tied in with the escapism of the novels are moral ideals, role models, and social conventions. What makes fantasy great is that, while fantasy often entertains through stories of other worlds, strange societies, and complex relationships, it often reflects on portions of our own world and society. These lessons and values are inherent in fantasy fiction, because the authors of fantasy novels reside in the "real" world. These authors can't help but be affected by what's happening around them. Many of the concepts and tropes found in the early fantasy novels of foundational writers like Tolkien and Lewis reflect on real world issues, such as religion and war. Children and adults who go to see The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the theatres are there to be entertained. However, while they're being entertained the characters and the actions those characters take, the decisions they make, and the real world ideas they represent are subconsciously affecting the viewers.

Fantasy fiction is escapist, but this is alright. It's alright because fantasy is not merely escapist. It's a myriad of ideals and concepts, defining and addressing moral and social issues. It gives examples of real world lessons through characters of fantastic proportions. When you read a fantasy book or watch a film adaptation you might be there for the entertainment, to not think about your "real" life, but you're absorbing more than just escapism. You're absorbing values and traditions which other genres are upheld for. What makes other genres "superior" to fantasy can be found in fantasy as well. It's just disguised and absorbed into our conscious without our realizing it. It entertains and it teaches.

"Serious Discussions of Identity? In a Fantasy Novel?!"

2010-12-20T00:14:00.002-05:00

Josh Jerome responds to his titular interlocutor:

Detractors of the fantasy genre are quick to call it escapism, indulgent nostalgia, or any number of terms that amount to it being an insubstantial art with little meaning or value. While it's true that some fantasy is utter pulp fiction, there are many works within the genre that tackle real-world issues in ways that only fantasy can. An excellent example of a substantial fantasy novel is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The book is a satirical take on the Apocalypse, with numerous angels and demons all working towards the ultimate battle between Heaven and Hell. The three principal characters--the angel Aziraphale, the demon Crowley, and the Antichrist Adam--are all examples of conflicting identities. According to the Great Plan of which John wrote in Revelations, all three of them are meant to be instrumental in bringing about Armageddon. The only problem is, they happen to like the world, and ending it would just ruin all their days.

The thing about angels and demons is, they were created without free will. Each of them has a job to do in God's Plan, and to contradict it is to go against the very nature of their existence. Of course, over six thousand years living among people, some of that free will starts to rub off. Aziraphale and Crowley reached a working friendship somewhere in history, to the point that one will do the other's job if they happen to be in the neighborhood. The decision to try and avert the Apocalypse is made by Crowley (being easier for him since demons are, by definition, rebels). Crowley then has to persuade Aziraphale to go along with it, pointing out the sheer insipidity of a world in which Heaven wins the Last Battle, but the point that gets him on board isn't a philosophical one. It's the lack of sushi. For an angel to actively attempt to subvert God's order is no small thing--just ask Lucifer. Conversely, Crowley's defiance of Hell's shot at checkmate consigns him to torments that the damned could look at and say "at least I'm not that guy."

Due to a breakdown in communication, the plan to give the new-born Antichrist to Satanist parents fails spectacularly. Because of this, the child is given the name Adam and raised in a pretty vanilla family--he has friends, gets into trouble (like any other boy, just with a bit more style), and ends up with a decidedly human outlook. It's important to note that the main reason Adam rejects his Antichrist tendencies is because of a "what have I done" moment that occurs when he imposes his will on his friends. He later explains to Beelzebub and the Metatron that he's not going to let the world end, since that wouldn't prove anything. He then proceeds to disallow Satan's appearance on Earth. In overcoming his birthright, Adam is able to override the next-best thing to a deity.

By having the main characters overcome their natures through exertion of their free will, Gaiman and Pratchett make a strong point: a person (or even an odd divine being) isn't shunted into certain actions just because "fate" says so.

Though one example is hardly enough to sway the opinions of those that turn up their nose at fantasy fiction, Good Omens is far from the only fantasy novel that deals with substantial issues. The genre, by virtue of being something other than an orgy of verisimilitude, is able to present important issues with just enough contextual baggage to thoroughly examine them.

World and Character Development within Fantasy Fiction

2010-12-20T00:06:00.003-05:00

Gabrielle Fletcher considers what good fantasy fiction is:

I remember one Christmas when my younger brother and I were no older than thirteen...it was a time that some important video game was coming out. My brother had been dropping hints to my parents the whole year about it in hopes of it being somewhere under the tree that Christmas. Early Christmas morning he scanned all the colorful presents' shapes looking for one that resembled his game, and there it was wrapped in shining wrapping paper waiting for him. He patiently waited to open the gift with a huge grin of anticipation across his face, clutching the present as if it were the answer to the meaning of his life. When it was his turn he manically ripped it open and then instantly his grin froze in an awkward position. The promising package in his hand was not the game he had been hoping for but one of The Chronicles of Narnia novels. His face dropped in disappointment as he stared at the glossy paperback book. "God damn it, another fantasy book?" he muttered under his breath tossing the book in my direction. Being the bookworm of the family I quickly snatched the rejected present, stashing it with the books my parents had given me. Later that week I finished it and recommended that he read it. "It's probably just like Harry Potter and the rest of those magic books," he responded to me, "and nothing is better than Harry Potter."

The memory of that Christmas and his reaction to Fantasy has always stayed in the back of my mind. Most people I know trash Fantasy comparing it to movie versions of Fantasy books claiming they all must be the same. When reading these books in this genre it was hard not to see the same pattern of theme and storylines. Usually when one thinks of a Fantasy story it has the usual elements of supernatural, magic, romance, heroes overcoming evil, or characters discovering themselves as they are. With all these redundant plot lines, how can you determine what makes a 'good' fantasy fiction story?

It varies with each reader's preferences and what their own personal expectations are for the Fantasy book. While reading some selected works I was able to develop a kind of way to evaluate the novels by comparing the author's fictional world and character development. If the world was unclear to me or characters were weak, I wasn't as intrigued with the books. Without noticing it I was setting up my own personal expectation I usually look for in a good book. Some questions I would ask myself: "Has it been thought out well?" "Are there any connections to reality from this fictional land?" "Can I picture this world?" "Who is this character really?" and "What can I learn from these characters?"

Fictional world development is key to any good fiction story whether it's fantasy or trashy soft-core romance novels; you know the ones that you catch your mom or some older woman secretly engrossed by. A reader can't fully grasp or enjoy a Fantasy novel if the world they are trying to imagine or see isn't fully developed. An author could write about the most realistic characters, draw out epic storylines, or imagine the most brutal battles on paper--but if the world doesn't fit, how can all these elements come together?

In Sheri Tepper's novel King's Blood Four of the True Game trilogy, she successfully paints a new world to readers where characters/players battle in Lands of the True Game. Each player of True Game has a unique power such as healing, shape shifting, necromancy, or magic used for combat. The land is divided by Kings and rulers, each having their own set of special players to fight for them.

The actual landscape of the True Game is vast and spacious marked with canyons, waterways, and lush forests. Tepper uses poetic language to help describe the True Game world and settings. For example, while Peter, the protagonist of the story, finally reaches old Windlow's castle, Tepper shows her knowledge of the land's natural beauty describing just basic nature as "trees loomed like towers, vast as clouds" (61). The trail Peter walks on is "needle-strewn and redolent of resin, sharp and soft in the nostrils. Flowers bloomed in the shade, their secret faces turned down to the mosses" (61-62). Clearly she knows exactly how her world is portrayed, and successfully can draw the reader to her imaginative landscape within the book. While reading the novel you can feel like you're taking a personal tour with Peter as he discovers his own world.

Character development is another important element in the fantasy fiction genre. Usually you see the protagonist discovering their true identity throughout the novel, watching the character grow right before your own eyes. These heroes or villains are able to identify themselves and the world around them, which most of the time is something that all readers can relate to as we try to discover ourselves in life.

In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens the collaboration was ingenious, being able to successfully developed well-rounded characters. Although Good Omens is considered Fantasy fiction, the story is set up in reality during Armageddon. Two unlikely characters, Crowley, a demon from hell and Aziraphale, the archangel from the garden of Eden, band together to help save humanity. Their relationship, although originally based on a mutual agreement, becomes genuine in the story. As they learn to accept each other as they are, Crowley and Aziraphale also become more human-like and develop a taste for ordinary human life. Crowley, who was created without free will, develops it while on earth describing it as almost something contagious: "you couldn't hang around humans for very long without learning a thing or two" (Gaiman and Pratchett 39).

Pratchett and Gaiman use the angel and the demon not only to satirize but symbolize individual passion for salvation of the human race. Their internal transitions throughout the novel makes them more realistic and relatable than most of the non-fantastical characters in the book even though they are supernatural creatures.

It is up to the reader to decide what makes a good fantasy fiction; it's a matter of opinion and preference. Character and world development could prove a good story for some, and others not. Going back to what my brother said to me that one Christmas--"It's probably just like Harry Potter and the rest of those magic books and nothing is better than Harry Potter"--fantasy may seem tiresome and repetitive to some people. If they allow themselves, they could see that it is the opposite--and there are books better than Harry Potter.

Works Cited

Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. Harper Torch, 2006. Print.

Tepper, Sheri. The True Game. Ace Trade, 1996. Print.

Omens That Are Good

2010-12-17T15:16:00.006-05:00

Well, I have to write this “essay” for my Fantasy Fiction course at SUNY Fredonia. My professor has allowed us free range over pretty much any topic and any text that has sparked our interest. *activate demonic voice distortion* MUAH HAH HAH. *deactivate demonic voice distortion* So, I love the book Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (or Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett...) and so should you. I would like to talk about its ranking on the awesomeness chart that I have installed in my brain, but I don’t think I could transfer the files to all of you (and Dr. Simon said that this needs to be “educational” or something). One of the questions brought up when Dr. Simon asked us what we wanted to take away from this class, at the beginning of the year, was whether or not we were really learning anything relevant by studying fantasy fiction.

So, are we really learning anything relevant by studying fantasy fiction? If you’re actually taking the time to read this, my guess is that you just set down some book with a dragon or wizard or demon or quaragathorp, or some other creature flying around some celestial body of planets or stars in a distant galaxy on the cover to read some nerdy dude’s fantasy blog, and I’m not going to have to do too much convincing in order to prove that, well, yes, yes we are. (Greatest thesis statement of my college career thus far--thank you, taxpayers of New York, for allowing me to do this.)

I’ve been starting to really see the connectivity of the world around us, and all the subjects that I’ve been studying, both in and out of the classroom. After reading (if you can actually call such an experience with such a book “reading”) Good Omens, the gears, or cogs, or hamsters, or whatever, of my brain were whirling. I was thinking mostly about the philosophical statement that Gaiman and Pratchett were making that when it comes down to it good and evil either don’t exist, or don’t really matter due to our ability to morally and logically weigh the implications of our actions. This, my friends, is what you would call “relevant.” It is relevant now, it was relevant when this book was published in 1990, it was relevant as soon as man “bit the apple” and will be relevant ‘til the day we blow ourselves up (or don’t blow ourselves up...). These men (you can substitute geniuses, or in the spirit of Pratchett, conjurers) are trying to convey to us the importance of...get ready for it...actually THINKING before we act. Now the irony in that statement due to the indulgences in their immortal characters could be a whole other essay, but I’ll spare you that. What Pratchett and Gaiman are telling us is that no matter what the extenuating circumstances are, no matter what outside influences may be trying to affect you, the only one responsible for your actions is yourself. Crowley just put the guns in the hands of the businessmen; it was their decision to use them that was evil, not Crowley’s outside influence (in fact his influence, that the bullets didn’t kill, would probably be considered good, *BUM bum BUM!*)

There’s also that whole free will thing. Interestingly enough, in Philosophy class the other month, prior to my Fantasy Fiction class’s discussion of Good Omens, we discussed the concept of “free will,” and discovered that in essence it contains two stipulations: a “will,” or a desire, drive, or motivation to do something, and “freedom,” the ability to act upon your will. Constantly throughout the novel central characters, (Crawley, Aziraphale, Adam) are forced to act against their will. None of them truly want the world to end, yet this is a story of the apocalypse, so for the first 360 or so pages, one starts to doubt that there is such a thing as free will; there will always be barriers, roadblocks, limitations, divine beings controlling your employment statuses threatening you with eternal torture, that will impede or exercise control over your willingness to do things. However at the end we are provided with some hope. Gaiman and Pratchett liberate these characters, suspend doom, and look towards a bright future of eating apples. This goes to show that there is such a thing as “free will,” within our grasp; all you have to do is break some rules, do some hard work, and pray that the Son of Satan is truly a sweetheart deep down inside.

Relevance! I hope that you came away with at least something from this brain diarrhea that has been cleverly disguised as a “response paper,” but if you have not yet, then I offer you this: read Good Omens. If you want a copy, send me an e-mail and you can borrow mine, I only ask one favor from you in return: think.

Can Anything Come from Studying Fantasy Fiction?

2010-12-16T15:35:00.002-05:00

One of my students who wishes to remain anonymous answers affirmatively:

When studying fantasy, a question of vast importance must be asked: is studying fantasy fiction relevant? And can anything come from studying this specific genre of fiction? Critics and skeptics alike have long questioned the value of fantasy, often doubting its place in education and academic institutions. This question long surrounding the genre can be answered by simply picking up a work of fantasy and falling into the majestic world that awaits you.

As a student who has never studied or read a work of fantasy prior to taking Fantasy Fiction, I can attest to the genre's relevance in academia and society and proudly confirm that one can take away as many life lessons and ideas from a fantasy work as a history textbook or literary landmark. My first fantasy reading experience was reading Tolkien's The Hobbit. From there the class covered fantasy classic after classic, from Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to more relevant staples in the genre like Pullman's The Golden Compass. There is no novel that proves fantasy's relevance more successfully than Piers Anthony's A Spell for Chameleon. Anthony tackles the "coming-of-age" story in a fresh new way by telling his story in a fantasy world, allowing the reader to converge into an unknown place, taking away from Bink's tale entertainment and more importantly a new interpretation of growing up and finding oneself in the journey known as life. Previously, I have only encountered life-altering "coming-of-age" tales from movies, music, and early- to mid-20th century fiction by the likes of Flannery O'Connor and Stefan Zweig.

A Spell for Chameleon in the first novel in Anthony's Xanth series. The novel follows the main character Bink in his quest to find magic and ultimately himself along the way. At the surface, the story is simply an entertaining tale of Bink traveling through the world of Xanth on a quest to find his calling in life. Looking deeper, however, we find that Bink is a character much like you and me, a young person searching for acceptance and growing into the person we were driven to become. This is a lesson useful and relevant to any young person growing up around the world. It delivers life lessons in a unique, distinct way apart from all other genres. A passage that illustrates the novel's purpose and Bink's character can be found in chapter four, when Iris elaborates her feelings to Bink: "Most magic talents aren't worthwhile anyway. What use is it to make a pink spot appear on a wall? It may be magic, but it doesn't accomplish anything. You, with your strength and intelligence, have more to offer than the great majority of citizens" (Anthony 83). This statement by Iris illuminates Bink's moral character and foreshadows that in order for Bink to find his purpose in life he must first believe in himself and find out who he really is.

I can relate to Bink's character on many levels, which is why I felt so drawn in to Anthony's story. Believing in yourself is often difficult when confronted by life's curveballs. Whether it's tackling family misfortunes, the stress of college and upper level education, or a job that just appears too difficult, something circumstances like these prevent me from believing in myself. These factors can cloud the mind, making any situation that much harder. What I got from this passage is that not everything is how it seems; having four degrees hanging from a wall or making six figures a year doesn’t make you successful, it's all about morality and a willingness to succeed.

