The Genre Bucket

After complaining as much as I did in my review of Book of Three  I thought it was only fair to discuss the fantasy subgenre I do enjoy: Sword and Sorcery. Coined in the 1960's as a way to describe what made Robert E. Howard and other writers stand separate in their fantasy output from what people referred to as High Fantasy ie Lord of the Rings, Sword and Sorcery simply put is fantasy made immediate. But what does that mean? Essentially High Fantasy focuses on all encompassing world significant battles of good versus evil whereas Sword and Sorcery is marked by the battle an individual may fight against a monster for instance, and the consequences that could affect them from that fight. By paring down the stakes to the effects on an individual those stakes become that much more real to the reader and consequently more visceral. Focusing in on an individual also gives room to flesh that character out with believable flaws and strengths. High Fantasy falls into the trap of Mary Sue c...

I have a confession to make. I enjoy fantasy but I find it intrinsically boring. In many ways all fantasy blends together for me especially since I'm familiar with the patterns mythos and fairytales work within due to having read some Joseph Campbell and his works on comparative mythology, as well as my general knowledge and interest in folklore and mythology. The real genre fatigue for me though comes from the fantasy genre specifically overusing high fantasy tropes familiar to most people from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This year I decided to try and participate in Fantasy December which is a practice in reading circles to read works from the Fantasy genre in December since it lends itself well to the season. I had always been mildly interested in Disney's The Black Cauldron film and thought hey, it's based on a book series this could be fun. Judging by the movie it's going to be harmless kids fantasy but could be a light, entertaining treat. I was wrong. I ...