 Fantasy: May 15, 2013 Issue [#5672] |
  Fantasy
This week: Martial Fantasy Edited by: Satuawany  
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Lord Norry Wolfsbane  brings us this week's newsletter article. He is a member and founder of fantasy writing and reviewing groups, comes from a portfolio of fantasy stories and articles, and---as a great segue from asymmetrical's newsletter---dragons.
For a look at the fiction side of Lord Norry, check out a couple of his works:
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A great many Fantasy stories include descriptions of warfare and military exploits, sweeping battle scenes and the heroics that go with such things. How does one write about warfare? Particularly if one has never been in a Military organisation or personally experienced war and all its horrors.
I think that it is fair to say most authors set their Fantasy stories in an alternative time, perhaps a Medieval setting with warriors on horseback wearing armour, or foot soldiers in chain-mail wielding pike or lance. To make a story compelling the writer has to provide an element of realism by incorporating accurate details of the fighting style, battle tactics, weaponry etc. of the real-world time period that inspired the story setting. It would be incongruous to have a cavalry charge scattered by a gatling gun, or to have gunpowder-based artillery in an Iron age setting.
Certainly in the "normal" world we live in this would almost be true. However there are many examples of so-called primitives being defeated by advanced technologies. For example, the Inca and Maya peoples only had stone edged weapons when the conquistadors arrived with steel armour and gunpowder weapons. Huge discrepancies in the abilities of peoples to engage in war can happen, and since we deal in fantasy we need to come up with a scenario whereby this can be accepted by the reader. Namely through world-building.
Of necessity then we need to construct our worlds in such a way that the internal structure of the world allows for the exceptional and improbable to happen, and be believable to our audience. The writer also needs to consider the impact magic or the involvement of fantasy creatures or alien races may have on the outcome of any battle or skirmish. So the question presents itself. "How much knowledge of matters military does the author really need?"
What sort of research does one need to do in order to construct a believable military picture in one's stories? In my own case I find that reading outside the genre has great benefits. For example, reading The Iliad by Homer helps us to understand the mentality of the participants in that conflict. Homer actually describes the kinds of wounds that a lance inflicts in fair detail, which could add to the realism of our writing. For example, a passage from the first battle scene in The Iliad reads thus:
"The foe rush'd furious as he pants for breath,
And through his navel drove the pointed death:
His gushing entrails smoked upon the ground,
And the warm life came issuing from the wound."
It may be poetry, yet the images conjured up are, nonetheless, vivid.
David Gemmel wrote a series of fantasy books about Parmenion, one of Alexander the Great's Generals. It was fiction, but he obviously did a great deal of research into the way that the Spartans trained and fought. He had Parmenion trained in the Agoge in Sparta, where the young lads of about seven years of age were trained to fight as Hoplites. This training kept Spartan soldiers as the "Special Forces" of the day for hundreds of years, and this training led directly to the heroic but doomed action at Thermopylae. Reading material like this allows us a shortcut through more arduous research and still allows us to paint a compelling picture of the military endeavors and the daily lives of the common soldiers and officers of our Fantasy worlds. Admittedly, we have to adapt what we learn and make it fit the worlds we build.
Reading actual history can also give us an insight into how these conflicts arose. Herodotus' Histories provides background into the way that empires rose and fell in Pre-Christian times. He wrote in great detail concerning the rise of Cyrus the Great, first King of the Persian Empire and Conqueror of Babylon. The Sun Tzu helps us to understand military thinking, logistics or supply lines, intelligence or "Knowing the enemy." Xenophon's and Thucydides' writings provide vast detail on how campaigns and battles in their own time periods were carried out. Now, I'm not suggesting we become experts in all the styles of warfare which exist, however I do maintain that having a grasp of how these things work will have a good effect on the believability of the stories we write.
The Song of Ice and Fire by GRR Martin is full of authentic detail of the weapons and tactics of Medieval warfare. Mr Martin describes them in sufficient detail to engage the reader. His research must have been extensive and thorough. This example of attention to these details enhanced the enjoyment I took from his work. Therefore, we too should include enough details in our stories to enhance our readers' enjoyment similarly.
Battle scenes may play relatively minor roles in our stories, but the details should be believable so that the reader can be drawn into our world. Making gaffes, or slipping out of the real-world time period we are setting our stories in, will spoil the enjoyment of our readers. Since they read this genre they are likely to have a fair understanding of these things anyway. Whether we are aiming to have a paying public in the traditional press, or if we just want to have our ports to be a regular stopping place for WDC members, we need to have a reasonably solid understanding of matters military.
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An old soldier keeps watch & reflects on his career. Feel free to suggest a better title.
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Feedback from "Multicultural, Metaphysical Dragons" by asymmetrical:
Lynn McKenzie : Excellent newsletter, asymmetrical! While I'm still not certain I believe in real dragons, your article certainly gave me a lot of information to mull over. Perhaps I'll try writing a dragon story.
asymmetrical: Thanks, Lynn! I’m not out to make converts, but in my defense I will say my definition of “real” has multiple levels. And I’d love to see a dragon story from you!
canardly : I am new to this website, am feeling my way around. I write these brief poems/short stories about a place called Lost Lake. Dragons, pixies, a wizard, Chronicle the hero. I've posted my latest here if you'd like to have a look. Thanx for your time.
asymmetrical: Thanks for sharing!
