Is there such a thing as "Social Fantasy"

[Gurkhal]

I am curious about and so thought that I would ask if there's such a thing as a genre of "social fantasy"? What I mean by that is a genre, or authors who indulge in that, which is fantasy primarily concerned with everyday life of characters and not with world saving adventures, world changing events or such? A much more down-to-earth fantasy about characters in a "slice of life" kind of stories.

Yes, that is what I am myself primarily interested in writing as I find these kind of parts to be the best part in novels but I was also wondering if there are authors who focus on this in the fantasy genre and so where I should look for them.

 

[ThinkerX]

The term you are looking for is 'cozy fantasy.' Low stakes, low action, no save-the-world stuff.

 

[Gurkhal]

The term you are looking for is 'cozy fantasy.' Low stakes, low action, no save-the-world stuff.

Interesting but not what I'm looking for after I googled the term.

I don't mind of stakes that are high for the characters, such as life or death, just that I don't care much of another adventure to save the whole world again. Not to mention that whimsical and feel-good also came up in my search that's really, really not what I'm looking for.

 

[Queshire]

I mean, technically Harry Potter never actually got to the point of needing to save the world, but even the country wasn't at stake for the first three books.

 

[Gurkhal]

I mean, technically Harry Potter never actually got to the point of needing to save the world, but even the country wasn't at stake for the first three books.

Good example. This is much more of what I had min mind in terms of scope.

 

[Diana Silver]

Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind is a tale about the life of its main character who is just getting through his life as best he can, without the world being in danger.
Funnily enough he even wrote a small stand-alone cozy fantasy novel in the same world: The slow regard of silent things.

I'd also name the Golden Compass here. Although the world(s) end up being saved in the end, the characters and story never feel driven by that, it's almost more of an incidental detail.

 

[Diana Silver]

Oh, and I just remembered Raymond E. Feist who wrote a seemingly endless series of often stand-alone books in his fantasy universe, most of which just focussed on the personal or political journeys of its characters.

 

[Gurkhal]

Diana Silver Thank you very much! I think I've read one or two of those books by Raymond but I'll look more into it. That's exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

 

[Karlin]

I'm thinking that most of non-fantasy novels deal with normal people, doing normal things. Good ones have interesting plots and character development. There may be Important Events, but the story centers on people living through the events, not on those saving the world

 

[Avery Moore]

The term you are looking for is 'cozy fantasy.' Low stakes, low action, no save-the-world stuff.

What Thinker said. Books like Legends and Lattes and The Teller of Small Fortunes are some good examples of what you'd call "cozy fantasy".

 

[Avery Moore]

I don't mind of stakes that are high for the characters, such as life or death, just that I don't care much of another adventure to save the whole world again. Not to mention that whimsical and feel-good also came up in my search that's really, really not what I'm looking for.

Ah, I see... So, high stakes for the characters, but not for the world... I just finished Piranesi. No world saving in that. Also The Green Bone Saga is a pretty epic series in which the world isn't saved.

 

[Gurkhal]

I'm thinking that most of non-fantasy novels deal with normal people, doing normal things. Good ones have interesting plots and character development. There may be Important Events, but the story centers on people living through the events, not on those saving the world

That is correct and its the kind of scale I want. Except I also want it to be in a fantasy setting.

I did consider writing historical fiction but I enjoy the freedom provided by the fantasy genre to much to let go of it.

Ah, I see... So, high stakes for the characters, but not for the world... I just finished Piranesi. No world saving in that. Also The Green Bone Saga is a pretty epic series in which the world isn't saved.

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[ThinkerX]

Interesting but not what I'm looking for after I googled the term.

I don't mind of stakes that are high for the characters, such as life or death, just that I don't care much of another adventure to save the whole world again. Not to mention that whimsical and feel-good also came up in my search that's really, really not what I'm looking for.

In that case, my 'Empire' series comes close to what you seem to be after - four POV characters of differing social ranks trying to forge new lives for themselves in a tottering nation while dealing with past trauma. Tia is a wealthy commoner hunting for a highborn husband and fits in well with the upper crust. Her maid, Rebecca, is a streetwise minstrel. Tia's bodyguard is Sir Peter Cortez, who is slowly learning that he can't solve problems via swordplay. He spends a lot of time with his fellow knights. Kyle is Tia's carriage driver - a peasant drafted into the legions and trained in the rudiments of magic. Situation depending, he hangs out with lower-class types or other petty wizards.

 

[Gurkhal]

In that case, my 'Empire' series comes close to what you seem to be after - four POV characters of differing social ranks trying to forge new lives for themselves in a tottering nation while dealing with past trauma. Tia is a wealthy commoner hunting for a highborn husband and fits in well with the upper crust. Her maid, Rebecca, is a streetwise minstrel. Tia's bodyguard is Sir Peter Cortez, who is slowly learning that he can't solve problems via swordplay. He spends a lot of time with his fellow knights. Kyle is Tia's carriage driver - a peasant drafted into the legions and trained in the rudiments of magic. Situation depending, he hangs out with lower-class types or other petty wizards.

That sounds pretty good to me. I'll try to check it out.

 

[skip.knox]

I think most of what I write falls into that category. One is an exploration adventure. One is a girl trying to figure out if she's truly half-elf, as she's been told. My current series is about a troupe of performers who fall into various adventures that (so far, anyway) involve one or more murders. And I do tend to explore social interactions, as I'm fascinated by the possibilities presented by the interplay between dwarves, elves, humans, gnomes, and ogres, not to mention regional variations across each group. Even my first novel, which entailed a large-scale invasion, wasn't about saving the world but just saving the (Roman) legion long enough to save the city (Constantinople).

I agree with others here, that there are many such stories. It's just that the current Amazon best sellers tend to favor those grander stories. Blame the algorithm.

 

[Gurkhal]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for these stories as well.

 

[Mad Swede]

A bit closer to home, how about Ronja Rövardotter?

 

[Gurkhal]

A bit closer to home, how about Ronja Rövardotter?

That would also work. Solid story, if you ask me. I might also add some classics like Mio, min Mio and Bröderna Lejonhjärta. It was a very, very long time since I read those.

 

[pmmg]

I think Thinker's Empire books are kind of this.

I will also say, the Deed of Pakksenarion (my current read) feels like this as well. Just kind of slowly watching the character grow for three books. The story is a little weak on conflict.

Sword of Kaigen, which I put on hold, also seems like this. We are following kids as they try to grow into becoming warriors, and slowly finding out their world is not as it was first explained.

 

[Stephen Baxter]

I tend to gravitate toward the grand, sweeping epics that explore deep time and mythic cycles, Tolkien, of course, but also works like The Worm Ouroboros or Mythago Wood, where history and legend blur. I also have an interest in fantasy that leans into alternate history, like Guy Gavriel Kay’s work, or even speculative anthropology, where worldbuilding takes on the weight of real civilizations.