Heroic fantasy: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 17:47, 29 February 2012

Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy which chronicles the tales of heroes in imaginary lands.^{[citation needed]} Unlike stories of sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy narratives tend to be intricate in plot, often involving many peoples, nations and lands. Grand battles and the fate of the world are common themes, and there is typically some emphasis on a universal conflict between good and evil. ^{[citation needed]}

Characteristics

Always, the protagonist is reluctant to be a champion and is of low or humble origin, and frequently has royal ancestors or parents but does not know it. Through events usually beyond his control, he is thrust into positions of great responsibility where his mettle is tested in a number of spiritual and physical challenges. Although it shares many of the basic themes of Sword and Sorcery the term 'Heroic fantasy' is often used to avoid the garish overtones of the former.^[1]

History

Evolution

Initially indistinguishable from the earlier fantasies of William Morris, ER Eddison, Evangeline Walton, T.H. White (in his Once and Future King) and C. S. (Jeff)Haneman, heroic fantasy began to codify and accrue genre conventions following the upsurge of popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, which led to an increase in popularity of fantasy fiction in general.

The scholarship of writer and editor Lin Carter also exerted vast influence. As editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy line, Carter, in effect created a literary canon of significant fantasy works which though it included the works of pulp writers Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft included other writers not working in that tradition. Carter restored writers such as Eddison and Walton from obscurity.

From the 1970s onwards, a number of authors began publishing longer, sometimes formulaic, fantasy works and capitalized on the market that the success of Tolkien's work had shown existed. Though not in itself technically fantasy (though frequently described as "space fantasy"), the 1977 film Star Wars exerted considerable influence. At the same time, sword and sorcery (a form previously most associated with genre fantasy) underwent a short resurgence. Michael Moorcock, a sharp critic of Tolkien and his school, which he considered inherently politically conservative, made pains to distance himself from it. ^{[citation needed]}

Heroic Fantasy in the Modern Age

Many new authors now shed, at least partly, the traditional concepts of heroes and even of good and evil.^{[citation needed]} They tend, like George RR Martin, Robert Jordan, or Robin Hobb, to use several viewpoints, of "heroes" or "villains", and to blur the distinction between those two categories.^{[citation needed]}

Jacqueline Carey has, in her The Sundering duology portrayed an evil god and his army as the protagonists. She shows them not as inherently evil, but as the victims of betrayal and bad choices. On the other hand, the "good side" are shown as arrogant, narrow-minded, and unforgiving. In other words, there is not much difference between the two sides. Even the "evil" god has been forced into the role, not by fate, but because of his brother's pride. Another one of Carey's protagonists, Phèdre is a virtuous and strong young woman who happens to be a masochistic courtesan.

Martin has offered a revisionist presentation of the "usual" heroes, such as the chivalric knight, by showing some as murderers, bullies and rapists and while kings and regents may be uncaring manipulators while a few struggle to be decent while fulfilling a greater duty. Powerless commoners, who struggle to survive during a civil war that does not concern them, are often as brutal as their overlords or sometimes heroic.

A popular example of self-parodying heroic fantasy is provided by the British writer Terry Pratchett, whose parodies of the genre are widely acknowledged as a prime example of British humour.

In recent years, heroic fantasy has matured somewhat out of its staid image as sub-par 'fat fantasy', becoming a genre of its own, the best examples of which have received much praise ^{[citation needed]}.

Selected authors

Quotations

"Heroic fantasy" is the name I have given to a subgenre of fiction, otherwise called the "sword-and-sorcery" story. It is a story of action and adventure laid in a more or less imaginary world, where magic works and where modern science and technology have not yet been discovered. The setting may (as in the Conan stories) be this Earth as it is conceived to have been long ago, or as it will be in the remote future, or it may be another planet or another dimension.
Such a story conbines [sic] the color and dash of the historical costume romance with the atavistic supernatural thrills of the weird, occult, or ghost story. When well done, it provides the purest fun of fiction of any kind. It is escape fiction wherein one escapes clear out of the real world into one where all men are strong, all women beautiful, all life adventurous, and all problems simple, and nobody even mentions the income tax or the dropout problem or socialized medicine.
— L. Sprague de Camp, introduction to the 1967 Ace edition of Conan.

References

^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Heroic fantasy", p 464 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

External links

[1] John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Heroic fantasy", p 464 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

[1]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ==Characteristics==
-Frequently, the [[protagonist]] is reluctant to be a champion and is of low or humble origin, and frequently has royal ancestors or parents but does not know it. Through events usually beyond his control, he is thrust into positions of great responsibility where his mettle is tested in a number of spiritual and physical challenges. Although it shares many of the basic themes of [[Sword and Sorcery]] the term 'Heroic fantasy' is often used to avoid the garish overtones of the former.<ref>John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Heroic fantasy", p 464 ISBN 0-312-19869-8</ref>
+Always, the [[protagonist]] is reluctant to be a champion and is of low or humble origin, and frequently has royal ancestors or parents but does not know it. Through events usually beyond his control, he is thrust into positions of great responsibility where his mettle is tested in a number of spiritual and physical challenges. Although it shares many of the basic themes of [[Sword and Sorcery]] the term 'Heroic fantasy' is often used to avoid the garish overtones of the former.<ref>John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Heroic fantasy", p 464 ISBN 0-312-19869-8</ref>
 ==History==
 ===Evolution===
-Initially indistinguishable from the earlier fantasies of [[William Morris]], [[Eric Rücker Eddison|ER Eddison]], [[Evangeline Walton]], [[T.H. White]] (in his ''[[Once and Future King]]'') and [[C. S. Lewis]], heroic fantasy began to codify and accrue [[genre convention]]s following the upsurge of popularity of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'', which led to an increase in popularity of fantasy fiction in general.
+Initially indistinguishable from the earlier fantasies of [[William Morris]], [[Eric Rücker Eddison|ER Eddison]], [[Evangeline Walton]], [[T.H. White]] (in his ''[[Once and Future King]]'') and [[C. S. (Jeff)Haneman]], heroic fantasy began to codify and accrue [[genre convention]]s following the upsurge of popularity of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'', which led to an increase in popularity of fantasy fiction in general.
 The scholarship of writer and editor [[Lin Carter]] also exerted vast influence. As editor of the [[Ballantine Adult Fantasy]] line, Carter, in effect created a [[literary canon]] of significant fantasy works which though it included the works of pulp writers [[Robert E. Howard]] and [[H. P. Lovecraft]] included other writers not working in that tradition. Carter restored writers such as Eddison and Walton from obscurity.