a genre study

1
a genre study
Fantasy

• Jessica Wolf-Golbach
• Young Adult Literature

2
What is fantasy?

• a genre that uses magic and other supernatural
  forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or
  setting
• generally distinguished from science fiction and
  horror by the expectation that it avoids
  scientific and macabre themes, respectively,
  although there is a lot of overlap among the
  three (4)

3
Fantasy is

• a world we can use as a model of experience, in
  which commonsense expectations dont always
  apply, in which cause and effect feel right but
  are twisted in impossible ways
• a way for us readers to burrow beneath the norms
  of daytime reality into levels of experience just
  as real, though not as accessible, to examine
  our lives in a fresh way via magical context (1)

4
History of Fantasy

• Has inspired many composers such as Stravinsky
  (Firebird) and Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake) (2)
• The fantasy genre, per the modern definition, is
  only about two hundred years old
• Began with texts in which the sorcery was only
  half-believed included European romances of
  chivalry and tales of the Arabian Nights
• One of the first true fantasy writers was George
  McDonald (1824-1905, Scotland) was a mentor to
  Lewis Carroll as he wrote Alice was an
  inspiration for several 20th century fantasy
  authors
• The popularity of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit and
  The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1960s
  brought fantasy into the mainstream (4)
• In recent years, worldwide adoration of the Harry
  Potter series has led to an increase in
  publication of other fantasy manuscripts
• Has often been attacked as being simple,
  escapist, and sparking youth interest in magic
  (2)

5
Modern Fantasy versus Traditional Fantastic Tales

• Modern Fantasy
• Suggests a different reality, either a fantasy
  world separate from ours or a side of our real
  world that is ruled by hidden fantasy
• The supernatural elements are understood to be
  fictitious
• Created by author or group of authors

• Traditional Fantastic Tales
• Took place in our world but often in the past or
  in a far off and unknown place (e.g. long ago
  and far away)
• Cultural interpretations of the supernatural ran
  the gamut, from legends taken to be true to myths
  which simply represented complex real-life issues
• Used familiar myths and folklore any deviations
  were simply considered variations and were not
  meant to be separate from local folklore and
  supernatural tales (3)

6
Traits of Fantasy

• explores themes of moral conflict and ambiguities
  between opposites, such as good and evil, heroism
  and cowardice, order and anarchy, light and dark,
  or innocence and guilt
• often includes elements of horror, supernatural,
  mythology, and folklore
• typically based on a dangerous quest that takes
  the central figure through magical, symbolic, and
  allegorical experiences and rites of passage
• the hero character grows in fortitude and stature
  
• throughout journey
• the heros world is one of war, turmoil, or other
  
• transformative events
• the heros quest is one of critical, often
  global,
• importance and can affect the lives of many (2)

7
Subgroups of Fantasy

• Epic fantasy (Lord of the Rings trilogy
  established this sub-genre)
• King Arthur and related myths (e.g. The Once and
  Future King,
• The Mists of Avalon)
• Animal fantasies (e.g. Charlottes Web, Mrs.
  Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Warriors series)
• The Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh
  tales based on Celtic legends, myths, and
  personalities
• Other worlds and dragon lore

8
Notable Authors Works of Fantasy

• J.K. Rowling The Harry Potter series (Books 1-7)
• - The Sorcerers Stone (1998)
• - The Chamber of Secrets (1999)
• - The Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
• - The Goblet of Fire (2000)
• - The Order of the Phoenix (2003)
• - The Half-Blood Prince (2005)
• - The Deathly Hallows (2007)

9
Tamora PierceTerrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper,
Book 1)Random House, 2007

• Orphaned Beka Cooper, 16, is a trainee- a
  "Puppy"-in the Provost's Guard. Having spent
  the first half of her life in Tortall's slums,
  she is driven by the need to do what is right
  and see justice done. Paired with two of the
  best Guards, or "Dogs," in the organization and
  aided by her own gifts of magic, Beka learns
  her job, makes friends with two mages and a
  thief, and uncovers two serial killers who
  prey on the poor and unnoticed. With Terrier,
  Pierce tries out a new style of storytelling
  and succeeds admirably. Beka, the ancestor of
  George Cooper from the "Song of the Lioness"
  series (S S), tells her story through
  journal entries, making for a thoroughly engaging
  read. The characters are recognizable types,
  but all have their own personalities
• .
• http//www.amazon.com/Terrier-Legend-Beka-Cooper-B
  ook/dp/0375838163/refsr_1_4?ieUTF8sbooksqid1
  247437641sr1-4

10
Christopher PaoliniEragon (Inheritance Book
I)Laurel Leaf, 2003

• Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a
  marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain
  place. Before he can trade it for food to get his
  family through the hard winter, it hatches a
  beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to
  be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and
  when his family is killed by the marauding
  Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the
  Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in
  the coming war between the human but hidden
  Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and
  their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and
  allied with each other and the evil King
  Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out
  to find their role, growing in magic power and
  understanding of the complex political situation
  as they endure perilous travels and sudden
  battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
• http//www.amazon.com/Eragon-Inhertitance-Christop
  her-Paolini/dp/0440240735/refsr_1_2?ieUTF8sboo
  ksqid1247438823sr1-2

