 Fantasy: August 17, 2016 Issue [#7811] |
  Fantasy
This week: Friendship within Speculative Fiction Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
A glance at the role friendship has in the subplots of fantasy and science fiction stories. |
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"You're got a friend in me." A simple phrase that brings in mind the lyrics of a song or maybe the movie Toy Story, depending your frame of reference. Friendship is an important aspect in many people's lives and that can also be seen within fantasy and science fiction stories. The friend is a common secondary character, or one of a few when dealing with multiple main characters. They provide in pushing the story forward, plot and character development. Many options and uses come from the best friend, whether it's an elf, cyborg, troll or even a human.
While I haven't read the whole series, the first couple of books in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan come to mind when dealing with friendships because the main set of characters that we follow include a group of friends. And throughout the books there are situations that test their friendship, which helps show how the characters change/grow along with adding conflict. Or there is Lord of the Rings with the hobbits, even I know that and I haven't read the books. Wouldn't have been the same without Samwise and even the other hobbits.
Like our lives there are different levels of friendship. Some stories focus on the best friend. In some of them both will be a point of view and in others won't. I don't recommend jumping at random into the best friend's point of view, however, even if it will show something important about the main character.
Aside from the point of view, the best friend has a well known place within this genre. There are different levels from the friend that becomes the love interest, the friend in the love triangle that doesn't get to be the love interest (that one grinds my gears a little in the overuse within YA but that's a different topic) and the friend who has no role in the aspect of the romance side. Best friends can even be animals or many different types of creatures, depending on the world of the story.
Friends are another aspect that bring reality to a story because many of us can relate to what they provide. While I'm not the best at making friends in person, even I get a friend or two on occasion. As a reader, I then like to see the different people around the main character, and that includes the friendships they develop and struggles the conflict brings to all involved.
Like the different types of characters, the friend fills many roles. They can be the side kick, love interest, secondary main character, minor character or on occasion even the "villain."
The question is: what role will friends have in your story? |
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Does your story involve a friendship that goes through trails as part of the conflict?
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