Growing up, we all encounter obstacles on our path to adulthood and success. The key to life from my experience is happiness. It can be assumed that feeling estranged from the world you live in and the people who surround you is not a feeling of joy or enlightenment. As readers, we must ask ourselves, is Bink's story a matter of finding his power? Or finding the roots of his repressed happiness? The answer is both. Without Bink's desire to find his magical powers, there would be no journey, no encounter with Chameleon, and ultimately no conclusion. But it is our duty as an audience to see through Bink's superficial desires to find Anthony's themes on growing up and finding happiness. I often relate to this question and Bink's quest by asking myself, "Does everything happen for a reason?" and citing the balance between "risk & reward." Towards the end of the novel, Bink comes to realize that changing who he is for the sake of Xanth is not his purpose in life. He soon realizes it is his duty to change Xanth's perspective and accept everyone who calls Xanth their home, no matter their powers or place in society. Anthony writes, "But Bink's real quest, at the end, had been to preserve Chameleon and Trent and himself as they were, and to make Xanth accept them that way" (344). This passage illuminates the novel's purpose and sends a life-altering message to readers that could not be attained be reading magazines or scholarly journals.

In my short 21 years of life, I have come to the conclusion that the key to happiness is to remain true to yourself, your loved ones, and ultimately live life by your own set of rules and morals. This novel and Bink's character embody this philosophy, and a lot can be taken away from Anthony's fantasy saga. Before reading this work, I had discovered and read many "coming-of-age" tales. Some movies that had a positive effect on my mentality regarding growing into myself are Fight Club, Stand By Me, and The Goonies. Literature-wise, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was a novel that had an immediate effect on the lens through which I viewed adolescence, while O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge is a collection of short stories that also changed my perspective the last few years. While these movies and fiction works moved me as a teen, I have constantly been looking for new ways to hear these types of stories. Piers Anthony was able to speak to me through his character Bink, and despite the message stressing the importance of values and morals, Anthony's fantasy world was a refreshing, mind-stimulating take on a classic theme of pop culture. I look forward to reading more from Anthony, and carrying on through the Xanth series.

Work Cited
Anthony, Piers. A Spell for Chameleon. New York: Del Rey, 1987. Print.

What Is Fantasy?

2010-12-13T17:33:00.003-05:00

Christy Hewitt
ENGL 299

What is fantasy? A question we have all tried to decipher. As we read these novels there seems to be a distinct formula for what makes up a fantastical novel. Their ‘out of this world’ plot and completely different character complexes challenge the reader to think outside of the box. In The Chronicles of Narnia we are introduced to what we see as fantasy that takes place through the real world. Throughout this essay I will attempt to discover what fantasy is and how it is different from the ‘real world.’

There are many different definitions of the word ‘fantasy.’ Some people define it as ‘a creative imagination’; others see it as ‘an invention of the mind.’ When entering this class I had no idea what to expect. I am not someone who is very into reading fantasy books because of their material. I define fantasy as ‘an escape from the real.’ The reason I define it that way is because that what I thought every book in the fantasy genre was doing. As I read these novels I am beginning to see it as something deeper.

In The Chronicles of Narnia, you are introduced to the Pevensie children. They live in the real world and happen to stumble into a world full of adventure, a world full of fantasy. As C.S. Lewis writes this series he gives life to every child’s imagination. Like in every genre, there is a protagonist (the children) and an antagonist (the white witch). It is a tale of how the Pevensie children band together to save the world of Narnia.

This has been one of my favorite fantasy novels to read because I was able to fully indulge myself into the reading. I found myself diving into the plot and reading for hours on end. I was in the best sense of the word, escaping. Just like the children did in the novel I was leaving my world of stress, college, work, and more work to join a world of Narnia.

The best part about this novel was that the children were faced with a huge obstacle; they had to save the world. I found myself thinking, “Why don’t they just go back to the real world where their only responsibility is being a kid?” Then about ten pages away from the end of the book it hit me: they want to be in this world. They wanted to be in that world just as much as I wanted to keep reading, as much as I wanted to be in that world. Escaping to the world Lewis had created was easy for them to do and they had so many ‘real world’ things to escape from. There was a war going on and people were dying, really dying because of the war and the children knew it (at least the two oldest did). The house they were in was, for lack of a better word, boring. Being in this brand new world was an escape from the turmoil of the real world. Being in control of their own destiny was something they may not have been able to do in the real world because they had other people making decisions for them but in this new world they were able to make their own choices and choose their own fate (even if that meant returning to the real world).

The world Lewis had created was everything a young child would want to be a part of. There were strange animals that talked, a massive lion with love in his heart, and an evil witch who wanted to control the world. Even though there was a war going on in their ‘new’ world, they were at the epicenter of this war and they had a say in being involved with it. They could save everyone in Narnia (and in the real world this would not have been considered possible). This is what drew the children deeper and deeper into this world.

There has been a fine line between fantasy and reality, a line in which many people can see distinctly. In this novel it is a line between the real world and the world of Narnia, and personally, I think the world of Narnia trumps earth any day. The point of being able to read fantasy is to read about something that is out of the norm, something that you don’t read about in the newspaper, something that you rarely see on TV, something that you don’t read in all the teen drama novels. Fantasy is meant to be read as ‘different.' This genre is something unlike any other genre out there. These authors, Lewis especially, created these worlds and wait for the readers to jump into them.

Now begs the question, well what makes fantasy different from science fiction. My answer, science fiction doesn’t go there. What do I mean by ‘there’? It delves on science and out of the ordinary phenomena. Fantasy fiction brings life to something never before thought of. The syfy channel on TV has all of the crazy out there shows but they don’t have shows about world warping wardrobes and broomstick like soccer games. Fantasy fiction goes even farther into the world of the unknown and thus attracts many fans to its stories.

The Chronicles of Narnia help define fantasy by being a novel about a new world that these children escape into. Not only do the children escape but the readers do as well. The only difference is that when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy return to the real world nothing has changed and time barely passes. When I return to the real world, 2 hours have passed and I still have to finish the rest of my homework before class the next day.

"Escaping" into Fantasy Fiction

2010-12-07T12:27:00.002-05:00

Audrey Putney explains why she used the scare quotes in her title:

Many people accuse the genre of fantasy fiction of being a means of escape. Because the worlds in fantasy novels are generally meant to be fantastical and so unlike our own, it is assumed that the people who read them are escaping into a more pleasant world. This is not always the case. After all, how can it be deemed "escaping" if the world that is laid out for the reader in a fantasy novel is intended to be worse than our own? What are we escaping into then? In actuality, fantasy novels use their fantastical elements to present real-life problems in an obvious way.

One thing that can be said about fantasy novels is that everything within them seems to be bigger and better. In a manner of speaking, anyway. For example, fantasy novels always seem to present two sides to any battle: the side of good and the side of evil. While this is certainly a parallel to everyday life, fantasy presents the two sides as polar opposites. Those who are going into battle on the side of good are capable of only doing good. Those who are on the side of evil are undeniably evil and more so than anything you would be able to imagine in the real world. Usually there is also a major character that is struggling with which side to choose, allowing the audience to have someone to identify with. Using such extremes allows the author to present the problems the world is facing in a much clearer way. When problems are blown up in this way, it becomes difficult to ignore even the most subtle metaphors.

The worlds of fantasy fiction are flawed. Sometimes even fatally so. This is why it's so hard to actually dismiss the genre as "escapist." One of the novels that helps illustrate this point is King's Blood Four by Sheri S. Tepper. In the world of the Lands of the True Game, the characters' lives become at risk the moment they leave school. They spend their entire lives training to exist outside of the school and they are only ever given two choices: train or be useless. Additionally, prior to entering the Lands of the True Game, their roles are assigned to them. Essentially, any choices that they have are limited or taken away from them. In what way would a person want to "escape" into this world?

On top of this, Tepper uses her world to show her audience some of the more pressing social issues that we have to deal with on a daily basis. In the school, we see that Peter is looked down upon because he is a "foundling" rather than a "sentling." This allows Tepper to deal with the very real class system that's still around, especially in schools, to this day. However, that's not to say that this example has to deal exclusively with class. In fact, one could substitute any modern social problem that we have in this world and the example would still work just as well.

J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the foremost authors in the fantasy genre, defends the claim that it cannot be viewed merely as escapist in his essay "On Fairy-Stories." Within the essay, Tolkien advocates that fantasy should not be considered escapist necessarily as oftentimes the work provides the reader with the ability to see their world through the perspective of another. Something that seems quite commonplace to us can be considered strange in a fantasy world, causing the reader to reevaluate the world in which we live. Additionally, Tolkien points out that an individual does not need fantasy to escape since they always have their own mind. He likens his point to a prisoner. The prisoner is not made to only think of his surroundings. Finally, Tolkien includes the point that some readers may seek works of fantasy as a consolation. The happy endings the authors offer up are more pleasing than the events in the readers' lives.

Fantasy as a genre is generally accused of being quite escapist. However, there are several arguments that can be used to refute this claim. Some fantasy worlds are actually worse than the one in which the reader resides. Fantasy is not necessarily the only means of escape. The reader can learn a life lesson through reading fantasy, as it offers them a different perspective on their own world. However, for as many arguments there are to refute the claim of escapism, every time a story has a happy ending the same claim will simply resurface.

Fantastic Elements of Fantasy Fiction with a Side of Science Fiction

2010-12-01T16:57:00.003-05:00

Victoria Rader serves them up:

For me I feel that fantasy fiction is a combination of the real and the imagined, the tangible and the intangible, as well as the rational and irrational. C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong are such examples that use each of these elements. The difference, of course, is that Dragonsong tends to lean more towards science-fiction that presents itself as fantasy. Narnia, the in-between, and Charn, are all realistic worlds. Pern is also fairly realistic, the only things that make it different than our world is the Thread and, well, the dragons. Each of these places relate to our own world and have many of the same elements, even though they may seem drastically different.

For an example of the real element in The Magician's Nephew, we turn to Charn. In Charn, the sun is visible in the sky is the same as ours, but still...different. After waking Jadis, Digory notices the sun.

"Was it the Deplorable Word that made the sun like that?" asked Digory.
"Like what?" asked Jadis.
"So big, so red, and so cold."
"It has always been so," said Jadis. "At least, for hundreds of thousands of years. Have you a different sort of sun in your world?"
"Yes, it's smaller and yellower. And it gives a good deal more heat." (Lewis 42)

Jadis then goes on to realize that Digory and Polly come from a much younger world than that of Charn. This different type of sun is one that is completely imaginable in our own world. We often hear of how our own sun will eventually collapse on itself after cooling down and becoming like the sun of Charn: red and cold.

Most of Pern is the same as our own world, even if it seems a few decades (or perhaps centuries) behind our modern conveniences. The community works together for the benefit of everyone and people have designated positions within society: to keep people safe, to organize the obtainment of food and goods, to educate, etc. Dragonsong is perhaps one of the easiest novels we have read that relates so easily to our own world.

Returning to The Magician's Nephew, not all of Charn is similar to our own world. We, for one, don't have one of the imagined elements: magic or curses. At least not in the same capacity as that of Charn. Jadis says "I spoke the Deplorable Word. A moment later I was the only living thing beneath the sun" (Lewis 41). With just one word, this woman destroyed her entire world. Luckily for us, nobody on earth has a power like that (even if they may have tools that could result in something similar). Jadis herself is also a prime example of both the real and the unreal. Humans all have the capacity to be evil, just like Jadis. Many people in the real world would be more than willing to go to the same extremes that Jadis does in order to gain power and control. If humans had the same type of power that Jadis has, we would be utterly screwed.

Imagined elements in Dragonsong include the Thread, dragons, and fire lizards. Thankfully, we have nothing like Thread. Falling from the sky, "Thread could burrow into the seagrass stalks, or slide down the marshberry and seablum bushes, burrow in the roots, multiply and eat anything green and growing until the coast was as bare as a rock" (McCaffrey 15). It could also burn the skin with little hope of recovery. Imagine, something constantly falling from the sky with little warning that could destroy any source of food and potentially physically injure you!

Tangible elements in The Magician's Nephew include the simple things such as the magic rings that Uncle Andrew gives to Digory and Polly. These are physical objects that one can touch and see and play with. The intangible part is again, the magic that comes along with them. It just is. There is no proof of its existence, no way to test whether or not it is real. We are given the story from the eyes of the children. In a way, this could also be a real element if one assumes that the children are simply using their imaginations with the rings. After all, their entire adventure could be one that they thought up in their heads and the rings were just a prop or tool that their imaginations needed.

Dragonsong's tangible element is also its intangible element as well. The fire lizards, also an imagined element, become many things to their owners. The fire lizards that Menolly had fed at birth basically imprinted on her. The next morning "Menolly had been absolutely stunned to wake with the unaccustomed weight of warm bodies around her. Scared, too, until the little creatures roused, with strong thoughts of renewed hunger and love and affection for her" (McCaffrey 93). They were also somehow mentally connected to Menolly, and she was driven to feed and care for them as if they were her own children. The fire lizards also end up fiercely protective of Menolly. Finally, in a surprise to even those that know about and possess fire lizards, Menolly's lizards even learn to sing with her, "They finished the song with the fire lizards humming obediently along with Menolly. Mirrim demanded then to know how on earth Menolly had gotten her lizards to sing with her" (McCaffrey 160).

Children of all ages and walks of life have worries. Polly and Digory are no different. Their worries make up the rational elements of The Magician's Nephew. The poem in front of the bell in Charn reads "Make your choice, adventurous Stranger; / Strike the bell and bide the danger, / Or wonder, till it drives you mad, / What would have followed if you had" (35). The very real worry of what would happen is something that anyone would have to think about had they come into this world. On the other hand, it's the things that the pair have to worry about that are the irrational things. In our world if the pair rang a bell the worst thing that they would have to worry about would be breaking it or getting sent to bed without dinner. In Charn they have to worry about waking up an evil witch that could destroy more than one world!

Menolly also has great worries to account for the rational elements. Being an amazing musician, she naturally wanted to be the Harper for her community in the Hold. Throughout the novel, she is fighting against oppressive social codes and trying to find her place in society. The Threadfall also helps to make up for the irrational element within the novel. As I said before, we do not have to worry about a natural element falling from the sky and putting all of our lives in danger. I mean, sure, we have meteorites and other things falling from space, but most of that burns up in our atmosphere before it can hit earth, and on the occasion that it does hit earth, injuries are rare. The people of Pern actually have official dragon riders to kill the Thread before it hits the earth. Imagine if we had people flying through the sky trying to burn up meteorites!

Many people would argue that Dragonsong is a science fiction novel, but I believe science fiction and fantasy fiction to be strongly related, and sometimes I think it is hard to separate the two. Fantasy and science fiction have so many different elements to them, and I've briefly touched on some that I found to be the most strikingly interesting. There is so much more to explore when it comes to the real/unreal, rational/irrational, and the tangible/intangible elements of these and other stories. I feel as though these six elements are present in one way or another in every fantasy and science fiction novel, and are the makings of a wonderful escape from this world, even though they can relate so closely to our own reality. Perhaps fantasy, science fiction, and our world aren't all that different after all.

Works Cited
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. In The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperEntertainment, 2005. Print.
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonsong. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003. Print.

Fantasy versus Other Genres

2010-12-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

Brittany sizes up fantasy's chances:

When it comes to comparing fantasy fiction to most other popular genres it just does not stack up very well. There are several factors that have an effect on why fantasy does not stack well up against the most popular genres. A few of those factors are how well readers actually know the fantasy genre, sales and fan bases.

There have however been a few very successful fantasy fiction books, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Twilight. For example as of November 21st Twilight was number seven on the list of Top 10 Children's Series for the New York Times and has been on the list for 170 weeks while Harry Potter is at number nine on the same list and has been on the list for 232 weeks. Each of these four series had major success and include well-known books to many readers.

