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<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 4670162" data-attributes="member: 15538">Most who? Low fantasy is basically a retronym to describe things that are not high fantasy, and high fantasy is generally considered to be fantasy set in an imaginary world (or an imaginary pseudo-history) that incorporates fairy tale magic and the mythological. It's a definition that explictly includes Thieves World, which is set in an imaginary, Earth-like world, and features a number of powerful spellcasters. The original anthology has a protagonist who is a magician. Althoug magic is rare-er in Thieves World than in Warhammer, it is still an important presence that overshadows anything that would let it to be a pseudohistorical, low fantasy setting.The archetypal low fantasy is swords-and-sandal fiction, but with made-up country names. You can then add some hoodoos and dark fantasy elements and you're still in the same zip code. But as soon as you add a dragon or an identifiable tradition of publically recognized magicians, you're already wandering into romance territory, and it's just a skip and a jump from there to high fantasy. Low fantasy usually means quasi-historical characters, no overt metaphysics, and sub-threshold magic, where that threshold is approximately, &quot;Would people start wondering how cost-effective castles are, because of the threat of wizardry?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 4670162, member: 15538"] Most who? Low fantasy is basically a retronym to describe things that are not high fantasy, and high fantasy is generally considered to be fantasy set in an imaginary world (or an imaginary pseudo-history) that incorporates fairy tale magic and the mythological. It's a definition that explictly includes Thieves World, which is set in an imaginary, Earth-like world, and features a number of powerful spellcasters. The original anthology has a protagonist who is a magician. Althoug magic is rare-er in Thieves World than in Warhammer, it is still an important presence that overshadows anything that would let it to be a pseudohistorical, low fantasy setting. The archetypal low fantasy is swords-and-sandal fiction, but with made-up country names. You can then add some hoodoos and dark fantasy elements and you're still in the same zip code. But as soon as you add a dragon or an identifiable tradition of publically recognized magicians, you're already wandering into romance territory, and it's just a skip and a jump from there to high fantasy. Low fantasy usually means quasi-historical characters, no overt metaphysics, and sub-threshold magic, where that threshold is approximately, "Would people start wondering how cost-effective castles are, because of the threat of wizardry?" [/QUOTE]

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