What do we think of cosy fantasy?

[CupofJoe]

I've been thinking that the beginning of the Belgariad Pawn of Prophecy is about as cosy as it gets.
It starts with a boy growing up in the farm kitchen where he aunt is cook.
There are hints of things-to-come, but I can't remember any real action for 50-100 pages, maybe more.

 

[The Dark One]

I love some iyashikei too, or some cozy games. I don't know if I would read novels in that genre but I do like cozy scenes, daily life, fluff etc. inbetween the plot. Sadly these are the scenes people tell you to remove from the story, because "they are not adding anything", which is nonsense.

It's not hard to add something small to such a scene which adds to characterisation or plot momentum.

 

[Finchbearer]

Okay, I’ve seen Legends and Lattes being thrown around on here, and seeing as I’ve read it already I will say that it pretty much still follows the same rules as the average novel, just instead those stakes are lowered by the dominant coziness.

Travis Baldree still implements all the typical inciting incident, rising action, tension and all of that, it’s just not focused on for as long as other fantasy writing would. It has to still have underlying threats and tension or else I don’t think it would be a bestseller.

There is another type of cosy fantasy genre that could be more a niche subgenre which is ‘slice of life’. To me, slice of life cosy fantasy should be about following someone harvesting vegetables, or running a cafe and it literally being just that. No stakes, other than will their pumpkin be the biggest at the horticultural show, and no tension at all, ideally. You’re just following someone through their relaxing daily life, and the writing needs to be engaging in the use of cosy or enticing language.

 

[Devor]

There is another type of cosy fantasy genre that could be more a niche subgenre which is ‘slice of life’. To me, slice of life cosy fantasy should be about following someone harvesting vegetables, or running a cafe and it literally being just that. No stakes, other than will their pumpkin be the biggest at the horticultural show, and no tension at all, ideally. You’re just following someone through their relaxing daily life, and the writing needs to be engaging in the use of cosy or enticing language.

So I'm reading a webtoon that I would consider slice of life cozy fantasy. It's called "The Top Dungeon Farmer."

The MC, a regular guy from a Korea that's filled with Hunters who clear monsters from dungeons, has gotten trapped on one of the top floors of the dungeon. He's become a hunter, with the "job" of Farmer, and is using the dungeon's bunny monsters to grow carrots and tomatoes, for his cat-peddler friend to sell to other hunters in the dungeon. Aside from being trapped in the dungeon, it's really all about him, his bunnies, growing vegetables.

 

[pmmg]

Wait…Google tells me that the word ‘cosy’ is not directly translatable. Interesting.

What did this mean to you when you posted it, and how was it different?

 

[mbox]

While I dont think I could read/write a pure cozy fantasy, I think all of them should have cozy parts. It seems a lot of stories use the down time between action for angst and depressing monologues. But even the roughest characters need some quiet time in the sun with tea in their hands. It shows sides to characters the reader might never see otherwise.

 

[Finchbearer]

What did this mean to you when you posted it, and how was it different?

Apparently there’s not really an equivalent word to ‘cosy’ in other languages other than English. There are words that might be similar but the exact meaning. It’s a hard word to describe its meaning actually - something along the lines of warm, comforting, somewhere you can stay a while, a nice relaxing ambience, safety…

 

[Finchbearer]

So I'm reading a webtoon that I would consider slice of life cozy fantasy. It's called "The Top Dungeon Farmer."

The MC, a regular guy from a Korea that's filled with Hunters who clear monsters from dungeons, has gotten trapped on one of the top floors of the dungeon. He's become a hunter, with the "job" of Farmer, and is using the dungeon's bunny monsters to grow carrots and tomatoes, for his cat-peddler friend to sell to other hunters in the dungeon. Aside from being trapped in the dungeon, it's really all about him, his bunnies, growing vegetables.

Okay, it’s really cute!

 

[pmmg]

Apparently there’s not really an equivalent word to ‘cosy’ in other languages other than English. There are words that might be similar but the exact meaning. It’s a hard word to describe its meaning actually - something along the lines of warm, comforting, somewhere you can stay a while, a nice relaxing ambience, safety…

Ah...I see I missed part of the conversation. I thought you were saying it was a different meaning in the UK than the US. My bad. Carry on.

 

[Finchbearer]

Ah...I see I missed part of the conversation. I thought you were saying it was a different meaning in the UK than the US. My bad. Carry on.

Just a different spelling I believe.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Have you written any cosy fantasy? Do you know what it is or do you like it? Would you consider writing it? What do you think it says about what people want to read nowadays?

Very interesting!

I do agree that many Fantasy works, including most of my own, are about very high stakes and the protagonists having to go through plenty of hardships. This kind of stories are great, yet indeed a bit tiring, so it’s acceptable that we sometimes gravitate towards happier stories.

I am kind of doing this Cozy Fantasy thing at the moment.

The stakes are still high, but for Earth only. My protagonist is now living in this unbelievably cozy and beautiful world, and the point is that she is going to betray Earth, for all of this beauty.

I think that I will happily venture into cozy Fantasy from now on.