Although the above seems great, when measured on a larger scale based on what is sold and highly marketed in stores the fantasy genre is not what is at the top. For example when you go to Walmart and look at the book section you see authors such as Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Nicholas Sparks and whatever new celebrity has written a book. Also when I asked friends and family who some of their favorite authors were I got some of the names just listed along with Mary Higgins Clark, Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jackson, and James Patterson. These both further support my statement even more that fantasy fiction does not stack up well against other popular genres.

Another reason why fantasy does not stack up well is because even though fantasy has had the above-mentioned big successes most people do not identify those books with the fantasy genre. With the exception of Twilight because it is a newer book the rest of those books are classics and most people have read them but since a lot of people do not have background on the fantasy genre they do not classify them as fantasy fiction. I think if people had better knowledge of fantasy fiction, what it was and what books fell under the category it would help the genre to become more successful. For example people reading these classic fantasy fiction books without knowing it have boosted the fan base for fantasy fiction but if they liked these books and actually knew what genre they were reading they would probably be more apt to go out and buy more fantasy fiction books. This in turn would help fantasy stack up better to the more popular genres.

As previously mentioned I think that a lot of the problem is people not knowing much about the genre along with their many misconceptions. For example, as a new reader of fantasy fiction my thoughts on what the genre was were completely wrong. I thought fantasy fiction was about magical lands which ended up being correct but I also pictured it more like a Disney movie which was completely incorrect. Recognition of a genre is important in order to build a strong fan base which then moves into the genre becoming popular. Once those two things become stronger then fantasy fiction can better stack up to other genres.

I think that having more mixed fantasy would really help to boost it, for example using humor and romance. I know that we read a few good books this semester that did have humor in them but that was not used to help promote the book which I think may have helped. I also think adding in the romance would help too as long as it is not like Twilight. It would have to be actual romance, heartbreak and so on not the cheesy romance used in Twilight. Including these different aspects and using them to help promote fantasy fiction may attract more readers, such as readers who may never have picked up a fantasy book before. Which in turn could interest a lot of new people in this genre which would make it more popular and then the genre would stack up better.

Writing about Reality Is Boring

2010-12-01T11:40:00.002-05:00

Eric Ellison explains:

The reasons fantasy fiction is read depend upon the individual holding the book. The same can be said about the reasons writers choose the genre; it varies upon whose fingers are at the ready to create a story. While we can attribute the more prominent reason of pure enjoyment for readers to pick up that copy of The Lord of the Rings, we can truly ponder why the author would choose to write in this younger vein of literature. The following are some possibilities of why they made the choice they did, and why you may want to try your hand at it as well.

Maybe it's the simple enjoyment of writing fantasy fiction, as is very noticeable in A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers Anthony. This story is about a character searching for his magical talent in a world of pure magic, which can allow for all sorts of fun to be had if approached from the right mind set. Anthony was obviously looking to have some fun and hopefully make people laugh when he started writing about the world of Xanth. Throughout the story he creates all kinds of puns, some bad and some good, which become widely available for him in this world. We've all heard that phrase "to sow your wild oats," but Anthony takes it and creates it in a literal sense for the main character of the book, Bink. The character, at one point in his many moments of reflection, thinks back to when he was 15 and decided to "sow wild oats" in his backyard. Well, as it turns out, in the world of Xanth this is actually a method of creating an oat nymph that can handle a young man's hormonal impulses. In addition to this we read about vicious "nickelpedes," food supplying "breadloaf trees," and "pill bushes" that can help an injured traveler. To flex the muscles of imagination this approach of unbridled creativity--where the "logical" constrictions of our world become unhinged--may be an excellent start for any writer.

On the other hand, some authors go with writing fantasy fiction for the opportunity to just create a whole new, breathing world, such as is the case for J.R.R. Tolkien and his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The nice thing about a place that is being spawned from the writer's imagination--opposed to non-fiction or other stories based solely within the reality we know--the author has free rein, at least to the extent that the events which occur do so within reason of the world within which they exist. Now, we may think, "But Anthony wrote some ridiculous elements in his stories that hardly seem reasonable"; however, Anthony was still consistent in his ridiculousness in creating a world that didn't contradict itself. While many fantasy fiction writers do create new worlds for their minds to play in, Tolkien was a true master in that he also ended up creating full histories about the world of Middle Earth. What becomes appealing to the reader is that for some this creates an opportunity to explore and/or escape from their own daily lives, among other personal reasons. This approach to writing may seem like a huge task, but it's a great way to build a great habit. The more you create in your mind about the history of a place or character in your story the more they will appear to be alive to your audience. With that backup knowledge about the who's and the what's, as an author, you’ll be more intuitive about interactions that involve those characters and places.

Over the years multiple writers have used literature to make socio/political commentary. With fantasy fiction, an author can reach audiences that might not readily approach the issues they wish to convey if they were presented in another form. One such case is the book by Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong. This book takes place on a planet that came to be inhabited countless years ago by ancestors that had the technology to accomplish interplanetary travel--technology which has, at this point, been long gone. McCaffrey tells the story of a young woman named Menolly on the planet Pern. In this world there are individuals that are called Harpers, bard-like instructors that hand down collective knowledge to each hold's (like towns) citizens--instructions like history, or how to farm or fish, and so on. Menolly is one such individual who is more than capable of accomplishing this task for the hold that she lives in. The problem is that within her hold this position has always been traditionally held by men. So as a result she gets mistreated in numerous ways to keep her from bringing "shame" to her father, the leader of the community, through breaking this tradition. The way the story is told has the effect of being a feminist statement in support of that movement in the '70s when Dragonsong was written. Instead of writing direct arguments about the inequality woman faced, McCaffrey took a side approach to bring awareness to all kinds of individuals, including younger readers. Today it would seem there are even more issues that need to be contended with, but they might not always get the attention from the masses they deserve. Maybe there is an issue you feel passionate about that isn't quite as recognized as you would wish; why not try using fantasy fiction as a means of clueing in more people about the problem?

Then there are books that take comedy, commentary, and creative freedom and roll them all up together. Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, aims to be creatively hilarious, which it accomplishes perfectly, and ends up having some interesting things to say about us humans that can momentarily sober up the comedy--mind you, only momentarily. This story is about The Armageddon, the forces of heaven and hell, a devil and an angel joining forces to stop it, and a host of other characters. When the antichrist is supposed to be an 11-year-old child with the power to recreate the world in his image, the world would never expect what he dreams up. Everything from Tibetans digging tunnels through the earth and popping up in people's yards to space aliens that come to deliver "a message of universal peace and cosmic harmony an' suchlike" (205) but not knowing why they were told to bring the message makes for a very entertaining read. The commentaries on humanity and the world, aside from the major one that pokes fun at religious Armageddon, are slipped in almost without notice. After aliens give a "message" to a confused character they then act like intergalactic police and say to the character, after taking a CO2 reading that seems to be too high, "you do know you could find yourself charged with being a dominant species while under the influence of impulse-driven consumerism, don't you?" (205); in this moment some readers might find themselves stopping their laughter and seriously pondering the way we live our lives. There are many spots in the book that have this effect, but it's only a matter of lines before you again find yourself laughing out loud.

For each of these books and authors, the reasons I speculate on why they wrote those stories are only one in what I'm sure were a dozen reasons they chose fantasy fiction as the genre to express their creativity. Whatever their reasons, they obviously enjoyed it. So if you're thinking of taking up the pen, why not give your imagination a good exercise and spin a tale through the lens of fantasy fiction?

Works Cited
Anthony, Piers. A Spell for Chameleon: The First Xanth Novel. New York: Ballantine, 1977. Print.
Gaiman, Neil and Pratchett, Terry. Good Omens. New York: HarperTorch, 1990. Print.
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonsong. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003. Print.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Print.

A Different Perspective

2010-11-29T17:16:00.001-05:00

Eli explains:

Why do authors choose to write in fantasy, anyways? Why pick a genre that is generally shrugged off by literature professors as they turn their noses to the canon? Talented writers are spending years upon years and sometimes their whole lives wrapped up in imaginary worlds. Are they wasting their time? An even more important question: are we wasting our time when we read fantasy? We could be flipping pages in War and Peace instead, or pondering Wordsworth on a picnic bench by an Adirondack lake, sniffing in the sweet fall air as geese fly in their ardent “V” overhead (no doubt dropping some fragrant gifts from the sky) and honk farewell as they disappear into a hazy dusk. Excuse me, I digress. Why would a fantasy writer waste their time twiddling their thumbs in imaginary worlds when they could have that beautiful scene by the lake? (Maybe because when he was reading poetry by the lake, he realized that there were very intricate carvings in the varnished wood. As he traced these etchings with his forefinger, a faint light seemed to appear deep inside each foreign character. The sound of upset lake water pricked his ears and when he looked up a very large boat was emerging from under the water, with the same carvings all along the stern. A centaur beckoned to him.) We can't precisely address this question without having an interview with the writer himself or herself but can we, and should we, try to pry into the author's choice to write in fantasy? It is hard enough to infer the intention of a single work and much more confusing to find an intent in genre choice. Yet, it is still an interesting endeavor to wonder about the ideas and convictions that give inspiration to fantasy writers. Contemplating this will supply us with insight as readers in the world of fantasy fiction.

Let's take the work of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Good Omens is no run-of-the-mill fantasy book by any means. Located in our modern world, we have angels and demons, men and witches, the natural and the supernatural all stuck in the apocalypse. They supply us with all the humor and entertainment we could ever want in this work of genius. Yet, for some reason these authors chose to deliver their impeccable style in fantasy when they could have easily written in another (more respected) genre. They chose this perspective with a specific intention. When working in fantasy, an author can use non-human characters and unrealistic worlds to say certain things about humanity, society, and our current condition. An angel and a demon can casually observe humanity like no human could. For instance Crowley (the demon) thinks, "It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people" (26). This message runs throughout the book, the erasing of the line between good and evil. There is something quite shocking about these ideas coming from angels and demons who are supposed to define the two different sides of the spectrum. One would expect a modern-day contemporary thinker to say something about the disappearance of good and evil. But a demon destroying these boundaries is preposterous, and effective. Crowley asks Aziraphale, "Well, haven't you ever wondered about it all? You know--your people and my people, Heaven and Hell, good and evil, all that sort of thing? I mean, why?" (360). Rules are broken and angels and demons wonder about the same things that humans do. Pratchett and Gaiman demonstrate the same "ineffable" feelings that humans experience from another view.

Another composer of fantasy, Piers Anthony, has a much different take on the genre. He has created the world of Xanth, with its own type of magic and plenty of flora and fauna to accompany it. In this world, Anthony tells us many things about humanity. The character Bink is a philosophizing exile, who in the end discovers some things about himself and other people. His whole journey is filled with him gaining new knowledge, information that he is not necessarily supposed to have. He is on a quest that leads him to truth. Nonetheless, Anthony makes Bink a very stubborn and dogmatic character. The reader can see the truth before Bink does--his stubbornness is often cumbersome. Isn't this how we view ourselves after coming to a sudden realization and point of change? Bink may represent humans in general with his slow-changing views of how the world works. It takes him so long to see the truth about Trent because he was taught that Trent is evil. Is this much different than our own mundanian human nature? We hold onto our own comfortable views of the world and the older we get the less willing we are to change. Our society is full of Bink-like people. It is easy to see this reality of human dogmatism (and other philosophies) that Anthony presents through his fantastical world. We may look on the ignorance of the Xanthians with harsh judgement. We should turn this judgement on ourselves. Anthony is saying these things in a different approach; through fantasy he delivers his message with greater ease.

The intent of fantasy writers is very similar to the intent of writers in any genre. Literature gives us insight into life and fantasy fiction is not left out of this statement. Writers of this genre may have chosen it because of their fascination with the mystical or they may have been tired with reality that they faced day to day. But fantasy fiction should not be viewed as an escape from our everyday life. We should not just want to escape into alternate realities that entertain us and delay our problems for a while. I do not think that is the reason authors choose fantasy. Their statements on the human condition come naturally and powerfully through this genre and take on a new and distinct perspective. These stories carry the essential component of good art (that ever escaping, shifting, always there, always departing human condition) and can hold their own weight against other forms of literature. Fantasy fiction is an important aspect to lives of many people and that will not change. This brings us to the conclusion...long live fantasy!

Works Cited
Anthony, Piers. A Spell for Chameleon. New York: Del Rey, 1977.
Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. New York: Harper, 2007

Fantasy: What Is It?

2010-11-29T14:56:00.000-05:00

Luke Hider answers:

Fantasy, what is it? I suppose I can try and put this as formally as possible. Fantasy is a mind blowing experience that grips you by the cerebral cortex and sends shivers down your spine. Fantasy is the ideas you get when just shittin' around with your friends, or when wondering whether Legolas or Drizzt would win in a fight. In short fantasy is the coolest part of using your imagination, and should be respected as such. Of course fantasy can be defined in a more academic nature, and this can be qualified by looking at some of the more prominent authors of the genre.

When talking about defining Fantasy the first name on anyone's list would be Tolkien. As to not gush over his numerous qualifications as an expert I will just clearly state that the man reinvented the genre on a mainstream level. Taking shoe-making elves, making them grow five feet, giving them amplified everything, and arming them with deadly skills in just about every way you could want to kill someone. Point being, Tolkien had some pretty badass ideas, case closed.

In order to see what Tolkien defines as fantasy we need to take a deeper look into his characterization. Since I have already started to discuss characters in fantasy I think its safe to say a fantasy novel needs these certain "beings." Not to limit yourselves to dwarves, elves, wizards etc. but that there should be some mythical aspect to your characters. If you want to give your dwarves wings with lasers shooting out of their eyes, then by all means. Or perhaps make up your own character that has four legs, four arms, spits venom, and drinks coffee! This is part of the beauty that makes fantasy so enticing to readers.

Arguably the most important aspect that defines fantasy is the setting that its taking place in, or rather the world built around your characters. In order to demonstrate this you can refer to Tepper's work in King's Blood Four. Tepper had a rather unique idea when building her world, which was to make it almost entirely opposite of our own. But she takes it deeper and looks at the infrastructure of our world, the laws and morals that govern us and makes this new world spit on such things. At first you want to reject such a wildly inappropriate concept, but after a while it becomes your guilty pleasure. It's unique ideas like this that make up the majority of what fantasy is. Without a rare world to build inside of, your fantasy story cannot go far.

Listed above are only two of many, many parts of a whole. But if fantasy is what it's supposed to be it will be forever changing and challenging our imaginations. The day I can wholly define fantasy may be the day the genre has died.

"Who Am I?": One Loaded, Sticky Question Addressed by Fantasy Fiction

2010-11-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

Kayla Carucci explains:

Motif: a literary convention we have all come to know and love, not to be confused with theme. Teachers pound it into your brain that themes are the most important part of a novel and if you miss the recurrent motifs, you have missed the point of the novel entirely. Common motifs are love, loss, coming of age, and identity/search for identity. Now that we've identified some of the most common motifs in literature, we can start to address the question of common motifs in Fantasy Fiction more specifically. I propose that one of the most prevalent motifs found in Fantasy fiction is the search for one’s identity.

Identity crisis is a common problem in life. We all experience it at one point or another in our lives whether it be when we hit puberty (say hello to hormones!), or in our middle age (that point in life everybody dreads because once they get there, you are officially no longer young). "Who am I?" is one of the most frequently asked questions in actual reality so it makes perfect sense that this is one of the most commonly asked questions in fantasy fiction. Most people think that fantasy fiction is just "fluff" or "light" reading that enables the reader to escape reality. Although this is a common school of thought, it's a wrong school of thought. Fantasy fiction is very relevant to our society and everyday lives because, in its own discrete ways, it helps us learn how to cope with our own identity crises.

