DrunkonDuty
he/him
There’s a side discussion in the Settings of Hope vs. Settings of Despair thread about whether or not the fantasy genre looks back on the past with a mythologising/romanticising lens. This has got me thinking about examples of fantasy stories that don’t do this.
Just to be clear – I think most fantasy stories do look at the past in a romanticised way. Either they’re set in a romanticised past or elements within the story look back at a romanticised past. Or both. (Looking at you Lord of the Rings.) It’s a very common theme throughout the genre. But it’s not universal to all fantasy. Below is a short list of stories that don’t do it.
The City of Brass trilogy. It is very much about undoing mistakes of the past. The history of the djinn is shown to be a pile of awful, self-serving decisions that have made the present City of Brass a real crappy place. Our protagonists are fighting against the status quo and trying to bring about something better.
The Rivers of London series. Although not usually a major plot point there are plenty of instances where one or more of the protagonists, usually Peter Grant, bring up various factoids about the past. These are presented warts and all and are frequently references to larger issues like historical racism, sexism, homophobia, and colonialism, etc. (They also reference current day racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. plenty too.) In case there’s any doubt that the author doesn’t want to romanticise the past the series’ main villain acts the way he does partly out of a longing for a romanticised past. And is explicitly called out on it a couple of times.
The First Law series. This series by Joe Abercrombie doesn’t so much subvert classic fantasy tropes, like the return of the king, so much as take them out back, stab them in the kidney, and watch them bleed out.
Anyone got more to add?
Just to be clear – I think most fantasy stories do look at the past in a romanticised way. Either they’re set in a romanticised past or elements within the story look back at a romanticised past. Or both. (Looking at you Lord of the Rings.) It’s a very common theme throughout the genre. But it’s not universal to all fantasy. Below is a short list of stories that don’t do it.
The City of Brass trilogy. It is very much about undoing mistakes of the past. The history of the djinn is shown to be a pile of awful, self-serving decisions that have made the present City of Brass a real crappy place. Our protagonists are fighting against the status quo and trying to bring about something better.
The Rivers of London series. Although not usually a major plot point there are plenty of instances where one or more of the protagonists, usually Peter Grant, bring up various factoids about the past. These are presented warts and all and are frequently references to larger issues like historical racism, sexism, homophobia, and colonialism, etc. (They also reference current day racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. plenty too.) In case there’s any doubt that the author doesn’t want to romanticise the past the series’ main villain acts the way he does partly out of a longing for a romanticised past. And is explicitly called out on it a couple of times.
The First Law series. This series by Joe Abercrombie doesn’t so much subvert classic fantasy tropes, like the return of the king, so much as take them out back, stab them in the kidney, and watch them bleed out.
Anyone got more to add?