11
Anne McCaffreyDragonsong (The Harper Hall
Trilogy, Volume I)Simon Pulse Publishers, 2001

• This is the first of Anne McCaffrey's
  Harper Hall of Pern trilogy which focuses on
  Menolly. In this first story, Menolly is the
  youngest child and daughter of Yanus, Sea Holder
  at Half-Cirlce Sea Hold in Benden Hold. Although
  she displays astounding musical talents,
  Menolly's father will have none of it. After the
  death of Petiron, the old Harper, Menolly is
  allowed to sign only to give the children their
  teaching songs. But when Elgion, the new Harper,
  arrives at Half-Circle Sea Hold, Menolly is
  forbidden to play ever again. But just as it
  looks at if life could not get any worse for
  Menolly, a wonderful thing happens. She impresses
  a clutch of nine fire lizards.
• Meanwhile, Harper Elgion is having a problem,
  because he has been ordered by Master Harper
  Robinton to discover the prodigal talent Petrion
  has discovered. In his last message the Old
  Harper had sent two of the loveliest melodies
  Robinton had ever heard. But clearly none of the
  young lads at Half-Circle Sea Hold has a whit of
  musical talent and Yanus makes up some story
  about a foundling sent back to his own hold.
  Eventually Robinton himself comes to solve the
  mystery of the missing musical talent.
• http//www.amazon.com/Dragonsong-Harper-Hall-Triol
  ogy-McCaffrey/dp/1416964886/refsr_1_7?ieUTF8sb
  ooksqid1247439248sr1-7

12
Phillip PullmanThe Golden Compass (His Dark
Materials, Book I)Del Rey, 1996

• Golden Compass follows the fortunes of Lyra, a
  brave, loyal, and determined adolescent raised in
  one of the colleges of Oxford in a universe
  similar to but not identical to our own. Lyra's
  Oxford contains Gyptians, a migratory culture of
  people living on boats and in fens they are in a
  sense Lyra's family.
• Lyra's uncle goes on a journey to study the Dust
  falling between the worlds. The Magisterium,
  apparently an arm of the Church, does not want
  Dust investigated. As the novel progresses, we
  realize the Magisterium has its own agenda where
  Dust is concerned. The kidnapping of children in
  Lyra's Oxford end up sending her in the same
  direction as her uncle(one of her closest friends
  is kidnapped and she vows to save him). She meets
  witches, armored bears, an aeronaut, and other
  bright and unusual figures during her quest for
  answers. Most of them become her allies. There
  is magic in this world. Lyra is in possession of
  a golden compass that can help her understand
  what is going on around her (as well as what has
  gone on in the past). Others want her compass in
  order to obtain that information
• themselves.
• http//www.amazon.com/Golden-Compass-Philip-Pullm
  an/dp/B000NVO2JQ/refsr_1_4?ieUTF8sbooksqid12
  47440528sr1-4

13
Marion Zimmer BradleyThe Mists of
AvalonBallantine Books, 1987

• This is the legendary saga of King Arthur and
  his companions at Camelot, their battles, love,
  and devotion, told this time from the perspective
  of the women involved. Viviane is "The Lady of
  the Lake," the magical priestess of the Isle of
  Avalon, a special mist-shrouded place which
  becomes more difficult to reach as people turn
  away from its nature- and Goddess-oriented
  religion. Viviane's quest is to find a king who
  will be loyal to Avalon as well as to
  Christianity. This king will be Arthur.
  Gwenhwyfar, Arthur's Queen, is an overly pious,
  fearful woman who successfully sways her husband
  into betraying his allegiance to Avalon. Set
  against her is Morgaine of the Fairies, Arthur's
  sister, love, and enemy - and the most powerfully
  believable person in the book - who manipulates
  the characters like threads in a tapestry to
  achieve her tragic and heroic goals.
• http//www.amazon.com/Mists-Avalon-Marion-Zimmer-
  Bradley/dp/0002249510/refsr_1_1?ieUTF8sbooksq
  id1247442700sr8-1

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Robin McKinleyThe Hero and the CrownGreenwillow
Books, 1985

• From childhood, Aerin had been haunted by the
  story of her mother - a "witchwoman" who
  enspelled the king and then died in childbirth,
  leaving behind a newborn daughter and an heirless
  land. Left to her own devices, Aerin grew up
  wild, doing her best to live up to her reputation
  as the disappointment of the realm. But little
  did the young princess know the long-dormant
  powers of her mother would wield their own
  destiny, and leave Aerin with a duty to her
  scornful homeland that she couldn't refuse.
• http//www.amazon.com/Hero-Crown-Robin-McKinley/d
  p/0441013058/refsr_1_1?ieUTF8sbooksqid124744
  3134sr1-1

