What am I even writing?

[Chilari]

Partially inspired by the high fantasy thread, but also by questions I've had swirling around in my head for a while, I thought it was about time I got a second opinion.

You see, a week or so ago while working on a "thoughts" file on the story I'm currently in the planning stage of, I asked myself whether I should include more fantasy elements to make it more squarely in the "fantasy" bracket as far as genre is concerned. See, in this WIP I have no mythical creatures, no gods outside the minds of the characters, no magic, no ancient evil beneath the ground, no ghosts, no immortals, no vampires. Nothing that does anything out of the ordinary at a full moon.

Let me describe my story. It is set in a self-governing town, Perenke, in a valley of losely affiliated self-governing towns which have recently united to fend off an attack from an island nation, and have gained a Pyrrhic victory. With almost no men under the age of 50 left in the town, the leaders of Perenke ask an allied city-state to send them men to become husbands of the town's many widows. My main character, Anse, is one of these leaders who finds herself town between two sides of a conflict which emerges as a result of idealogical and cultural differences between the town's new steward, Bardiyas, and the traditional laws and values of the town. Bardiyas seeks to impose his values upon the town, and though Anse can see the benefits and justice in many of those values, there are others she dislikes. A resistance forms, seeking to oust Bardiyas and put Perenke citizens back in charge, restoring self-determination and their own traditional, long-held values. Both sides of the conflict have their flaws, and Anse finds herself torn between them, for both moral reasons and personal, selfish reasons. Ultimately she picks what she sees as the lesser of two evils.

The story is partly about moral ambiguity, partly about adapting to change, and partly about the difficulty in finding a side which most closely matches one's views. There are, as I stated above, none of the elements most closely associated with fantasy in the wider public consciousness. But it is set in a world of my own invention, with its own myths and religions and cultures.

In the high fantasy thread, someone suggested that a fantasy containing moral ambiguity was dark fantasy. Is this the case? I always thought of what I wrote as "low" fantasy, because of the lack of the traditional fantasy elements. But what am I writing, if it had to be put in a genre or sub-genre box? And what fantasy subgenres are there? How would you define them?

[Steerpike]

I'd call this "low fantasy" as well.

Dark Fantasy does not have to have moral ambiguity. It often does, but I don't see that as a requirement. It is more the atmosphere and tone that make dark fantasy, or dark fiction generally, and you could very well fall into that category with traditional absolutes when it comes to morality.

I wouldn't call this dark fantasy, based on what you've written, above. I'd call it low fantasy, personally, but there are some who would still call this high fantasy because it is not set in the real world (i.e. some define high fantasy as any fantasy set other than in the real world and low fantasy as set within the real world).

[SlimShady]

Sounds like low fantasy to me as well. I wouldn't call it dark fantasy unless you've made your world particularly dark and grim. Anyways I've noticed that dark fantasy tends to have at least some magic elements thrown in.

As for fantasy genres their are quite a few.

Dark Fantasy, my favorite genre, typically involves a more realistic view on medieval times. (IE the masses were ignorant, witch burnings were rampant, and life was generally terrible unless you were high born.) Dark Fantasy usually has some form of magic, which comes at a terrible cost. Anti-heroes and likeable villains seem to be more common in dark fantasy, although it varies from author to author. Some say Dark Fantasy often has a horror element as well, which seems pretty plausible to me. Ex. The First Law trilogy.

I consider High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy to generally be the same in setting. Both are often set in highly magical worlds with other fantastical races. High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy often seem to involve some sort of quest. (Epic Fantasy almost always has a quest element that is central to the plot.) The two are also sometimes critiqued due to the lack of characters. A lot of characters seem to be cardboard cutouts and the villain is almost always pure evil. Motives of the villain sometimes do not even make sense and heroes often always win. Generally High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy seem to be a whole lot more happier in tone, although this varies from author to author. Ex. Lord of the Rings and pretty much every trilogy ever written.

Urban Fantasy has fantastical elements coming into the modern world. Never really read the genre, so I know little about it to be honest. Ex. Harry Dresden.

Science-Fiction Fantasy often has a crossover of fantastical elements and science. Spaceships and magic are common, although quite a bit of Science-Fiction Fantasy tends to overlap with High Fantasy or Epic Fantasy as well. Ex. Tales of the Dying Earth.

That's all I'm going to list as I'm tired of typing, but I believe I have sketched out the basic genres.

[Will]

I would read this story, if it is/was aimed at an adult market. One of the better plots/ideas I've seen around here, keep up the good work!

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I'd call it low fantasy too. I don't see it as a problem if it lacks any of the "typical" fantasy elements, as long as it's an engaging story with good characters. If that's what you want the story to be, and you think it works, don't try to add in other elements just to make it fit into a genre categorization better. You might not be able to forgive yourself if you end up ruining what may well be an otherwise good story. Keep in mind, mainstream historical literature is a popular genre; whether or not it's based on real places is sort of irrelevant.

[The Dark One]

I would simply call it speculative fiction. It's about asking what if? And imposing slightly different rules on the world.

[Devor]

You see, a week or so ago while working on a "thoughts" file on the story I'm currently in the planning stage of, I asked myself whether I should include more fantasy elements to make it more squarely in the "fantasy" bracket as far as genre is concerned.

If you care enough about marketing and publishing to make a few allowances, it might be worth considering. Don't add anything you can't fit smoothly into your work. But people have mentioned a few times how they like Game of Thrones' use of magic because it's used sparsely, and a drop of magic here and there - if it fits well with your story - could really be striking. But it's up to you and your goals and your priorities.

[lawrence]

I agree with Devor that any elements you want to add to increase the genre flavour have to be a smooth fit, don't shoe-horn stuff in as a slave to genre, keep it as natural to yourself as you can. Agree with Will too, great outline and ideas. Reminded me of the account in the Old testament, I think it was the tribe of Benjamin...they were left-handed warriors, (trained that way to give them an edge in combat, imagine an army with a contingency of troops that use swords from the opposite side that you have always faced) they committed a grave offence, the other eleven tribes went to punish them, the benjamites kept wiping the floor with them. Eventually they were defeated and left with just a few hundred men. To prevent the extinction of the tribe these survivors were allowed to abduct and marry women from the other tribes! Very dramatic, tragic story.