Perhaps the most common time in our lives for identity crisis to occur is when one is in the dreaded teenage years. Everything is hitting you at once and it seems like nothing ever goes your way. You always feel like nobody understands your problems and therefore you are "a lone wolf," "alone in the universe," or any of the other millions of euphemisms teenagers use to describe their misfortunes while they are trying to find out who they are. Fantasy fiction with the theme of identity crisis or discovering one's true identity is a fantastic source to turn to for people going through identity crises of their own.

Sherri Tepper's The True Game is a perfect example of a work of fantasy fiction in which the main character, Peter, is trying to work through an identity crisis and discover who he truly is. Peter is a child who was dropped off by his parents in School Town as an infant so he has no clue who his real parents are (or if he even has them). On top of that, in the land of The True Game, you either have a talent, or you are a Pawn. Peter must discover his talent to find his place in society. This situation is perfect for a reader who is going through an identity crisis of their own to read about because it can help them work through their own crisis.

At the beginning of the book, Peter is in Schooltown where he is basically shielded from reality as he goes through his day-to-day routines. While he is in Schooltown he craves adventure, but is unaware that he will soon be confronted with the adventure of a lifetime as he is unexpectedly thrust into the True Game. Throughout the novel, Peter encounters many difficulties that assist him on his way through adolescence and also aid him in the discovery of who he really is. With each challenge, Peter grows into himself more than he thought he could. Finally, by the end of the novel, he has witnessed a great battle (and been a key player in it) and uncovered a portion of himself. He has learned part of his mysterious past and is well on his way to discovering the full truth about his parentage and his own identity.

Through fantasy fiction, a person can be comforted about their own identity crisis and work through it alongside the character that they are reading about. Having something to connect to and relate to is crucial to working through an identity crisis, and teenagers especially need this connection to feel that they are not going through their own version of hell alone. The connection that can be made between the quest for one to find their true self in the novel and the reader's own personal quest for who they are is what links fantasy fiction to reality. For this reason, identity crisis/search for one's true identity is one of the most common motifs in Fantasy Fiction.

Writing Styles Do Not Define Fantasy Fiction

2010-11-08T14:22:00.001-05:00

Derek Herzog argues:

There seems to be a stigma associated with the fantasy genre which makes people hesitant to pick up a book labeled fantasy. A big part of this has to do with what first comes to someone's head when they think of fantasy. For many, the term fantasy brings to mind a long, tedious work of escapism which is weird and unapproachable. They might think this because they associate fantasy with a particular style of writing, one that is slow, straight-forward, and not innovative. To think like that though is a misconception, and it could be what has given fantasy a bad rap for so long.

The truth is, fantasy is not limited to one particular style of writing; if this was the case, it really would have no hope. I've read fantasy works from six different authors recently, and one of the coolest things I've learned is how varied fantasy authors are in their approaches to their work. Fantasy is by no means limited to one style of writing, and coming to this realization not only removes the stigma associated with the genre but it reveals the potential for how many new and innovative things could be done with it, as well.

To begin my recent fantasy escapade, I started with two authors whose books could be considered the roots of fantasy: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, and C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. They both tell their stories as if they were Grandpas dictating an old tale to their Grandsons; this is why I have deemed this style the "Old Man Narrative." Consider how The Magician's Nephew begins: "This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child" (Lewis 1). The whole book goes along with this sort of feel. While I'm reading it, I actually even read in my head in the voice of an old Grandpa. The Hobbit is told in a similar way. Consider this line, for example: "The Mother of our particular hobbit--what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us" (Tolkien 12). Both of these novels are written in these distinctive narrative styles, which are quite different from other authors in our class. Could you imagine if every fantasy novel were written like this? Sure, both books are good reads, but after being exposed to a style for too long it quickly goes stale. The "Old Man Narrative" helped pave the way for future fantasy fiction, but fortunately other authors moved beyond this--or regressed from it.

Speaking of regressed, this brings me to the next two authors: Piers Anthony and Anne McCaffrey. Both authors have a writing style which is fairly simplistic. The stories also move along quite slowly. I think the novels by these two would be better received by younger readers, not only because of their coming-of-age themes, but also because of their slow and steady writing styles which probably make the books easier to understand. In both books, a lot of time is spent talking over what is going on in the protagonist's head. As an older reader, this can seem tedious and unnecessary, but to someone who is younger, the repetition might really help them understand what's going on. It is unfair of me to label these two as lesser authors, but their writing styles definitely do not appeal to me that much. Whether I enjoy it or not, though, these authors possess a distinctive writing style which adds validity to the notion that it is not what solely characterizes the fantasy genre.

Sheri Tepper makes up another category of writing styles. Unlike many other fantasy authors, she writes her prose in a more creative, even poetic way. She really gets inside of her protagonist's mind, and this makes her book, The True Game, seem more realistic, and it also allows the reader to become more immersed in the story. Take, for example, just a random line from the text: "How so many could find power to exist, she did not say. We did not ask. It was only a tall tale, we thought. Hum of bees, quiet sough of wind. Then, suddenly, as we climbed a high ridge of stone, a cold gust from above, chill as winter, without warning" (Tepper 39). She presents the information to the reader in a way which emulates the flashes of thought and sensory information going through Peter's mind; this technique is effective, highly creative, and unique. I would argue that Tepper's style proves the great potential for evolution within the genre.

The last fantasy novel I read was Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, which can definitely be set apart from other authors. Being an apocalyptic satirical novel which aims to make the reader laugh and think, a writing style which is similar to any of the ones discussed above would not suffice. Rather, Pratchett and Gaiman tell their story in short, inter-weaving fragments which keep it fast-paced and upbeat. The prose is also casual, witty, conversational, and laid-back. Take a look at this line from the first page: "By the same token the earth itself is generally supposed to be about four and a half thousand million years old.... These dates are incorrect" (Pratchett & Gaiman 13). It is not serious, or boring, or enormously creative, or condescending--it is just natural. By natural I mean the pacing just feels pretty leisurely, if you know what I mean. The effect this style has on the reader makes it one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read, and I don't just mean fantasy fiction. This style is a departure from the others we've seen, and not only proves that fantasy is not defined by a style of writing, but it also shows just how entertaining fantasy can be.

It will be the best thing to happen for the fantasy genre when it loses the stereotype attached to it that all fantasy books are boring and stale. There are so many cool and creative things that have been done with it. Look at Sheri Tepper: she did something that was completely different and innovative, which arguably rivals writers in other, more acclaimed genres, and yet she is relatively unknown because she chose to pour her efforts into a stigmatized genre. This must stop. Fantasy has so much potential but if it continues to be disregarded because of a false definition of it then it will never go anywhere.

Works Cited

Anthony, Piers. A Spell for Chameleon. New York/Toronto: Random House, 1977. Print.
Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens. New York: HarperCollins, 1990. Print.
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. New York: HarperCollins, 1955. Print.
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonsong. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1976. Print.
Tepper, Sheri S. The True Game. New York: Penguin Group, 1996. Print.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Print.

Narnia, Pern, and Religion

2010-11-04T17:42:00.004-04:00

The Role Of Religion in Fantasy Fiction

Or, "What Kind of Question Is That to Ask the Jesus Allegory Lion?"

Fantasy fiction and religion have long gone hand in hand, whether said religious element forms a subtext or takes on a more didactic tone. It could even be said that religious lore itself contains some of the foundations of modern fantasy--good versus evil, fantastic creatures, miracles, and the creation of worlds. Monsters, intimate objects coming to life, and a healthy amount of sacred artifacts hidden away. Depending on the mythology, you even get tales of mystical weapons.

Just why fantasy and religion share so many similarities isn't clear. It does seem that humanity possesses an explicit need to believe in something; if not some type of religion, than at least some shred of decency that remains in the face of hardship. That good ultimately triumphs over evil. This is why societies value such things as courage, kindness, camaraderie. All of these things are present in fantasy.
However, the exact shape religion takes within the story is a matter of who is writing and who is reading. By creating an entire world or race, a fiction author becomes, in a sense, a small god. Through their creation, we can often glean a sense of their perspective on religion in reality, and from there consider the impact it has on our own world.

Sometimes religion is not about a specific, named deity, but a general belief in right and wrong despite all the shades of gray that are present in life; a general sense of something greater; the promise of an afterlife. These are some of the ideas present in writings such as Tolkien's. Opposite would be C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, where there is one omniscient, powerful (if not all powerful--I'll touch on that in just a moment) deity and a choice of whether or not to follow it...but only one right answer. There are atheists in Narnia, but their punishment is usually specified and they're all obliterated by the end of the series. This tends to be the case with our own monotheistic religions, especially in the middle east and west--their followers tend to be quite content with this arrangement, much like Narnian dwellers.

An interesting thing about life in Narnia is that, while its creator speaks face to face with the inhabitants, he offers so little information about himself and the world that one has to wonder, why does he bother? It's implied that there are limitations on his power, but no more. Who set down the rules, who enforces them, and just what they are remain a mystery. More than that, the answer is almost irrelevant on an individual level. Aslan may not be able to do certain things at certain times, but he created the world and he can end it; he can ultimately save you if he wants to, and if you're compliant--and smite you just as easily. Whatever the fates of the "shadowland" denizens may be, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of a single otherworldly judge and the unseen, silent being he answers to.

Where religion goes, so does the absence of it. According to Anne McCaffrey, author of the Pern series, it is something she thought the story could do without.

I also don't have organized religion on Pern. I figured--since there were four holy wars going on at the time of writing--that religion was one problem Pern didn't need.

Rather, Pernese people form an agrarian society that gives little to no thought to the otherworldly, remaining focused on their own salvation from above--the dragons. Yet they still have moments where they experience the profound, whether in a beautiful dragon's eyes, a piece of song, or the mysteries of between. Their's is not a nature-based religion, but a general healthy respect and occasional awe at the world they struggle to survive in. They could be classified as atheists or agnostics, but only if a distinction was forced to be made at all.

It's worth nothing, however, that most real world agrarian societies do have some sort of spiritual belief system. Pern is rather unusual in this sense.

But it's one thing to renounce religion--it's another to do away with spirituality all together. It's nice to think that there's something beyond death than oblivion and a hole in the ground (or a trip to the bottom of the sea, if that happens to be where circumstances take you). That our struggles in life are rewarded. That the worthy are taken care of. It's for that very reason that McCaffrey wrote the short story "Beyond Between," in which a dragonrider and her partner find themselves in the afterlife.

Fantasy fiction is rarely as blatant about its religious subtext, when it has any, as Narnia. Likewise, it doesn't often go out of its way to avoid connotations with organized religion the way Pern does. Rather, fantasy fiction tends to be made up of a comfortable balance of good versus evil (except when it isn't), likeable protagonists (except when they aren't), and lessons offered on our own morality. Meanwhile, religious texts continue to bring us stories of talking snakes in magical gardens, women who fall from the sky to live on the backs of turtles, beings who give birth to eggs and leech children, and dynasties of gods and goddesses living on top of a mountain. Religious lore and fantasy offer stories to entertain us and stories to guide us towards being better people.

Which accomplishes which is purely subjective.

Work Cited

Jamneck, Lynn. "An Interview with Anne McCaffrey." Welcome to Writing-World.com! 05 Oct. 2010. Web.

So... You Want to be a World-Builder?

2010-11-04T14:22:00.001-04:00

Are you tired of this dismal, mundane world? Are you sick of all the limitations in this universe, like gravity and social security tax? Don’t you just wish there was a place where some rules didn’t apply at all, or where crazy things like magic can put a damper on some of those party-poopers? Then let me introduce you to an old friend of mine, the Fantasy genre. This kind of literature is infamous for its geeky, absorbing reputation, but really what I advertise to you is a chance to build your own world and escape into the boundless plane of imagination.

Now as awesome and limitless as world-building can be, when you’re a fantasy writer, there’s a right way and wrong way to do it. To be more technical, it should be said that there are effective and ineffective ways of building a whole universe from scratch. Your tools will include plot, narration, illustration, and dialogue. Your world is a setting, which is in literary terms the place or time that a story occurs. The story itself, which uses these tools, serves as the capsule for your environment, a place where the action happens and the world is made clearly separate from the real world (or perhaps other authors' worlds!). The capsule's something you NEVER want to break, or else you'll go insane discerning reality from fiction and all that messy psychological junk.

The first tool is plot. The plot of the story, which remember is the device holding your world, by definition is the sequence of events in a story pieced together into a unified work. Thus what I mean is that anything or everything that happens in your story must convey the functions and rules of your world. For example, let's say in this new world of yours, you want there to be a war, either a massive bloodbath or some border tensions. Using plot as your tool, this is how you ought to use plot to weave your world together:

Great troops of horse cavalry and unicorn cavalry followed the infantrymen. Krasta curled her lip to see unicorns made as ugly as horses. And then she curled her lip again, for a squadron of behemoths followed the unicorns (Turtledove 19).

The example above is from the book Into the Darkness by Harry Turtledove. An action is taking place in the passage, which could be considered an event, considering multiple events woven together coherently create a plot. Through describing this action, this author has built several elements into his world of Derlarvai: (1) a war or preparation for a war, (2) horses, which denotes that there is a commonality to this world, making it close to ours, (3) that unicorns exist, (4) that behemoths exist, which are a personal creation of the author himself (5) these creatures are all used for military power, and (6) to many sentient beings (characters) in this universe, these creatures have been made or are repulsive in a way.

Narration is the simplest tool in world-building, so much so that the minute you see the following example, you'll realize that you've used narration many times in the past. That is because narration is just plainly describing the facts, or presenting visual details, both of which are through the narrator's voice. The following passage is from The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis:

He was standing by the edge of a small pool – not more than ten feet from side to side – in a wood. The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves: but there must have been a very strong sun overhead, for this green daylight was bright and warm. It was the quietest word you could possibly imagine. There were no birds, no insects, no animals, and no wind. You could almost feel the trees growing... There were dozens of other [pools] – a pool every few yards as far as his eyes could reach. (Lewis 31-32).

Now you could argue that the narration and plot devices I've shown are practically the same thing. Consider, however, that an action could be described using dialogue instead, the same way playwrights would have characters say what they see when no props are available. But now why would we used dialogue to build a world? By far you will find that dialogue is the most prevalent tool for world-building among fantasy and science-fiction authors. Dialogue is the name for conversation between characters. Here is another passage from Into the Darkness where dialogue is being used to construct a world:

"I'm not glum about staying at peace," Fernao said. "I'm glum about the rest of the world going back to war. All the kingdoms of eastern Derlavai suffered as much as we did."

"And Unkerlant," Rogelio put in. "Don't forget Unkerlant."

"Unkerlant is a kingdom of eastern Derlavai... in a manner of speaking," Fernao said with a thin smile. The smile soon slipped. "Thanks to the Twinkings War, they hurt themselves worse than Algarve ever managed, and Algarve hurt them plenty." (Turtledove 31)

The quotation above was meant to inform the readers on the political situation of the author's world. Dialogue, on a side note, is especially useful for developing the politics of your world because people in our world tend to debate about politics and history. Characters can do the same, and through such debate also teach the reader about your world.

Here is another passage from A Spell for Chameleon, where the author again builds the history of his world Xanth through dialogue between two characters:

"... In the past century Xanth has been entirely free from invasion--but other threats have developed."

"Like the fireflies and the wiggles and Bad Magician Trent," Bink agreed.

"Trent was not a bad Magician," Cherie corrected him. "He was an Evil magician. There's a distinction--a crucial one."

"Um, yes. He was a good Evil Magician. Lucky they got rid of him before he took over Xanth."

"Certainly. But suppose another Evil Magician appears? Or the wiggles manifest again? Who will save Xanth this time?"

“I don't know,” Bink admitted (Anthony 37).

