SUB-GENRES (FANTASY)
Not quite as much scope for branching out in fantasy fiction, but there are still a lot of sub-genres.
Alternate History
More or less the same as in science fiction; here, you might have things like the Roman Empire being run on magic, or, I don’t know, Nazi elves or something? Probably can be tenuously linked to Steampunk?
Comic Fantasy (also known as Humorous Fantasy)
Again, easy to understand. Fantasy with an element of humour mixed in, fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, that may lampoon well known fantasy or other works (
Bored of the Rings, for example) or just create new worlds in which anything can happen, and usually does, in a funny way. Comic fantasy often contains satirical stabs at the real world and some authors, notably Piers Anthony, use a lot of puns and wordplay in their work. Craig Shaw Gardner’s
Dwarfs books, Robert Aspirin’s
Myth cycle and the work of Tom Holt fit into this sub-genre, though the undisputed master of the form is the late Sir Terry Pratchett, with his
Discworld series.
Contemporary Fantasy
A little like the horror material I spoke of earlier, which I don’t intend to cover, fantasy in this sub-genre takes place in our world, our time; a sort of secret society that lives just beyond our sight or without our knowledge. The likes of Neil Gaiman’s
Neverwhere fit into this category, as do series like
Buffy and
Supernatural, the idea being that while normal folk go on doing normal things, fantastical battles are fought and magic is used without the knowledge of anyone outside of the circle, as it were.
Dark Fantasy
Brings in elements of horror to fantasy, while still remaining firmly fantasy-based stories.
Erotic Fantasy
Yeah…
Fairytale Fantasy
Fantasy stories set in, using or creating folklore-based worlds.
Fantasy of Manners
Takes the old literature genre of Comedy of Manners and applies a fantasy setting.
Heroic Fantasy
You know what to expect here, I’m sure.
High Fantasy
No, not the kind of trip where you see dragons and princesses after taking too much LSD! High Fantasy has no time for humour, being totally serious, sometimes so up itself it’s hard
not to laugh, but creating the most detailed and intricate plots, characters and worlds. High Fantasy often tends to spawn multi-book epics or films with sequels. The absolute pinnacle of High Fantasy of course is
The Lord of the Rings, though series like Stephen Donaldson’s
Thomas Covenant Chronicles and Robert Jordan’s
Wheel of Time sagas are also high (sorry) on the list.
Historical Fantasy
Based in a real-world period of history (maybe Medieval England or Renaissance Italy) where magic is used in the story.
Juvenile Fantasy
I feel this may now be called YA, or Young Adult Fantasy, and it does exactly what it says on the tin: young fantasy for young people featuring young characters and dealing with the issues they come up against in their young lives. Bah, say I. Look to C.S. Lewis’s
Chronicles of Narnia for the best known example of this sub-genre.
Low Fantasy
Possibly best described as “Fantasy Noir”, this sub-genre emphasises the darker, grittier aspect of the fantasy world, with things like crime, rape, prostitution and drug addiction used in its themes.
Magic Realism
Uh, it says “Magic Realism presents fantastic and mundane elements side-by-side as if there is no conflict between the two”. Right. Again, sounds boring to me. I've since learned that Stephen King's
The Green Mile is considered an example of this sub-genre. This does not help me understand it any more than I did previously.
Mythic Fantasy
Based loosely or entirely on figures from various mythologies, folklore or legends.
Romantic Fantasy
Yup.
Superhero Fantasy
Fantasy stories with superheroes. Yeah.
Sword and Sorcery
Apart from High Fantasy - and, increasingly, Comic Fantasy - surely the most popular and prevalent sub-genre in fantasy fiction. Warriors and barbarians wielding swords and rippling with muscles take on crafty, centuries-old wizards and go on quests because, well, that’s what you do when you're a warrior or barbarian wielding a sword and rippling with muscles, and when you talk to crafty, centuries-old wizards in these kinds of stories. Conan the Barbarian is of course the first example that leaps to mind (Crom!) but Fritz Leiber and Karl Edward Wagner are also well known as experts in this sub-genre.
Urban Fantasy
Usually, though not always, set in modern times, these stories are always however confined to a city.
Weird Fantasy
Pretty much the same as Weird SF really.
If anyone thinks my explanations and descriptions here are inadequate (they are) or don’t explain what the sub-genre is about (they don’t) please check out the article I took them from, which does a much better job and goes into each in far more detail. I just didn’t want to copy it verbatim. Also, I’m lazy.
Genres & Sub Genres | WWEnd