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This newsletter is for everyone who enjoys the magic and mystery of a good Fantasy, be it Tolkien, Jordan, Rowling, or a host of others. I will also be attempting to give some time to other types of fantasy, as written by the likes of Asimov, Wilson, Clarke and a galaxy of talent.
I hope to present some information that will be useful to other fantasy authors on site, and entertaining to all our subscribers.
So, let the wonder and glory of all that is fantasy engulf you.
The Fantasy Editors:
Colin Back on the Ghost Roads
billwilcox
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When Is a Monster Not a Monster?
In honour of the holiday of the month, the big one, Halloween, I’ll be devoting this Letter From the Editor to the topic of using monsters as your main character in a story. Granted that doesn’t quite live up to the title, but that’s the trick. Hopefully the article itself will be the treat.
Fantasy literature has a long history of nonhuman main or major characters. The Last Unicorn is mostly about said Unicorn and her adventures. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld feature a menagerie of monstrous support for the heroine of the tale, including a dragon. Many books have written about heroic vampires, werewolves and other creatures of the night. So, it’s certainly not unheard of to have monsters working with or working as the heroes of a story. Of course like any monster, they do take some care and feeding.
There are certain things that you as an author must do before planting a creature of darkness and malice into your story’s Hero role. First, you will need a reason why your favorite monster can act heroically. For some monsters this is not too difficult. Ghosts can be on any side of the heroic spectrum depending on what their unfinished work of life is. Dragons are not contractually obligated to devour innocent villagers. Even the traditional evil storm troops such as goblins, trolls and giants are not required to be vicious marauders. Terry Brooks’s first three Shanarra books had members of two traditionally evil and brutal races serve in heroic capacities, a troll in Sword and gnomes in both Elfstones (the Stors, greatest healers of the four lands) and Wishsong (Slanter, the Gnomish tracker).
Other monsters take a bit more work. Werewolves (and other were beasts) are traditionally feral killers when their animalistic side emerges. Most of the walking dead are considered evil abominations that must be destroyed, and that are driven to hunt the living. Creatures of the underworld are normally required to try to destroy the world, or at least as much of it as possible. Finally, many of the less humanoid monsters are not even capable of rational thought, and so do not make very good heroes. With these, it will take some more work to make a hero out of a horror.
Saying that, it can still be done. There is no rule that states that werewolves must be mindless animalistic killers. In Norse mythology, men who could take the form of bears were often heroes of their clans. In other stories, some rare were beasts struggle daily to keep their bestial nature controlled so that they may fight the good fight. For the living dead of all sorts, while it is true that they often have unnatural and evil origins, it is not always so, and not always set. A national or tribal hero may simply be unable to rest when his people are in trouble, and hence will rise from his grave to do battle with the evildoers threatening his lands. A traditionally evil undead creature might somehow see the error of its ways, and try to make amends for the evils of its life and unlife before it finally crosses over to the other side. The unintelligent monsters may attain intellects through any number of strange, mysterious and even miraculous means. It is also possible that the supposed lack of intelligence is simply a ruse that they use to keep humanity away from them, but now they have decided it is best to drop the act, because events of the present are too important.
Another consideration when making a monstrous hero is how could the monster’s nature become overwhelming, and how can that be controlled? For some, this is not an issue. Goblins and trolls may be strong, but they are unlikely to be able to deal with all the challenges the story puts in their way through that. Were beasts have the power of an animal, but again it will not let them carry the day in all situations. The traditional invulnerability to all but silver weapons may be more of a hassle. A creature that cannot be hurt by normal weapons in a world where swords and bows are the norm can be fairly overwhelming to most opposition. The easiest thing to do is just write that part out. Fantasy novels take place on different worlds, so just establish from the start that the beast men are as vulnerable to weapons as anyone else. You can also put in other dangers that can hurt the creature. A fall from a cliff may not kill the beast, but it will certainly cause problems for it. And of course, in a fantasy story there is always magic to help you. If such beings are common, and one has been becoming notable, the villain my simply take to silver plating his minions’ weapons. There are ways around it.
For such creatures as Dragons, however, things may become more complicated. Dragons are typically ancient and tremendously powerful, and can often easily overwhelm simple obstacles. One way to get around that is to make your hero an immature specimen. If it hasn’t been out of the egg for more than a few decades, it hasn’t had time to grow and gain so much power. Another possibility is a curse. The dragon ate someone important in ages past and now has had much of its power stripped from it until it fully atones for its crime. That Last Unicorn dealt with the problem of the Unicorn’s powers by having her accidentally transformed into a human, which created a number of interesting plot twists.
One way that the problem of monster power can easily be dealt with in any story or situation is to remember, as an author you can write the story to fit your characters. You should feel free to come up with a reasonable explanation why the dragon cannot use its powers if it will hurt the story, or come up with challenges that are suitable for a dragon in the story. If werewolves can only be hurt by silver weapons, then develop alchemical silver that is as tough as steel and establish that it exists before it is necessary. If dragons need some vulnerable spot in their scaly hides to make your heroic dragon endangered, then make sure that information comes out early. If the walking dead need to be able to be put to rest by stitching their mouths shut with salt, and don’t laugh too hard, some real world zombie traditions have this as the only way to lay the walking dead to rest, then make sure the reader knows that works before it is tried on your zombie hero. This is probably the most important rule of any fantasy writing; always establish what works and what doesn’t before it becomes critical knowledge. Otherwise, it looks like you’re cheating. Readers don’t like it when authors cheat.
Other than those things, treat your monsters the same as you would any other characters. Give them good motivations for what they do. Give them deep and rich personalities. Don’t treat them as stereotypes. Don’t assume that they are just like every other monster of their species. In other words, make them interesting, and your readers will probably come to love them as much as you do.
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From: billwilcox
Colin, Master Of Fantasy! Another great newsletter. Historical Fantasy is a genre unto itself. Thank you for the in-depth article.
Thank you, and glad you enjoyed it. There are so many types of Fantasy these days, it’s almost impossible to call Fantasy a genre on its own. We need a new word for it!
From: Jekrsi
Hello can you recommend I really good, long, preferably a series, that is fantasy. But not science fiction as such please.
I’m always happy to recommend what I consider good reads. Please remember however, that my tastes are my own so these may not all meet your standards of good.
1) Long series: Robert Jordan – The Wheel of Time. It’s up to book 10 as I recall and it’s not finished yet. Each book weighs in at 500+ pages as well.
2) Fairly long series, almost done J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter. Even if you’re not much into young adult fiction, this is still an excellent read.
3) Shorter series: Clive Barker - Abarat Also in Young Adult, but a very very different story. Strange fantasy by a superb story teller.
4) Individual books: Weaveworld and Imajic also by Clive Barker.
5) Historical Fantasy: The Life of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card. Set in the American Pioneer days, but in a world where all the folk magic and old wives tales are true.
Hopefully that will keep you going for a while, as I’m currently cut off from both my library an local bookstores.
From shadowdawn
Great NL! Very well thought out, and very informative too. I've never really given historical fantasy much thought. Now I will.
Thanks!
ShadowDawn
My pleasure, and glad you enjoyed it. Historical Fantasy is not something every author might consider. I’ve never written any myself. I personally prefer invented worlds for my writing. But, like any writing, it can be very rewarding if you’re prepared to put the effort into making it work. Let me know when you write some and I’ll be happy to check it out.
That wraps things up for this week. See you all next time.
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Fantasy: October 12, 2005 Issue [#651]
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