In this case, one character is informing another character, probably the next clearest and simplest tool used in world-building other than straight-up narration. Informative dialogue works smoothly because it functions in an exact manner as blander narration, except that the informing is focused inward between two characters and creating action at the same time. As a world-builder, you should know what would make dialogue preferable over narration in many ways. Dialogue adds life and brings opportunities to display traits of your characters who populate your world. However, don't grow dependent on the use of dialogue as a world-building tool. People don't commonly spit out all the common knowledge about their world despite the fact that the other character probably knows about it. Your readers will see through your scheme and realize it's just a corny technique of drilling information in their heads. As for much of the world-building dialogue in Into the Darkness, I find it rather unrealistic for commonfolk characters to be so well-rounded and knowledgeable of Derlarvai's history and politics. When choosing instances to share more about your world, choose reasonable characters to work through.

The reflections of a character can also be used to world-build. Bink of A Spell for Chameleon is an extremely inquisitive character. He looks at the strange world of Xanth the same way the reader will be looking at it, with a fresh pair of eyes. Bink questions his surroundings constantly and comes to his own conclusions. Your characters can do the same thing to inform the reader.

Lastly may perhaps be easier than narration, but more limited. Many fantasy writers choose to place a map of their world or a genealogy chart at the beginning of the book, and I suggest that you use this only to reinforce the other tools you use for world-building. Several examples follow, as always:

*Derlavai from Into the Darkness

On a final note, most of your world building should take place in the beginning, but here’s an idea: give your audience a reason to keep reading by adding a touch of mystery. Maybe something goes on in the world that you can logically answer, and yet maybe it’s possible to either leave it explained or make the characters aware that there doesn’t seem to be an answer for the particular function--not yet, that is. In the world of Xanth, for example, Piers Anthony keeps us in the dark about Mundania, except implying that it is a nonmagical land. This obscurity creates curiosity to keep your readers, well--reading--and to dive in deeper and deeper into your world. Also, please spare the reader for at least the first thirty pages; don't fire random jargon and information at them as if they know what you're talking about. That will not attract a market at all. Just look at the terrible work of King's Blood Four. People are stupid. That is something you must assume in world-building.

You might be interested in world-building to improve the reputation of this rather obscure genre of literature. It really is fun once you’ve got a great idea off the ground! World-building will bring to light many of the elements of fantasy that people are tired of, as well as the elements readers and authors crave to escape into. Forge yourself a land of impossibilities made commonly possible, an epic place that will draw out the greatest depths of inspiration for all the world to see.

WORKS CITED

Anthony, Piers. The Quest for Magic. New York: Ballantine, 2002. Print.

Lewis, C. S., and Pauline Baynes. The Magician's Nephew. New York: HarperTrophy, 2000. Print.

Turtledove, Harry. Into the Darkness. New York: Tor, 2000. Print.

What Is Fantasy?

2010-11-03T10:59:00.001-04:00

George M. breaks it down:

We can recognize it when we see it: witches and wizards casting spells at one another with their great yew staffs, great dragons loosely based on dinosaur renderings, but mostly constructed from pure imagination, ravaging nearby villages with terrific flames, having no explanation for their actions other than that they can. These are defining characteristics of the fantasy genre.

The average person can read a book about wizards and magic and tell you that he or she is reading a fantasy novel (even if the section in the book store didn't already give that away). It is much harder, however, for that person to explain why that novel is classified as "fantasy" and not something else, like mythological fiction or science fiction. In order to explain why this is, we must first look at what fantasy is.

This is my attempt to sum up what fantasy is in a neat sciencey way: "fantasy is the opposite of what could ever be." That’s probably what Emily Dickinson would say if you asked her. You can't, though; she’s dead. She loved to squeeze a book's worth of meaning into a two-stanza poem. The only way to truly appreciate the meaning of that vague, almost cryptic statement is to crank the handle of this fantasy Jack-in-the-box and stand back. Here we go...

Fantasy is wholly subjective of the author's reality and the technology available at the time. For example, an 18th century author could write a novel about horseless carriages and weapons that use light to injure an enemy and this novel would easily fall into the genre of fantasy. A person could pick up and read that same novel today and would be able to classify it as merely a work of fiction. The reason being is because those things are actually in use today, not just concepts (although using a laser as a weapon today would be difficult, as the really powerful ones are still bulky and stationary). What a difference 300 years can make!

The reason why the author classified his novel as "fantasy" was because mechanical, horseless carriages and light-based weapons were the farthest things from his present reality. They were "the opposite of what could ever be" for him. He simply could not fathom a reality where these things existed, so made the decision to place his novel in the same category that houses tales about magic artifacts and unknown worlds. Although the potential for these things existed at the time, the author was ignorant to that potential, and only used his imagination as reference. This 18th century author who exists solely in my example could have classified his novel as "sci-fi," and you'll see why this is momentarily.

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit falls under the domain of fantasy because there is no record of our past and no evidence of our future depicting an Earth where dragons, dwarves, and goblins could have existed or could exist. Unfortunately, a world where Gandalf exists is not in our foreseeable future, and because of this The Hobbit must be classified as a work of fantasy.

So far we can conclude that in order for a piece of literature to be considered "fantasy," it cannot have a basis in reality. Although this statement seems quite obvious, there is much more to it than that. How many of the elements of the novel that are based in reality and what these elements consist of play a defining role in determining whether a work is considered fantasy or science fiction or some other genre.

If an author writes a story about a world that uses more sophisticated technology than the time in which he is writing in (all my examples are male--sorry, ladies), and the author tries to give a scientific explanation as to how this technology works, then this work can be classified as "science fiction." Although the world itself that the author is describing might not be our world in the foreseeable future, the technology he is describing might. If the author is writing a book about a "green planet" where all the energy we use is derived from fusion reactors, even though that world is obviously not our present one, fusion technology does exist, and so a basis in science fiction can be justified. The Hobbit is classified as "fantasy" as opposed to "sci-fi," because Tolkien did not make any attempt to scientifically explain how Gandalf can shoot lightning out of his staff. However, I don’t think Tolkien ever planned to. The author has to attempt to explain why things are the way they are for his work to be considered "sci-fi."

If a different author wrote a piece of literature in the year 200 B.C and wrote about Zeus and Athena tormenting a mortal man because he angered them in some way, a person who has read this far (and has never heard of mythology before) might guess that this work would be considered "fantasy," but this person would be wrong, although his or her guess makes perfect logical sense. This particular piece of literature would be considered "fantasy" if figures like Zeus and Athena did not have an actual basis in reality. Technically speaking, they do not. They never existed. Well, that is not exactly true, either. Zeus and Athena existed in the minds of the audience the author was writing for. They believed that these gods were real, and because it was a commonly held belief and a commonly accepted truth, this work cannot be considered "fantasy" and must be a work of mythology, a genre of literature that uses supernatural figures to explain real events.

Even though we know that the Greek gods were never real, we cannot reclassify the example story described in the beginning of the last paragraph as "fantasy." The reason being is that even though we know that the Greek gods never existed (although we cannot say that with total certainty), people once believed that they did. This work had a basis in reality, even though it is not the present one. Due to the subjective nature of reality and once-believed social truths, the work of literature that was written in 200 B.C. must be classified as a work of "mythology": things that people once believed were true, but now are not.

We can conclude that for a literary work to be considered a work of fantasy, it cannot have a substantial basis in our present reality. If an author tries to give scientific explanations as to why his world is the way it is, then this work is no longer considered "fantasy," and must be considered "science fiction." If an author writes about elements that he and everyone of the reality at the time of publication believe to be true, then that particular literary work is considered "mythology," not "fantasy." Hence, what exactly defines a piece of literature as "fantasy" is always changing because our reality is always changing. The perception of truth plays such a monumental role in defining fantasy that a truly concrete definition can't be achieved. In order to know that what you are writing will be considered "fantasy" (at least in your present time), just write about what you think can never happen. Because to write in the genre of fantasy is to believe that the impossible will remain impossible.

Work Cited
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, Revised Ed. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.

History from a Hobbit's Perspective

2010-11-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Erica Yunghans chronicles it:

Introduction

The Hobbit or There and Back Again by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is a fantasy novel which introduces the reader to 'Middle Earth' the magical world of Tolkien's creation. In the story, 'Hobbits' are short human-like creatures who tend to live peaceful, agrarian lives far away from war and adventures. The story revolves around one particular Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is jolted out of his comfortable existence by a manipulative wizard and driven into joining a group of Dwarves on a quest to reclaim the gold stolen from their ancestors by a dragon. The Hobbit was written in the period between the two World Wars and is a work firmly grounded in Tolkien's time and culture. Tolkien's cultural and social beliefs make their presence felt in the work. In this essay we shall endeavor to show how the ideas prevalent in Tolkien's time and the culture of his period made their impact on the fictional world he created.

'Merry England' Conservatism

Tolkien has often been identified as belonging to a school of thought that can be called 'Merry England' conservatism or Little Englandism. This conservative school of thought seeks to return Britain to an imagined perfect past (Jones 112).
One aspect of 'Merry England' conservatism is related to social conservatism. The followers of this ideology oppose what they see as corrupting modern influences which have destroyed the perfect social order which used to prevail in the past. It is asserted that in the past, the lower social classes were happy with their lot in life, despite being poor, women were happy in their homes being subservient to their husbands despite being denied the opportunity to have a career of their own and people were happy having their decisions made for them by a benevolent monarch. Some researchers find evidence of these ideas in Tolkien's works; for instance, it has been claimed that the few female characters in Tolkien's works are idealized and stereotyped portrayals written from a patriarchal perspective (Donovan 130).

This sort of philosophy can be seen in The Hobbit, a novel that depicts the adventures of a band of fifteen male characters. Implicit in this is the belief that women must remain in their homes. The Hobbit depicts women as helpless creatures, dependent upon the protection of brave men during war. This view of women can be seen in the description of the dragon's attack on the Lake-town when men huddle women and children into boats and heroes like Bard the bowman bravely go forth to fight the dragon (Tolkien 234-42).

Another aspect of 'Merry England' conservatism is a general distaste for imperialism and conquest of other countries. Tolkien was not keen on British occupation of other countries. His Hobbits are inward looking people, content to work in their fields and farms. Hobbits are benign creatures who do not wish to make war upon anyone (Bloom 91).

Genetic Determinism

A major aspect of Middle Earth is the interaction between different species of sentient creatures. Some of these species display both good and bad characteristics, but are on the whole depicted as good people, for example the Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. Other species are essentially evil, such as the Goblins and the Trolls. There are no good Goblins or Trolls. In other words, the genetics of the Goblins and Trolls completely determine their conduct. This reflects the belief in the existence of good and evil races of humans that was prevalent in Tolkien's time (Rearick).

An anti-egalitarian view of the superiority of those with 'noble blood' can also be seen in the story. Elrond the elf is one of the major good characters of the Tolkien universe. He is a descendant of elf-lords and Human heroes (Tolkien 51). Bard, the hero of Lake-town, is likewise the descendant of "Girion, Lord of Dale" (250).

Neo-Luddism

Another aspect of Tolkien's conservatism is his dislike of modern technology. Nearly a century before Tolkien's time, the workmen of England and Scotland had started a revolutionary against industrialization, called the Luddite movement. The Luddites were workmen whose livelihoods were threatened by the introduction of machines; they would gather together at night and mount destructive attacks on machines and factories. Tolkien has also been portrayed as a Luddite (Turner).

In accordance with these views, the Goblins, the main villains of The Hobbit, have been described as makers and designers of tools and instruments of torture. Tolkien has also speculated that the Goblins were responsible for the invention of various machines particularly those machines and devices which result in the death of large numbers of people at once (62). In this speculation, Tolkien has tried to convey to his young readers distaste for industrialization and an abhorrence of weapons of mass destruction that were first deployed in his time.

Dwarves as Jews

The Dwarves in The Hobbit exhibit characteristics that are stereotypically applied to the Jews. Such characterization of ethnicities has been accepted as rude and unfair in the present time; however, it was not considered impolite in Tolkien's days. For example, in The Hobbit the race of Dwarves is depicted as being greedy and fanatic in their love for gold (15). The Jews too were commonly portrayed as greedy and lustful of material wealth. The Dwarves of the golden age in the Lonely Mountain did not grow their own food (23). This also conforms to the portrayal of Jews as people who did not work the land but worked in other secondary professions. The Dwarves are depicted as being "clever with their hands" (23). The Jews too are traditionally depicted as talented at making things.

Lamarckian Evolution

'Lamarckian Evolution' or Lamarckianism is the belief that organisms can acquire major adaptive characteristics within their lifetimes and pass on those characteristics to their offspring. In the early twentieth century, this concept had not been thoroughly disproved and it was common for people to believe in it (Gee 81).
This concept may be seen the description of Gollum. Gollum, originally a Hobbit or a creature similar to Hobbits, acquires large eyes and the ability to see in the dark while living in the caves under Misty Mountains. Gollum even seems to have acquired a tapetum lucidum, the layer of tissue that causes the eyes of many animals to seem to glow in the dark (Tolkien 84). This concept can also be seen in The Hobbit under the description of the fish that inhabited the subterranean lake in Misty Mountains:

There are strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains: fish whose fathers swam in, goodness only knows how many years ago, and never swam out again, while their eyes grew bigger and bigger and bigger from trying to see in the blackness; also there are other things more slimy than fish. (71)

Conclusion
J. R. R. Tolkien was a man of his times and the effect of the thinking that was prevalent in those times is apparent in his works. While Tolkien disclaimed the idea that his work was allegorical in nature, many elements of his own political and social beliefs find their way into the novel. Some of the elements of the novel may not be very politically correct, such as elements suggesting anti-feminist and racist overtones to today's readers, but despite these flaws there are some great merits in Tolkien's works, even by today's standards. Tolkien was opposed to militarism, imperialism and the existence of weapons of mass destruction. He has associated the design and construction of such devices with the villains of his fictional world. Tolkien also opposed industrialization at a time when most people were unable to fathom the extent of environmental damage it causes.

While, by today's standards, Tolkien might be ridiculed for the suggested appearances of racism and bigotry towards some ethnicities, he wrote The Hobbit during a time when such beliefs were rather commonplace. There were reactionary sentiments against the industrial age. Many people were unemployed because technology introduced newer methods of production that reduced the need for physical labor, a human workforce. The world had been at war and all of Europe was still in shell shock. It could be argued that Tolkien's work was simply a reflection of the culture during that time period.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. J. R. R. Tolkien. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2008.
Donovan, Leslie A. "The Valkyrie Reflex in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Galadriel, Shelob, Éowyn, and Arwen." Tolkien the Medievalist. Ed. Jane Chance. Lexington, KY: Routledge, 2003. 106-132.
Gee, Henry. The Science of Middle-Earth. Cold Spring, NY: Cold Spring Press, 2004.
Jones, Leslie. J.R.R. Tolkien: a Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
Rearick, Anderson. "Why is the only good orc a dead orc? The dark face of racism examined in Tolkien's world." Modern Fiction Studies (2004): 861-874.
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
Turner, Jenny. "Reasons for Liking Tolkien." London Review of Books 23.22 (2001): 15-24.

Identity in Fantasy: Why It’s Common and What It Means

2010-10-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

Tiffany Wood explains:

Fantasy fiction is a growing sapling in the forest of literature, but already it has conventions, stereotypes, successes and failures, and all the other defining qualities of a genre. Some of these attributes may be a bit harder to pin down than usual given its relative youth, but the main thing to consider is this: though fantasy is young, it is alive and well and has been developing patterns through which we can begin to understand its purpose and influence (conventions such as world-building, mythical creatures, good vs. evil...). One such pattern I'd like to address is that of identity. It seems as though a lot of fantasy fiction is built around the search for identity, or deals with coming of age. Why is this? Why is identity a common theme in so many fantasy books? I will try to uncover the answer to this question by looking at a stunning specimen of the fantasy genre: King's Blood Four of the True Game series. Sheri Tepper weaves a beautiful tale around Peter, a lost boy with whom we travel through the lands of the True Game in order to find out exactly who he is. Tepper will help us answer why the question of identity works so well in this genre, and what it means for us as readers.

