Amanita
Maester
Hello,
at first, the short question: Do you believe that Fantasy stories need to be set in a preindustrial world?
I'm asking this of course, because my current story is set in a world where the technology-level is similar to our own world. Some things don't exist for various reasons and magical stuff is added, but at first glance, there probably wouldn't be many visible differences.
Now the long version: I have three story ideas, set at various points of my world's history.
The first is a rather classical Fantasy story in a low-tech setting with a hero chosen by the Lerca (rulers of rivers, lakes and forests) has to defeat a Dark Lord-like character who wants to conquer the world. (Even though he's more in common with Alexander the Great or other real world conquerors than to say, Sauron.)
He's defeated however and his story becomes part of the mythology of the country suffering the most under him. In retro-perspective he is made much more monstrous than he actually was.
The hero starts a governing system with people who have inborn magic on top in his country. He also bans the use of elemental magic because this was what the Enemy used.
This works well for a few generations but some of those families heirs start to exploit their people later, and the system turns rather unjust and inflexible as centuries pass.
The second story is set during industrial revolution age, closes to late 19th/ealy 20th Century. The industrial revolution of my world is also a magical revolution which ends with the people with inborn gifts losing much of the respect given to them, while the elemental magical people gain power because scientific discoveries help them find new ways to use their powers. And lead them to question the moral guidelines imposed on them before.
The two most developed powers end up a in a long and terrible war, trying out all their new weapons on each other, be they technological, magical or a combination of both and take my poor Fantasy world to the brink of disaster.
The two countries at war are allied with or have colonised many of the other nations of my world, so they get also involved in this war and the consequences can still be felt at the time of the story in the most modern setting. One of the colonised countries is the home of the hero from the first story, where the nobles have accepted the foreign rule, as long as they're allowed to keep their privileges and send their men to die in the war.
This leads to a revolution that topples the nobles, after the colonising country has been defeated.
In the third story, set during modern times, the main characters is once again from this country which is now democratic in theory but still hasn't managed to get over strictly judging people by class and gender.
And it still doesn't allow elemental magic, which forces my main character to leave and seek help in the country that won the last war and is seen as the most powerful nation of Silaris now.
There she stumbles into the troubles between the elemental magicians who still haven't found a common new approach to dealing with their magic. There's a lot of fighting between them, with words and violence and my main character gets into much trouble but also helps them to rethink certain things due to her outsider perspective.
This story unlike the others doesn't have a large scale war in it but deals with the consequences of the wars that came before and the profound changes that have left many people without orientation.
This time, the aim is not winning a war, but keeping the troubles inside this country and between the others from turning into one.
at first, the short question: Do you believe that Fantasy stories need to be set in a preindustrial world?
I'm asking this of course, because my current story is set in a world where the technology-level is similar to our own world. Some things don't exist for various reasons and magical stuff is added, but at first glance, there probably wouldn't be many visible differences.
Now the long version: I have three story ideas, set at various points of my world's history.
The first is a rather classical Fantasy story in a low-tech setting with a hero chosen by the Lerca (rulers of rivers, lakes and forests) has to defeat a Dark Lord-like character who wants to conquer the world. (Even though he's more in common with Alexander the Great or other real world conquerors than to say, Sauron.)
He's defeated however and his story becomes part of the mythology of the country suffering the most under him. In retro-perspective he is made much more monstrous than he actually was.
The hero starts a governing system with people who have inborn magic on top in his country. He also bans the use of elemental magic because this was what the Enemy used.
This works well for a few generations but some of those families heirs start to exploit their people later, and the system turns rather unjust and inflexible as centuries pass.
The second story is set during industrial revolution age, closes to late 19th/ealy 20th Century. The industrial revolution of my world is also a magical revolution which ends with the people with inborn gifts losing much of the respect given to them, while the elemental magical people gain power because scientific discoveries help them find new ways to use their powers. And lead them to question the moral guidelines imposed on them before.
The two most developed powers end up a in a long and terrible war, trying out all their new weapons on each other, be they technological, magical or a combination of both and take my poor Fantasy world to the brink of disaster.
The two countries at war are allied with or have colonised many of the other nations of my world, so they get also involved in this war and the consequences can still be felt at the time of the story in the most modern setting. One of the colonised countries is the home of the hero from the first story, where the nobles have accepted the foreign rule, as long as they're allowed to keep their privileges and send their men to die in the war.
This leads to a revolution that topples the nobles, after the colonising country has been defeated.
In the third story, set during modern times, the main characters is once again from this country which is now democratic in theory but still hasn't managed to get over strictly judging people by class and gender.
And it still doesn't allow elemental magic, which forces my main character to leave and seek help in the country that won the last war and is seen as the most powerful nation of Silaris now.
There she stumbles into the troubles between the elemental magicians who still haven't found a common new approach to dealing with their magic. There's a lot of fighting between them, with words and violence and my main character gets into much trouble but also helps them to rethink certain things due to her outsider perspective.
This story unlike the others doesn't have a large scale war in it but deals with the consequences of the wars that came before and the profound changes that have left many people without orientation.
This time, the aim is not winning a war, but keeping the troubles inside this country and between the others from turning into one.
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Auror
Sage
Acolyte