15
Diana Wynn JonesHowls Moving CastleHarper
Teen, 1988

• Sophie Hatter reads a great deal and soon
  realizes that as the eldest of three daughters
  she is doomed to an uninteresting future. She
  resigns herself to making a living as a hatter
  and helping her younger sisters prepare to make
  their fortunes. But adventure seeks her out in
  the shop where she sits alone, dreaming over her
  hats. The wicked Witch of the Waste, angered by
  "competition" in the area, turns her into anold
  woman, so she seeks refuge inside the strange
  moving castle of the wizard Howl. Howl,
  advertised by his apprentice as an eater of
  souls, lives a mad, frantic life trying to escape
  the curse the witch has placed on him, find the
  perfect girl of his dreams and end the contract
  he and his fire demon have entered. Sophie,
  against her best instincts and at first unaware
  of her own powers, falls in love. So goes this
  intricate, humorous and puzzling tale of fantasy
  and adventure which should both challenge and
  involve readers.
• http//www.amazon.com/Howls-Moving-Castle-Diana-W
  ynne/dp/0061478784/refsr_1_1?ieUTF8sbooksqid
  1247443767sr1-1

16
Ursula K. LeGuinA Wizard of Earthsea (The
Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)Spectra, 2004

• Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of
  Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) tell the
  whole Earthsea cycle--a tale about a reckless,
  awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a
  wizard's apprentice after the wizard reveals
  Sparrowhawk's true name. The boy comes to realize
  that his fate may be far more important than he
  ever dreamed possible.
• In this first book Ged was the greatest
  sorcerer in all Earthsea,  but once he was called
  Sparrowhawk, a reckless  youth, hungry for power
  and knowledge, who tampered  with long-held
  secrets and loosed a terrible shadow  upon the
  world. This is the tale of his testing,  how he
  mastered the mighty words of power, tamed
  an  ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold
  to  restore the balance.
• http//www.amazon.com/Wizard-Earthsea-Cycle-Book/
  dp/0553383043/refsr_1_2?ieUTF8sbooksqid12474
  46286sr1-2

17
Peter DickinsonThe RopemakerDelacorte Books,
2003

• For 19 generations, the comfortably prosperous
  Valley has been tucked away from the outside
  world kept safe by powerful enchantments. When
  these powers begin to weaken, however, it's up to
  Tilja and her grandmother Meena, along with their
  companions, Tahl and his grandfather Alnor, to
  journey forth in search of a magician powerful
  enough to protect their home once again. In the
  course of this pilgrimage, Tilja ,who has
  recently and heartbreakingly learned that she
  possesses not a jot of the hereditary magic that
  would entitle her to inherit her beloved family
  homestead, comes to understand more about the
  unique and valuable gift she does possess.
  Eerily, the novel is sprinkled with images that
  take on an unforeseen resonance a rebel magician
  be-turbaned and lanky and collapsing towers that
  crush their proud builders. A challenging magical
  adventure for the thinking reader. Ages 12-up.
• http//www.amazon.com/Ropemaker-Peter-Dickinson/d
  p/0385730632/refsr_1_1?ieUTF8sbooksqid124744
  7306sr1-1

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Other titles of interest

• The Darkangel (Book One of the Darkangel
  Trilogy), by Meredith Ann Pierce Little, Brown,
  1982
• The servant girl Aeriel must choose between
  destroying the vampire master for his evil deeds
  or saving him for the sake of his beauty and the
  spark of goodness she has seen in him.
• (Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
  Data)
• Challenging, other-world
• vocabulary
• Strong female protagonist
• Follows classical quest
• plot structure

• Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin
• Square Fish, 2005
• After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi
  and killed, she finds herself in a place that is
  both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust
  to her new status and figure out how to live.
• (Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
  Data)
• Intriguing plot
• Life after death issues
• presented in non-
• religious context
• Middle school-level
• vocabulary

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Other titles of interest

• The Angel Factory, by Terence Blacker Simon
  Schuster, 2001
• Spurred on by his best friend, 12-year-old Tom
  Wisdom uncovers two major family secrets that he
  was adopted , and that his perfect-seeming
  family is part of an other-worldly organization.
• (Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
  Data)
• Quick pace, high-interest
• Middle school-level
• vocabulary
• Thematically similar to
• The Giver

• London Calling, by Edward Bloor
• Random House, 2006
• Seventh-grader Martin Conway believes that his
  life is monotonous and dull until the night the
  antique radio he uses as a night-light transports
  him to the bombing of London in 1940. This leads
  Martin on a quest of historical and personal
  importance.
• (Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
  Data)
• Highly recommended
• Strong male protagonist
• Strong theme of father-
• son relationships
• Great tie-in with WWII
• battle and politics

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References

• Heath introduction to fiction. 3rd ed. Lexington,
  Mass D.C. Heath, 1988.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Kenneth L. Donelson.
  Literature for Today's Young Adults (8th
  Edition). Boston Allyn Bacon, 2008.
• Wikipedia. 5 July 2009. Wikimedia Foundation. 12
  July 2009 lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of
  _fantasygt.
• Wikipedia. 11 July 2009. Wikimedia Foundation.
  11 July 2009 lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy
  gt.