It must first be established that the question of identity is not unique to fantasy, by any means. However, it is true that it plays out especially well in this particular genre, and for good reason. Every human being in the history of time has dealt with the question, "Who am I?" and all its various sub-questions. Thus, writing a novel about it makes for a very relateable story. In fantasy, however, there is the added aspect of the unknown, the new creatures and world and rules that the author chooses to create, so a reader is often just as curious about this world as a young or lost character would be. It makes it especially convenient for the author to introduce readers to this fantastical place through the eyes of a character who is also searching and learning at the same time. The reader and the character can, in a way, grow up together, and both reach maturity by the end of the story.

Sheri Tepper masters this growth with impressive grace in her novel, King's Blood Four. Peter, the main character, almost literally has no identity. For starters, he is what is called a “foundling” (7), another name for a child abandoned at birth, only to be taken in by his school. He has no clue who his parents are, or where he came from. Secondly, he is still young, which means he does not yet know what is his Talent, or natural, inherited gift that defines what kind of player he is and power he has during the True Game. At this stage, he is still an anonymous, inconsequential pawn, worth little. During much of the book he is frustrated and confused that he knows so little about himself, and is anxious for the day when he knows what Talent he has, what power will make his existence mean something. At one point in the novel he is in some amount of danger as men are chasing him, and he cries out in anger and confusion, "What do I look like? Some Wizard Child? [...] I look like what I am. A student. No sign of Talent yet. No sign of a name. No nothing" (26). We feel his struggle with identity, and relate to it. At another point he explains, "Understand, for boys of my age...the most important thing is to know what name, what talent we will have. We search for signs of it, hints, even for auspices.... What did this mean?" (43). We all need to feel some sort of meaning and purpose in life; we need to find out what we are good at. At this point, he knows next to nothing, and it weighs on him heavily.

Peter also has to leave his home after a mix up at his Schooltown in the first chapter, and he does not know much about the surrounding lands or outside world--the world of the True Game. Tepper writes brilliantly in this way, because as readers we are discovering the world at the same time Peter is, through his eyes. Tepper doesn't have to take time out of the narrative to explain to us the rules of this new place. We slowly get fed small tidbits of information as Peter travels deeper into the land, and into himself. The whole book consists of these two journeys, and we are never left behind or out of the loop. In fact, we come to grow even closer to Peter's character as we experience all the same things he does. In this way, Tepper beautifully illustrates the convenience of a coming of age story in fantasy. If Peter were old and experienced, then Tepper would have to backtrack in her explanations of her world, or insert potentially awkward flashbacks or boring chunks of information, for our sake. But since Peter is just as fresh as we are, Tepper can weave our journey and Peter’s into one solid, forward moving, chronological tapestry.* For example, Peter is with his friends in a new place, and they are sharing their thoughts about what might happen, and Peter gets "mocked once more for being naïve." His friend then tells him, "Why, it's the way of the Game, lad," and goes on to explain to him (and us) another aspect of the True Game that is important (60). Both we and Peter get a lesson, and we are grateful he is coming of age so that we can learn through him. As readers we don't feel ignorant, like we might if the author had had to explain this just for us, instead of for Peter.

Eventually, Peter finds out that he is the son of one of the most important, powerful women of the Game, nephew to his old, wise teacher, and soon after that what his remarkable Talent is. These things are trivial for us except for how they made him feel. It is coming upon him to make use of his Talent and save the people he loves and avert disaster and he wonders, "While I...what in the name of the seven devils did I want? Nothing. I wanted to do nothing. Nothing at all. Doing things was frightening. Every time I had done anything at all decisive, I had been terrified" (138). This epitomizes the rising action of Peter's self discovery. He finally has what he's been seeking this whole time, and now that he is confronted with it, all he can feel is fear. How many times have we felt the same thing! We come to a point where we must take action, do something with ourselves and face responsibility, and it's terrifying, this fear of failure. But of course, he comes to do what is necessary, and he solemnly tells us, "From that moment on I was no longer a boy. Why should one raise up the dead and remain innocent, but raise up love and fear death? I leave that to you to figure out. I only learned in that moment that it was true" (151). And here is the climax. Peter knows who exactly who he is, what he has to do, and he accepts it. Look how much he has matured, and so have we. At the beginning we felt his confusion, and then we trailed behind him as he wandered and began to learn about himself and the strange land, and now we feel his triumph, his maturity. We are right there with him; we have grown up just as much as he has, and it is a moving moment.

It is not difficult to see the perfect fit of a coming of age story inside of the fantasy genre. The search for identity goes hand in hand with the introduction and development of a new world, and authors like Tepper are taking full advantage. But now we can see that it is more than that--this question of identity is something we all struggle with, and placing this relevant issue within a fantastic context helps us to feel familiar with the author's strange new world. Further, it creates a real connection to the characters in the book because we're right there with them as they discover who they are, and this is a wonderful thing. We become friends; we gain an understanding of each other. This is not only why so many fantasy stories raise the question of identity, but it's often one reason why they are so great.

Note

*In actuality, Peter is older (if not quite grown up) when he is telling his story, but for the purposes of this paper, this fact is of little consequence, because Peter tells the story through his adolescent eyes. He relives it for us as it actually happened, so regardless of his current age in the novel's real time, we are still receiving the young, immature Peter in King's Blood Four and experiencing the events with him as he actually experienced them.

Bibliography

Tepper, Sheri S. The True Game. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group, 1996. Print.

What Is Fantasy Fiction Able to Teach Adults?

2010-10-26T10:44:00.002-04:00

Christine Botham answers:

Fantasy fiction isn’t necessarily the most popular genre of novels that adults tend to read. It seems as though people shy away from the idea of fantasy fiction because they automatically relate it to sci-fi or deem it as being more of a children's genre. However this is exactly why I wanted to focus on the question, "What is fantasy fiction able to teach us?" I believe fantasy is important for adults to read every once in a while because it teaches us how to be kids again. It teaches us to appreciate childhood and the innocence that comes along with it. It's important for adults to come back to their feelings of child-like innocence every once in a while to escape the pressures of adulthood. However along with this idea, reverting back to innocence also shows us how as children we make adult-like decisions, maybe unknowingly at the time.

C.S. Lewis is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, which includes his novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe--a perfect example of how a fantasy story can bring a person back to childhood. The main characters in the story are four brothers and sisters who are still all children. The entrance to the magical land of Narnia is found by the youngest of the four, Lucy, while exploring the house her brothers and sisters are staying in. Naturally her brothers and sisters don't believe her about her magical world, but eventually they are all introduced to Narnia after playing a game of hide and go seek. Hide and go seek is one of the most traditional and original games that children play when they are younger and it is almost guaranteed that every child has played this game at least once while growing up, that is until you reach adulthood. Then it seems as though you only get to play such games if and when your children are growing up.

Obviously finding a magical land in a wardrobe isn't reality; however, as children we tend to let our imaginations go wild and in some cases create secret, magical places such as Narnia. Then it seems as though when we get older, we don't have time or our imaginations simply don't focus in the same mysterious ways as we did when we were children. As we get older it seems as though our fantasies change and become almost more realistic because we are so wrapped up in everyday life and responsibilities. This is another reason I feel as though fantasy is important. If our imaginations don't allow us to create these types of magical places when we're adults, we can at least read about them and imagine them as if we were children again.

Most of us as children tended to have at least one, if not multiple stuffed animals while growing up. For many children stuffed animals are like imaginary friends that they talk to, play with and take everywhere. While in Narnia the children are conversing and living amongst animals that talk, walk and live like humans, the faun, the beavers and even the powerful Aslan are all animals that live in the fantasy world of Narnia, but could also be a creation from a child's mind.

Aslan may be the most prominent character in the story, but like most people he has two extreme sides. The one the children initially see is the "good" side. The fact that the most powerful "good" guy is a lion seems almost childish and obviously is very magical and fantastic. However from a child's perspective a good lion could almost be seen as a big house cat. In the story the children hug, play, laugh and are comfortable being close to the lion and almost automatically feel a special closeness to him, the same way you might a pet. It is easy for a child to fall in love with a big, furry, cuddly and kind cat, whereas if Aslan had been an alligator, the children might not have been so comfortable. As adults we rarely get a chance to play with lions, let alone deem them as the hero.

When we are children, often times when playing make believe we imagine ourselves as Kings, Queens, Princes and Princess and living in castles. In Narnia that is the legacy of the children, to become the Kings and Queens and rule the land. "But the next day was more solemn. For then, in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel--Aslan solemnly crowned them and led them to the four thrones amid deafening shouts of, 'Long Live King Peter! Long Live Queen Susan! Long Live King Edmund! Long Live Queen Lucy!'" (Lewis, 193). As adults we are faced with the reality that most of us will not be royalty and so we don't even imagine it. But when reading about it in a fantasy novel, it allows us to picture these scenarios how we used to imagine them.

Whereas fantasy often times allows us to escape back into a childlike existence, it may also allow us to realize that as children we are faced with adversity and that it's not always free and easy. In some situations the novel reverts us back to innocence, but it can also bring on a greater appreciation for adulthood also. When the children enter Narnia they make the decisions to interact and trust the people that they do as well as take on the responsibilities of ruling a kingdom.

Upon Lucy's initial arrival into Narnia she is almost immediately introduced to a faun who calls himself Mr. Tumnus. Although the two characters had never met, they act as though they have been lifelong friends and find no fear or hesitancy in one another. "And so Lucy found herself walking through the wood arm in arm with this strange creature as if they had known one another all their lives" (Lewis, 116). This again goes to show the innocence found in children, but also that Lucy is making the conscious decision to trust a complete stranger which we normally don't do as adults because we are more aware of the risks. So where Lucy is acting as an innocent child it is also scary that she is so quickly able to trust this stranger, which as readers may allow us to greater appreciate adulthood and make more knowledgeable decisions.

Later in the story we are introduced to the Witch who is attempting to take over Narnia. When Lucy's brother Edmund meets the witch, she is originally very kind and loving towards him in attempts to get what she wants from him. Not much later in the story we witness how the witch is in fact evil and cruel, which is typical in a child's story. There always tends to be a "good" guy and a "bad" guy, and in many cases the "bad" guy is an evil witch or king. "It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King. All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded to him silly now" (Lewis, 162). This is also a classic tale that is common in children's stories but also shows how a child blinded by bribes is incapable of making the "adult-like" decisions that are necessary in certain situations.

The other side of Aslan can be left up to the readers' interpretation due to the fact that his power and beauty may also bring fear. At first the lion seems very overwhelming to the children and they do not know what to expect.

But as for Aslan himself, the Beavers and the children didn't know what to do or say when they saw him. People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly. (Lewis, 169)

This shows that even though the children's initial feelings of discomfort towards Aslan are extremely prevalent, they make the decision to join his side and trust him.

It is nice to have fantasy fiction as a means of escape from the pressures of adulthood. When nostalgia sets in, it is easy for adults to want to revert back to their childlike innocence, which is where Lewis, along with many other fantasy writers, comes in. However, fantasy also teaches us that not all of our childhood is a "summer vacation." We are constantly being faced with adversity at every age but some may just be more important and stressful as we are older, while some just goes unnoticed as children.

Work Cited

Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1951), in The Chronicles of Narnia. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.

Can Fantasy Stack up to Other Genres?

2010-10-25T14:27:00.000-04:00

Zain Syed's answer:

The fantasy genre often is among the top tier of popular culture and conversation. Perhaps the most internationally recognizable film that has ever been made, Star Wars, is a fantasy story. Certainly the most recognizable children's stories of the past century, Harry Potter, are of the fantasy genre. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, both the original novels and the newer film adaptations, is immensely popular to people of all ages. Now, the Twilight series has over taken young women and has become a staple in popular culture. Just by looking at these examples alone, it is easy to see that fantasy is exceedingly prominent in terms of popularity. And that isn't the only area in which fantasy overcomes other genres.

One of the most disputed topics of discussion when talking about fantasy is its quality. Most people will side with the idea that fantasy is of a lesser quality than nearly all other genres, simply as a rule. However, this is not the case. Because fantasy is such a broad and appealing genre, more people write fantasy. And, since a great number of people write fantasy, there is a greater chance of there being bad fantasy, if only by rule of probability. Though, admittedly, there are plenty of bad fantasy works, there is just as much good fantasy. And luckily, just like those who write it, good fantasy always outshines the bad.

There is a great breadth of different types of fantasy created by many different fantasy authors, all of whom have their own distinct styles and contributions to the genre. Fantasy authors like J.R.R Tolkien lend to betterment of fantasy and literature as a whole. Tolkien, an English professor and philologist who taught at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious schools in the world, used his incredible knowledge of words and language to create several fully developed languages for The Lord of the Rings. He also made a timeline for all of the many different races and people in Middle-Earth as well as a complete history of the world in The Silmarillion. Tolkien's work proved that fantasy can be taken seriously and gave inspiration to future fantasy writers. H.P. Lovecraft also legitimized fantasy by writing horror and, like Tolkien, stories with darker themes. Writers like Piers Anthony have made the genre more appealing to the public by writing comedic fantasy. With Mark Z. Danielewski’s The House of Leaves and Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, fantasy has implemented ergodic literature, an innovative writing style that breaks the fourth wall. Through writers like these and many more, the genre of fantasy has kept current and progressed along with, and perhaps even farther than, every other genre of literature.

Most important, fantasy does what other genres don't. That is, fantasy gives readers what they want. It doesn’t matter what a reader might want or how obscure their desire is, you can always find what you want in fantasy. This is because fantasy, unlike other genres, or rather, exponentially more so than other genres, gives back to the reader what the reader puts into a fantasy work. Readers always give their own thoughts and criticisms while reading a story, despite the genre, knowingly or not. However, fantasy is the only genre that actively recognizes this, that actively sells itself to the reader. Take relatability for example. A reader might read about a character and identify with certain traits of that character, such as courage or bravery. The character will certainly have other traits, but since the reader doesn't identify with those specific traits, the reader will ignore those attributes that they don't see in themselves. The same rule applies with the setting or plot of a fantasy story. The reader may relate to how the protagonist, say for example, has run away from his home, much like the reader may have gone away from home for an extended period of time. However, the reader will push away everything else that doesn't coincide with them, like, in this fake instance, the fact that the protagonist is a fish and that, in this hypothetical situation, if it doesn't flee from home, it'll be killed by a fisherman.

Fantasy knows this. Because of this, fantasy does match up to other genres. In fact, it surpasses them.

What Is the Value of Fantasy?

2010-10-22T15:31:00.006-04:00

The genre of fantasy is often looked down upon by scholars and everyday readers. Even people that read fantasy seem to be ashamed of the fact. When I worked at a book store, I would ask people in the fantasy section if they needed help, to which they would reply they were just ‘passing through’ the fantasy section to get to another section. There is no need for such negative feelings to exist around fantasy. Sure, there are bad fantasy writers, but there are terrible writers in every genre. In order to prove that fantasy is valuable literature, we must look at why it is useful to literary scholars as well as to an everyday reader.

Fantasy is often dismissed as escapist literature, providing nothing to its readers other than the escape. This is a huge misconception, and overlooks everything that fantasy does. Fantasy allows its readers to reflect upon their own reality in a way they might not otherwise do. When a novel presents a reader with a fantasy world, it is a world where the traditions and dogma of our own society do not fit in. Therefore, the world can take something from our world, such as religion, and apply it to this new fantasy world. When presented with it, at first glance it is not anything like the religion of our world, but when practices from this fantasy world mirror ones from our reality’s history, we can see how ridiculous they are now that they are disconnected from the way we traditionally think of them.