Silverwindrose Dragon Minstrel : I love the way you have brought attention to dragons. I have a habit of writing about these interesting beings. It dose not seem to be anything they will not try to get done what they need to do.
Ok, what do I mean?
In many stories dragons take virgins from villages so that the villagers are to scared to hunt them down. I have found stories where dragons go out of their way as to protect the very village they took the virgins from.
Yet I seem to find another side to dragons. The young ones we no longer hear about the ones still learning were their place in the world they live in is. They might not be real in the sense of seeing them, but they are there to explain how and or why things are done.
There is an oriental story about a dragon that is more about believing in the unseen than having to see to believe.
I do not know if dragons are real. I like to think of myself as a dragon that shares her of kind with you.
Silverwindrose
Dragon Minstrel
asymmetrical: Thanks for your comments, Silverwindrose. Dragons are many-sided beings, inspiring wonder and full of possibilities. One thing I like about them is that they can be fearsome without being “evil” in the traditional sense. They have their priorities, we have ours.
From BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  : Of course, sometimes it's not easy dealing with one who is inflexible. There's this writer, who shall remain nameless only on the fact that he's a good writer, who isn't tolerant of dragon slayers who live up to the name, and kill T-rex sized creatures with nothing more than a trusty spear, and cold steel. Now, I can respect different opinions, but this guy has a firm "No Slayers" stance, thus the ongoing discussion- thing is, when I back him into a corner, instead of pulling out a dragon to char-boil me, he gets a mole to dig him a hole, and escapes. I mean, why take a stand, when you're just going to run away from someone who doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit." Politicians don't quit, even when they are wrong.
asymmetrical: Haha, BBW, I think I know who you’re talking about! I don’t know the answer, but in my own writing I welcome critics. Even if I don’t agree with what they say, I can learn something from their reviews (or emails, or flames...it all works). In this case, I’m reminded to use some imagination when inventing scenarios with dragons, rather than falling back on well-worn tropes.
Joy  : Great NL, Satuawany.
In the future, if I run into a dragon, I'll know its name and origin.
Thanks. 
asymmetrical: Thank you, Joy! It’s always good to be prepared.
KRHolbrook : If there's any kind of fantasy that catches my attention, it would have to be the kind with dragons in it. They're unpredictable creatures just like humans, and they're far more dangerous when provoked. The Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms series had been my favorite books for a long time because of the dragons (and Raistlin Majere, of course).
asymmetrical: Agreed. I first became fascinated with dragons after reading Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea trilogy. There’s lots of great dragon fiction out there, and room for more.
Mark Allen Mc Lemore : I believe in dragons and their existence. I also hope I am there the day they decide to morph back from the birds they are now... Be nice to the avian race!
asymmetrical: Yeah, good point--and in fact I was just about to go out and fill my bird feeder. Yeah I was!
dogwalker : I really liked this article. One thing in modern (to my limited knowledge) that dragons do is - keep "maidens" captive. always with the knight coming to "rescue" said maiden, to the detriment of the dragon.. While walking my dog I noticed a couple of young girls (about 10 or so) sunning on a rock (or maybe it was just a driveway slab). from this casual observation I've been hatching a little theme - Dragon Grrlz. suppose that a village of canny humans discovered a young - mature dragon in a cave 'up a ways"? suppose they were refugees or immigrants, and didn't want the rest of civilization coming around? So - they decide to - Barter and talk with the beastie! One of a dragons status symbols is a maiden chained to a rock. Now the fun begins, girl-drama and in - fighting. who gets to be the yearly (or bi annual) "sacrifice" when the cow is taken to the critter? It's takingshape slowly. It brings a few questions as well. Would a female dragon grab a male "pet" or anot
her female? If male, where's the female 'knight"? How do they decide? where did the villagers come from? Are there others around as well? It's a whole new world. Maybe one others would like to "play" in?
asymmetrical: Dogwalker, if you’re going to use the dragons-and-maidens thing, I’m all in favor for adding something new to the mix. Female knights and dragons combined with male sacrifices would make a good switch-up, as would putting the story in some setting other than the standard “like medieval Europe only with magic” type of world that’s been done a million times in fantasy. It sounds like you have an interactive in mind, and I’m sure others would love to join you. Why not let participants not only further the story, but also help determine what the culture is like, what powers the dragons have, etc.? You might create a world none of you would have expected!
asymmetrical: I'd like to thank the ever-generous Satuawany for giving me the opportunity to work with her on an official Writing.com newsletter, and encourage others to try their hand at it too! Also, I'd love to see other newsletter editors extend guest editorship to WDC members with gray, black and yellow cases. It's a way to expose readers to diverse points of view, and a great experience for everyone involved. Thanks, everyone!
Satuawany And thank you, Asym! It was a pleasure working with you, Lord Norry Wolfsbane , and Lynn McKenzie ---whose newsletter will be coming out May 29th.
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