  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: Colin Back on the Ghost Roads  
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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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Fantasy Entertainment
No, I don’t mean the stuff you read here under the fantasy genre. I’m referring to the sorts of things characters in a fantasy story might do in their leisure time. Sometimes it can add to the reality of a story to consider things that we take for granted in real like. Many novels and stories already do this. Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit had several musical exerts and Bilbo wrote a book about his adventures, so clearly there was some form of publishing going on in Middle Earth. Leisure activities are an often ignored subject in fantasy literature, except when the activities pertain directly to plot events, but just describing some recreational activities that are not keys to the destruction of the main villain can lend an air of believability to a setting. At least now the reader knows that the people of the world have something else to do besides uttering cryptic statements to would be heroes. The following are some means of entertainment that can be used in many different sub genres of Fantasy.
Music: We’ve had music pretty much since people learned that banging rocks together makes a nice noise. There is no reason people of any Fantasy world would not have some form of recreational music. Three of Anne McCaffery’s Pern Novels deal primarily with musicians in training, and the goings on within the Harper Hall. Tolkien used portions of Middle Earth songs in his stories as well. The question is, what sort of music could there be? It will vary depending on your setting. Science Fiction settings will have to take into account technological developments, and possibly new alien races and their musical abilities. Fantasy worlds will have to examine the effects of magic and nonhuman races on the music of the world. Historical fantasy will need to concern itself with what musical forms existed at the time the story is set in. For all genres, however, one problem exists. While it is easy to show readers what is being sung, it can be very hard to get across what the actual music sounds like, particularly the music created by nonhuman entities. You’ll most likely have to compare the music to forms available and known today, which can unfortunately reduce the alienness of alien music.
Theatre: Both live performance and broadcast performances can exist in most settings. Science fiction has a history of advancing such things through use of three dimensional holograms or performances being directly fed into the sensory regions of the brain, thus giving the effect of actually being there when you’re not. Fantasy has usually restricted itself to traditional live performance, but there is no reason you have to. In a world where magic is a day-to-day reality, it makes sense that some wizards will turn their skills toward making money in entertainment. Illusions are as good as movie screens, and they can be used to enhance live performances as well. Since fantasy worlds typically have a rich tradition of myths and legends, there are lots of stories that can be performed by a skilled troupe of actors. With a little magical assistance the stories can truly be brought to life. An enterprising wizard or collection of wizards could even enchant devices that present entertainments to large groups, a magical equivalent of a movie theatre. If you’ve defined magic as a rare force that only peculiar individuals can command, and that wizards tend to stay sequestered in their dark towers studying and scheming, then you reduce your options, but remember that even Gandalf wasn’t above blowing some fairly peculiar smoke images from his pipe.
Sports: Sporting events can be used in pretty much any setting. Cultures as old as the Aztecs had spectator sports, and the ancient Greeks created the Olympic games, so there are no reason any fantasy cultures could not have some form of organized sport available to entertain the masses. If your world includes magic, alien races or other such things, as most fantasy worlds tend to, then the options increase. A subset of sports that heroes often find themselves thrown into are gladiatorial events. These can be useful, but tend to be overdone. Sometimes it is nice to see that a world can develop organized sport without requiring the players to kill each other.
Literature: Many fantasy worlds assume low levels of literacy, but this is not required. One fantasy world had a strong central church that made a point of teaching its members how to read so they could understand the holy texts. Naturally there weren’t a whole of those about so when the peasants were done reading them, they wanted something else, and a whole publishing industry started up. Similar principles can apply in you world if you choose to make it so. Magic and high technology probably won’t change the nature of the written word that much; otherwise it becomes more akin to a live performance. The advantage here is that you don’t have to explain to many of your readers what a book is. If their reading your story, odds are good they’ve worked that one out for themselves. You just need to come up with popular genres and a few titles.
Adding in some elements of popular culture may seem trite, but it does serve the useful purpose of letting readers know that the world the heroes work in continues to exist even when they’re not around. Putting in a few elements of entertainment will make any setting feel a little more real, and will help to draw the readers deeper into your story. Give it a try.
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From: Karen Rump
Thank yuo very much for this timely reminder! Needed it, especially for the NaNowrimo coming up!! :)
Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you find it useful.
From: billwilcox
Colin!
What an interesting newsletter you have scratched. Monsters as heros--heros as monsters! It's mind-boggling(which mine does quite often) as to where you can go with this concept. Thank you,
W.D.
It is a very far reaching concept indeed. Many stories have been written from this root and many more will in the future I’m sure.
That wraps things up for this month. To all the US readers, have a happy Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you all in four weeks time.
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Fantasy: November 09, 2005 Issue [#704]
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