Literary critics are often quick to dismiss this literature. If they took the time to really look at it, though, it could fit into several schools of criticism. For example, Sheri S. Tepper’s “True Game” trilogy is perfect for the school of Formalism. Formalism looks for Defamiliarization as a means to determine the quality of a text. Defamiliarization, for those being introduced to this term for the first time, is when something we encounter in everyday life is taken outside its normal context, or described in a way that reintroduces it to those reading the text. Fantasy does this time and time again in multiple ways, reinventing worlds, history, magic, etc. In “True Game” we see a perfect example of this concept when Peter (the main character) stumbles upon what is thought to be the stronghold of magicians. What it turns out to be is a research facility full of scientists. Upon hearing the word scientist, peter believes it is “sign-tist” and in doing so defamiliarizes the reader by presenting a common thing to the reader through the characters eyes. In showing us this facility through characters that are ignorant to the culture of science, it allows us to view it differently.

The institutions that are ‘credible’ and oftentimes unquestioned begin to lose some of their prestige when looked at through the eyes of someone not brought up with the respect that they command from our culture. Science is often unquestioned and seems to be the contemporary equivalent to the medieval church. We dare not question what scientists tell us, just as medieval people did not question the word of God’s priests. By attaining the viewpoint of these characters we can discredit it and bring it back down to a human level.

The fact a simple thing such as this can spark us to question society and institutions that we often consider to be untouchable shows the value of fantasy, and the lessons it contains is not only accessible to academics, but to anyone who wants to take the time to read the books and contemplate what they are telling us. If this was a pure science fiction novel it would not be able to give the outsider view that we get when a character from a fantasy world is exposed to these Earthly elements of science fiction.

The story also calls authority and social hierarchy into question which might interest a wide variety of people (such as Marxist critics). Peter understands that pawns have been deemed expendable by gamesmen because they do not have the ‘talents’ that on Earth caused Didir (the mother of all gamesmen) to be banished from the planet and labeled a monster. In this fantasy world she is revered, but on her own home world she was thought of as some kind of force of evil. It forces us to think twice about our own beliefs and how we view those who are different from our social norms. This is especially true in America where often times we view middle eastern nations as places of terrorists, like the ‘monsters’ in Tepper’s book are viewed by these scientists; unfairly judged without any evidence.

This particular fantasy text brings up questions about society and the established way of thinking and calls readers to challenge authority and these sometimes outdated notions of what is acceptable and normal in culture. This is something authors first did in the renaissance, and many of those authors are now taught and studied in high school and college. Scholarly journals are completely dedicated to renaissance literature and how brilliant the authors were. Writers are doing this today, within the fantasy genre. If we dismiss this literature as escapist and worthless we are missing out on important messages. The outdated notion that fantasy is on the lowest rung of literature must be overthrown, just as Tepper calls us to overthrow misconceptions and contemporary false idols. Perhaps like the ‘signtists’ on Peter’s world, scholars and readers in our world are relying on false authority to tell them what is appropriate to read and study. Question to validity of the old thoughts of fantasy and it will become clear that there is plenty of valuable literature waiting to be studied.

Fantasy allows us, by giving us a new reality void of the stigma and taboos of our own world, to question things that should be questioned but are not. In a world where we let unfair stereotypes and ancient notions control the way we treat others, it is good to have a literature like fantasy which questions the validity of things such as racial tension and stereotypes. Peter wonders if it is fair to look down upon pawns, because that is the way society has always been. Is it ok to look down upon fantasy, just because that’s the way it has always been? Absolutely not, it is time to embrace the lessons fantasy can teach us, and stop believing that it is merely escapist literature.

We're Baa-aack!

2010-10-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

Just a quick heads-up to expect lots of response essays from my Fantasy Fiction course in the coming days. I'm conferencing with my awesome students on their next-to-final drafts and am excited about what they've come up with.

Light marks the good, but does religion?

2009-12-28T13:22:00.003-05:00

Religion, power, and moral goodness are all essential elements in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. In these two trilogies, these elements cooperate with each other in almost diametrically opposite ways that illustrate the changes fantasy fiction has undergone in the last fifty years. Light and darkness, used literally and metaphorically, serve to characterize the "good" and the "bad" in various ways throughout each trilogy.

J.R.R. Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford, and while he lived and worked in that area, he was for a number of years very close friends with C.S. Lewis. Biographies and letters have suggested that the two great writers engaged in many discussions about the function of Christianity in children's literature (which they were writing at the time): C.S. Lewis thought the role of Christianized religious themes should be evident and direct, whereas Tolkien opted for the understated use of religious themes. This, and various other disagreements about faith, literature, and the relationship between the two, ultimately led to the demise of the two literary giants' friendship.

What they didn't discuss was whether the correct portrayal of Christianity and spirituality in literature should be positive or negative - it's clear that both agreed it should be positive. Since he is directly relevant to our class, I'll examine how Tolkien fits into this. The overwhelming trend in his trilogy is a good-versus-bad binary, represented by those who wish to destroy the Ring and save Middle Earth versus those who wish to obtain the Ring and channel its power into destructive endeavors. The good side is staffed by the members of the Fellowship - Aragorn, a woodsman who turns out to be a king in disguise; the Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry; another man, Boromir (although he wavers in his moment of greed, when he tries to steal the ring from Frodo); the wizard Gandalf; Legolas the far-seeing elf; and the dwarf Gimli - and those who aid them: the Elves, Theodan and Eowyn and various other members of the race of Men, and a few others. The bad side is staffed by Sauron (ephemeral and evil, lurking in Mordor while he plots to attain the Ring), his henchman the evil wizard Saruman, and ranks upon ranks of foul Orcs. Each side is characterized and categorized through motivation and colorization: the "good" side is motivated by the (relatively) unselfish urge to save Middle Earth from destruction - I say relatively because most of these characters have the invested interest of living in Middle Earth - and the "bad" side is motivated by the urge to overpower and destroy, through the aid of the Ring's limitless powers, hence their urge to attain the Ring.

I mentioned colorization, too, particularly the use of light and dark. The good side is consistently characterized by pleasent, warm and lighter colors, a reference to the light motifs in the Bible that characterize elements of Good. The Shire is a place of green pleasantness, pastoral and peaceful; Gandalf the White positively glows and is always a source of light, literal and metaphorical (through his enlightening intellectual guidance), in dark places; the Elves glow as they walk through Rivendell and heal the wounded travelers. This use of light functions as a metaphorical reference to the role of light as a marker of the good in the Bible: Christ refers to himself as "the light of the world," while the devil is frequently referred to as the "Prince of Darkness."

Light - metaphorical and physical - and dark frame and categorize the two clearly opposed sides in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, tying it back into the ideals and the divisions of Biblical Christian narratives. In Philip Pullman's texts, the divisions are very different: the Church is a force of pain, grief, evil, and destruction, is positioned opposite the main characters who are signified as "good" through their actions and motivations. However, I'll argue here that light still functions as an indicator of the "good" and the "bad."

The Church, a fragmented organization made up of a variety of committees and sub-groups, funds various endeavors including torture and painful experimentation on children. Priests who are trying to obtain information about Lyra's whereabouts make references to "going downstairs," a suggestion that pales the complexions of others and is a veiled reference to torturing individuals in order to discover said information. In the war that Lyra and Will are unwittingly involved in, the Church is the "bad" side, characterized by actions such as this. Lyra's cohorts, the Gyptians, the Witches, and the armored bears (among others) do not engage in torture, nor do they use the painful and vicious "intercision" operation to forcefully sever children from their daemons, as the Oblation Board of the Church is doing. By default alone, Lyra's side is idealized in comparison to the dark counterpart that the Church presents.

Light gently but persistently characterizes the "good" side of Philip Pullman's diametrically divided narrative, too. Lyra's Golden Compass is a lightly colored object that presents "illuminating" truth throughout the three novels; Lyra herself has blondish-brown hair that glows golden in the sunlight and gives her away as a non-Gyptian, since she is lacking in their characteristically dark hair; another necessary and pivotal magical tool, the Amber Spyglass, utlizes light to function; and, in the triumphant climax of the third book The Amber Spyglass, when Lyra and Will discover their love for one another, they return to Mary Malone coated in glowing gold dust, as viewed through the Spyglass itself. Pullman is not afraid to use the light-soaked imagery that, historically, connotes "good."

Contrary to Tolkien, Pullman's references to Christian religion are specific and unabashedly negative, as mentioned previously - interestingly, Pullman uses the light-dark vocabularly which is strongly rooted in the Christian tradition as he deconstructs its moral standing throughout his narrative. The elements he chooses to illuminate as good include curious, brave, and selfless characters, and as a general rule, consciousness, which is characterized as Dust or light-filled particles that settle on individuals who have passed through puberty. Doing so creates an interesting dialogue with Tolkien, whose Christian undertones preserved the "good" perception of the Church while he used light in some similar ways to Pullman.

Women as Mirrors: Thomas Covenant, Reflected

2009-12-28T12:41:00.002-05:00

Virginia Woolf claimed that a woman is forced to function as a mirror to reflect back the image of a man, usually at twice his physical size, like a funhouse mirror. Throughout years of feminist literary criticism, this idea rises over and over again, and it's evident in the Chronicles of Sir Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. Lena and his ex-wife Joan are primary examples that I shall explore.

Joan is presented primarily in a retrospective light, framed by the hazy glow of Covenant's memories: at the onset of the first book in the trilogy, Joan has already left her husband, taking their only child with her. Covenant's leprosy diagnosis catalyzes her departure: they learn that children are more susceptible to his illness, and Joan chooses to leave the state with their child, in order to protect the boy from potential contracting Covenant's disease.

Thomas is crippled by her disappearance. His memories of Joan haunt and sustain him, simultaneously, since they are used as evidence of how stable and pleasant his life was before the leprosy arrived. His wife was a primary source of support, as evidenced by the situation where she firmly instructed her husband to isolate himself in their cabin and get some writing done on his next book. Both Covenant and Joan know that he writes best (and can move through his writer's block) when all distractions are absent, but she takes the step of lovingly insisting that he remain undisturbed. (This is before the leprosy attack's Covenant's body.) Covenant acknowledges his wife's correct assumptions and willingly isolates himself with his writing, and the words immediately begin to flow: as his book rapidly takes form, it is clear that Joan's prognosis for his writer's block was correct, and that she does know what is best for her husband, and is willing to act on it.

However, she is also willing and able to act on what she feels is best for their newborn son, too, and does so when Covenant is diagnosed with leprosy. Obliterated by grief and loneliness, the protagonist Covenant sinks into depression. Not long after, he is ushered into the other-world of the Land and begins his journey there, yet still, the memories of Joan haunt him just as clearly and painfully as they did in his own world: when Lena, his guide and first friend in the Land, presses him for details about his marriage and past loves, Covenant is riddled with emotional pain and is momentarily paralyzed by memories of Joan, and it is these emotions which feed his anger and rage, which are all directed at Lena as he rapes her.

In this pivotal moment, everything we learn about Covenant's character is defined by the women around him, past and present. From Lena, a sweet, innocent teenage girl lacking in guile and full of optimism, we learn that Covenant is capable of violently inflicting pain upon innocent people around him, even those to whom he owes his life and his companionship, in Lena's case (she found him and helped him descend from the watchtower where Covenant first was deposited when he was transported to the Land, and informed him about his entirely alien surroundings as she took him back to her hometown for shelter and sustenance). This episode also characterizes Covenant as highly sexualized, erratic, and unstable. His uncontrollable rage is thrown into high relief by Lena's uninformed fear - she is frightened, but doesn't even understand what Covenant is going to do to her until it is too late. Her innocence, so prevalent and so entirely destroyed, make his crime all the worse. Joan's presence in his mind and therefore the rape itself reflects back on Covenant, too - it shows that the wounds her departure left are still raw, and capable of inspiring incredible rage and destructive actions, emphasizing how important Joan was to her husband in the dramatic nature of his reactions.

Joan is occasionally present in Covenant's present, too. At the beginning of the second book, she calls him at their old home. Covenant has been transported back from the Land and is available to answer the phone, but is completely immobilized by the sound of a voice he has desperately missed. Overcome with powerful emotions, Covenant stumbles around his home and trips (again, his actions show how quickly these strong, women-inspired emotions manifest themselves in his physical capabilities and reactions). The subsequent fall and blow to the head contribute to his second trip to the Land. As soon as he arrives, Covenant is furious, beside himself: he demands to go back. He screams at everyone around him that "my wife" was in contact with him, that he has to go back, needs to. He begs and pleads. All dignity and reticence in a character previously marked by a surly lack of speech and short, abrupt sentences are thrown to the wind as he desperately babbles, trying to convince the council that he must return to the world where Joan exists and is reaching out to him.

This moment humanizes Covenant in a way that I never saw before: suddenly, his emotional range grows: beyond the bitterness, regret and apathy that solely ran his character in the first book, he suddenly displays a passionate grief, dedication, and desperate love. The remarkable absence of apathy in this moment shows the impact that Joan has on him, even now, and would not have been visible had her character not arrived in the narrative's present to contact the protagonist.

Without Lena and Joan, Thomas Covenant would be an apathetic ball of self-centered bitterness, defined solely by his disease and his constant battle with it. These two women and his thoughts and interactions with them emphasize other aspects of his personality: rage, violence, grief, and love. Without these aspects, there would be very little for the reader to relate to, in my opinion. Through the mirrored reflections of Covenant that we receive from his interactions with these characters - who seem to exist solely for this purpose - his character would lack depth and emotional complexity.

Check It Out: Fall 2009 Student Web Projects

2009-12-23T14:07:00.000-05:00

From ENGL 208/AMST 210: American Popular and Mass Cultures

Disney vs. Grimm
Panic at the Cinema
Video Games and Film
Viral Media Check

And don't miss Steve Bosco's post on his decision to re-score the "star gate" sequence in Stanley Kubrick's 2001.

From ENGL 427: Major Writers

Gary Aloisio on myth and Tolkien, Donaldson, and Pullman
Max Soule-Oneto on Pullman's His Dark Materials

Villarejo vs. Armitt Book Review

2009-12-22T00:10:00.000-05:00

Introductory books, as their label implies, are intended to provide the reader with an insightful overview of a topic, allowing them to further study the subject with a greater sense of familiarity. The two books under review are both attempts at providing a relatively unfamiliar reader with the basics in specified areas of study: film studies and fantasy fiction. Authors Lucie Armitt and Amy Villarejo have produced such introductory guides in Fantasy Fiction: an Introduction and The Basics: Film Studies respectively. This review seeks to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both volumes concerning their introductory nature while also providing a critique of their arguments and overall content. Lastly, conclusions can be drawn as to what should be included in introductory texts and why Armitt and Villarejo should differ, considering their differing subject areas.

Structural and General Value

Some may think it would be superficial to discuss the structure and lay-out of a book in its review. Normally this would be a sound assumption but recognizing the fact that these are in fact meant to be basic introductory texts, structure is actually quite relevant to their overall value.

When looking at the overall layout structure of both works, Villarejo’s Film Studies has provided a much more guided form of presentation than does Armitt. Villarejo provides an introductory chapter that cites brief historical references to film and cinema while also presenting the difference between the two concepts and how she will use them. The use of subtitles is utilized well by her with these concepts with “What is Film?” and “ What is Cinema?”.[1] Both of these sections truly provide an overview for a reader nearly completely removed from film studies. Furthermore, she states the assumptions she has made about the reading audience flat out. Villarejo states in the opening page:

“If you’ve picked up this book to learn something about what it means to study film, you already know in large measure what cinema is: you’ve been watching movies since you first toddled out to the family television, or since you braved your first excursion to multiplex matinee.” [2]

Any assumptions Villarejo has made before producing this book are laid out while also recommending quasi-requirements for reading her book. Even before the above statement is made by Villarejo the back cover is a list of what Film Studies will teach you:

· The movie industry, from Hollywood to Bollywood

· Who does what on a film set

· The history, the technology and the art of cinema

· Theories of stardom, genre and film-making[3]

Armitt’s Fantasy Fiction on the other hand, never states these as Villarejo does in her introduction. It is difficult to find where she is heading from the first chapter. This will be discussed in a more thorough manner later in this review, but Armitt fails to fully define “fantasy fiction” in the eleven page introduction, she merely dances around the topic. Her layout of the chapter confuses the reader and often is not sticking to the goal of the chapter, if its name “What is Fantasy Writing?” is supposed to give the reader an idea of what she is going to ramble about.[4] For instance, an overarching set of specific goals for the book would have been a much appreciated addition in an introductory reader’s eyes. In chapter seven, “Fantasy Criticism”, Armitt begins by discussing Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale as him “setting out to classify fairytales on the basis of an identifiable list of core narrative functions, his project being to categorize precisely” what it was to be a fairytale.[5] Armitt should do so for her own project or at least provide a much more thorough introduction that doesn’t involve quoting random passages or arguments from people who are never explained (Maureen Duffy, Lilian R. Furst, etc). Villarejo states a goal in her opening chapter in order to brace the reader for what is to come. Her “overarching goal is to offer the reader an exposure to the infectious enthusiasm, if not mania, that is cinephilia, while simultaneously providing a grounding in the study of cinema that will make future viewing more rewarding.”[6]

To return to more general aspects of both Armitt and Villarejo’s texts, a fairly superficial, but much needed assessment of basic components will be discussed. For introductory texts for introductory readers, it can be assumed that glossaries containing important names, subjects, concepts, and other words would be included at the end of the book. Both authors provide this but there is a slight difference between the two. Villarejo uses the glossary as a way to organize the series of highlighted words in the book that litter the pages. While the terms may seem juvenile or reminiscent of grade school “vocab words”, they assisted the reader extensively in grasping major concepts while reading. Furthermore, chapter organization and titles give the reader an idea of what to expect and easily refer back to when reading. Armitt obviously is trying to follow the criteria set out by the publishing series guidelines about what are in their “An Introduction” books. Armitt takes a more creative approach than does Villarejo, but still sticking to the nine criteria laid out on the back of her book. This could have been benefited by adding specific examples of what would be learned, and not generic requirements to be part of the “Continuum Studies in Literary Genre” series. Villarejo does a fine job of creating chapters that can be identified with ease, as she ends every title with “of film”. Furthermore, she ends every chapter with a summary from which to sum up the chapter with.

Content and Arguments

To be blunt, Fantasy Fiction often offers an argumentative approach to presenting information in the book while Film Studies presents information in a neutral and nearly playful approach (example: “Actors also do, of course, talk, fight, fuck, kill, curse and cross-dress…).[7] Keeping this in mind, the following section will often connect to the above statement.

Armitt while has some strong points in her book, there are major flaws with the way it is presented and the credibility of her arguments. The begin, Armitt fails to cite an extensive about of fantasy fiction in the book. In nearly every chapter, Lord of the Rings or Tolkien represent a large aspect of the arguments she is making. For instance, in the second chapter, Armitt cites LOTR to illustrate Christian metaphors in fantasy fiction and then again uses a quote from Tolkien to show the way in which fantasy can “empower a storyteller” a page later.[8] In the next chapter, Tolkien is utilized in criticizing the dream vision that is used in the story of Alice in Wonderland. Armitt quotes him as stating that the dream vision is using “the machinery of Dream” to produce “a good picture in the disfiguring frame”. Armitt also uses LOTR to discuss the dream vision further, this time with the characters of Frodo and Merry in The Return of the King and in The Fellowship of the Ring. The next four to five pages of the chapter are essentially a discussion of the medieval dream vision in terms of Tolkien and the LOTR trilogy. The “Medieval Dream Vision” section of this chapter is eight pages long and five of them are almost entirely about LOTR (Armitt references a slew of characters and events while also referencing all three books in the trilogy). The opening discussion of the section is quite helpful in learning a brief history of the dream vision in fantasy fiction and connecting it to medieval poetry and storytelling. The story of the 8^th century character Drycthelm and the Bible’s Book of Daniel are entirely relevant to the process of understanding the dream vision, but Armitt quickly turns to LOTR as the main subject of her argument. The use of Tolkien is no exception to the rule of Fantasy Fiction. His opinions and writing are used as scaffolding to Armitt’s “introduction” to fantasy.

To continue, Tolkien is used again in the Best and Best Known chapter of the book. In fact, Tolkien is downright overused. It seems appropriate that since LOTR is such a well known work of fantasy fiction, it should be used in this chapter. Not only does Tolkien and LOTR receive their very own section in the chapter, but are featured in almost every section of the sixty page discussion of the “best and best known”. A section entitled “Other Desires: Homoeroticism and the Feminine” can be boiled down to the following:

The First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine have examples of the competing visions of masculine. I, Lucie Armitt will do an extremely blunt, not to mention poor, job of explaining the reasons why and will point to the conclusion of a person named Hume (who I will also not introduce or explain) as the main reason of why women are “absent” in fantasy fiction. After barely a page of this empty argument, I will connect this to Lord of the Rings, because that is what I do best. O ya, Frodo and Sam are sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! They are gay because there are no women in the books, so naturally, Sam has to compensate for the lack of estrogen in Lord of the Rings. I will connect the limp-wristed nancy-boys to the lack of women in the books for the next eight pages and end the chapter with Beowulf, just for good measure, ya know?

Hyperbolic as the summary is, one could say that hyperbole is the way Armitt would have liked it that way.

There are further arguments that Armitt makes in Fantasy Fiction that can be seen as flawed. To narrow them down, one in particular, that personally is disagreed with is the discussion of utopia within fantasy pieces. The first paragraph alone is enough to make any political scientist or historian cringe. Armitt states: “It seems to me that the utopian impulse-the desire to go ‘beyond’-underlies all fantasy writing, even, paradoxically, of the darkest kind.”[9] Firstly, to say that a utopia is to go “beyond” is an extremely opinionated statement. Where is this grounded? Armitt does little to defend this claim. On the very next page she becomes incredibly confusing. She explains that the word ‘utopia’ is derived from the Greek ‘outopia’ meaning ‘non-place’ and was then changed over time to ‘eutopia’ meaning ‘good place’.[10] Armitt does throughout the chapter illustrate utopia as a theme in fantasy fiction, but she clouds it by attempting to define it. She adds not just her fantasy opinion of the term, but continues on to the Greek origins previously mentioned, and then moves to Angelika Bammer’s “A utopia is the fictional representation of an ideal polity. It is political in nature, narrative in form, literary only in part”.[11] To explain Brammer’s definition, Armitt is surprising clear on the literary aspect of the definition. She does well with connecting the idea of utopia to the island theme easily seen in Utopia and Gulliver’s Travels. This is a great connection to make considering Thomas More practically laid the groundwork for the concept of utopia in a political and literary standpoint. But as Armitt continues, she uses The First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine and actually begins to discredit the concept of a utopia in fantasy novels. Furthermore, she is using a definition of utopia that is never identified or supported. As stated, More and Swift have identifiable aspects of utopia that are explained quite well. But these aspects of utopia are not seen in the works of H.G. Wells that Armitt is trying to illustrate. She is only using the argument of Brammer to make any conclusions in her own studies that “conventional utopias thus embody an inherent contradiction…they tend to reinforce established was of thinking even as they set out to challenge them”.[12] Aside from a personal disagreement with this statement, this is moreover what seems to be stretching to meet an argument. There may be sound arguments in support of utopia being “an underlying feature of all major modes of fantasy” but Armitt frankly doesn’t convince the introductory reader.

Not to completely disapprove of Armitt, but Villarejo does not take an argumentative approach to the study of film. This review could attempt at discrediting the information presented in the introduction to the subject, but the writer is simply not informed enough on the study of film to take on this matter. But the largest letdown of Film Studies is the sheer amount of information presented to the reader. Above, the point was made that the use of highlighted terms made the book easier to process. But this could be considered a downfall as well. The second chapter, Language of Film is especially confusing to go through. There is an overwhelming amount of information to take in. This could be considered the most technical of chapters, along with a good portion of chapter four as well. The section on film analysis was extremely beneficial to a layman. To cut down the entire sub-sections into the presentation of setting, how and why actors dress, lighting, and figure behavior. Furthermore, Villarejo introduces editing and cinematography through sound and blue screen techniques. These are all aspects of analyzing film that can and should be presented to a beginner in the study of film. In the third chapter, The History of Film, Villarejo provides an interesting way of viewing the “periodization” that stood out particularly. She explains that by viewing movies by the period they are produced, rather than set decades, is the only way to truly analyze the way in which they were made; using “parameters” of major events instead of year-defined eras.[13] Villarejo provides a book that is difficult to contest without having more knowledge of film. The book almost never tends to make arguments, there is, as mentioned before, a rather informal tone to Villarejo’s writing that provides an ease of reading. The reader is not overwhelmed with excessive opinion or criticism.

Connections, Considerations, and Conclusions

Both Villarejo’s Film Studies and Armitt’s Fantasy Fiction contain sections or passages about the “best of” in their respective fields. Villarejo explains the subject quite in depth by providing reasons why critics and film institutions go to such lengths to identify the best films. Some of these considerations include “profit, ‘must-have’ value for the film-lover’s library”, and “free-flattery (you have good taste)”.[14] The most important aspect of Villarejo’s section on the subject is that she actually provides the source of the best films. She cites organizations such as the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute (BFI) to credit the lists of the best films that she describes. Moreover, these examples of the best films she utilizes are films that are known to an introductory reader. This is what Villarejo also does quite, not only does she keep these examples in the sections about the best films, but puts forth these films as examples all throughout the book.

Armitt on the other hand, has an introductory reader nearly convinced that she has never read a fantasy fiction novel aside from Lord of the Rings. Every chapter is littered with what she thinks are paragons of fantasy fiction but leave the reader a muddled concoction of examples that try to be fantasy, not conventional prototypes of the genre. Armitt defends herself concerning this issue. She states: “Genre is a great structural underpinning for the development of ideas, but as a narrative framework it quickly runs its course. Newer areas of fantasy should identify themselves less in terms of genre and more in terms of ideas and motifs.”[15] These two lines almost salvage the lack of fantasy fiction she provides in her introduction to the literary genre. She may not have been intending to confuse the reader, in fact, it would be ridiculous to assume so. But this is probably the single greatest downfall of her book. She is attempting to break the mold when the mold is what is needed for an introductory text. Genre, in the case of Fantasy Fiction: An Introduction, truly requires a stable, easily-defined boundary of its limitations as a form of literature. Armitt’s argumentative analysis tends to overwhelm the reader, forcing him/her to pick through the critical debris to find grounds for a general introduction to the topic. Villarejo too, addresses the concept of genre in Film Studies, but as expected, in a much more technical approach to the topic (she introduces the concept as a way to pick out costumes). “Because genre is an effect of repetition, we learn its codes so that we can quickly orient ourselves to the iteration of a given story.”[16] Armitt could have benefited from applying this connotation the “genre” and provided conventional books and works to illustrate fantasy fiction.

The further conclude, Villarejo and Armitt have both produced introductory texts that contain their own strengths and weaknesses. By observing these, one could suggest the aspects that should be considered when creating an introductory text. Firstly, argumentative analysis should be minimal and only used when it is necessary in the basic sense. Additionally, overtly technical lingo should be minimal as well, something Villarejo tends to bore and overwhelm the reader with. Secondly, general components should include basic essentials such as a glossary, introduction chapter, and easily readable chapters. Lastly, the authors should maintain a sense of credibility in there writing. To be blunt, Armitt often seems as though she is incompetent in discussing fantasy fiction. There is little she provides that exemplifies an in depth knowledge of the genre. Villarejo continually provides easily understood information, even though at times there is an abundance of technical information that is over the head of many basic readers. To digress slightly, a simple point should be made. Armitt is discussing a genre, a specific and narrow topic, while Villarejo is introducing an entire subject. This would be like Armitt introducing fiction, and not just fantasy fiction. There would likely be less argumentative analysis if she had more information to cover. In the creation of an introductory text, it may be said that the content and difficulty of the read is to a certain extent, subjective. This is not to say that Villarejo and Armitt’s topics do not have similar introductory considerations, but they are difficult to completely compare in this sense.

[1] Villarejo, ch.1

[2] Pg. 1

[3] Pg. I

[4] Armitt, ch.1

[5] Pg. 193

[6] Villarejo, pg. 12

[7] Villarejo, pg. 35

[8] Armitt, pg.15

[9] Armitt, pg.113

[10] Armitt, pg. 114

[11] Pg. 114

[12] Pg. 126

[13] Villarejo, pg. 60-61

[14] Villarejo, pg. 113

[15] Armitt, pg. 189

[16] Villarejo, pg. 34

Donaldson: A series atop quicksand

2009-12-21T13:48:00.002-05:00

The main problem i had reading Donaldson wasn't his writing skills, or his character development, or his plot devices. The problem i had was the response from the majority of the class and their overall pessimism for the book. I remember talking with a few classmates on the day before we were to begin the Donaldson series as a class, and the overwhelming consensus was that the books were worthless and reading it was going to be a huge chore.

This was only the initial barrier i had to get through to try to find reading Donaldson a pleasant experience. Not only was the class's reaction abysmal, but i didn't really want to read the series either. I researched what the series was about and found that i was not excited to read about a leper and his struggles, and i only imagined the fantasy aspect to be ridiculous and not a fun read. God that was an understatement wasn't it? I had just finished plowing through the last bit of Tolkien (yes, for the first time) and reading Pullman's trilogy, which i really enjoyed. So, to say the least i wasn't ready, quite yet, to take on the story of a man with leprosy in the midst of the class's appalled disbelief at the reading choice.

So i am dredging through Donaldson at a snail's pace, reading about a man with a disposition I'd like to beat out of... though i can't help but understand his situation and actually pity the man, until class's first discussion and the profound rape scene. The class lost it, my enjoyment was at an all-time low... and it was low, and before this i genuinely wanted to continue. But i couldn't force myself to through the pessimism and my own disappoint with the book.

So my question is this: Was Donaldson doomed straight from the beginning? Simply because he followed Tolkien, obviously the class standard in fantasy fiction? Donaldson was not holding his own as a major writer, but i do believe if i had read this over the summer, without the negativity from class, i would have probably finished the first three books... probably wouldn't have gone on though...

Sam's Little Contribution to the World

2009-12-21T13:37:00.002-05:00

Yo
It's ya boy Sammy G
I'd like to take this time to represent this trilogy.
Eveything you see, only time will tell,
But eventually this place is gonna be hell.
A little ole' ring is the bane of our existence.
Only nine small walkers to put up a resistance.
Runnin' our errand for the freedom of our nation,
Big bad voodoo tryna kill all of creation.
Sauron is a punk, sittin' alone up in his tower,
Without his ring, he aint got no stinkin' power.

Rise up with the nine, we gotta take our place
We savin' the lives of every single race.
Rise up with me, the nine will stand tall
Leave your fears behind, we'll scale the tower wall.
Throw the ring inside, it is our only choice,
If Sauron is brought down our people will rejoice.

Saruman and Sauron, together they stand.
Against our goal of goals,
The Orcs outnumber man.
Battle after battle, the closer we strive,
Harder our accounts, at least we're still alive
Boromir goes down, the walkers are in ruin.
Frodo makes a break, Samwise is hot pursiun'
This leg of our journey, commences at last.
The tower stands before us, a symbol of the past.

Rise up with the nine, we gotta take our place.
We're savin' the lives of every single race.
Rise up with me, the nine will stand tall.
Leave your fears behind, we'll scale the tower wall.
Throw the ring inside, it is our only choice,
If Sauron is brought down, our people will rejoice!

The gates at last, the crevice of hell
Bring light to middle earth, evils dispel
A creature and a nightmare, tumbling in
Our mission a success, Gamgee for the win!