{"id":10684,"date":"2011-12-29T06:30:16","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T17:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=10684"},"modified":"2011-12-26T21:38:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-26T08:38:00","slug":"the-best-of-on-anything-really-2011-why-write-epic-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/12\/29\/the-best-of-on-anything-really-2011-why-write-epic-fantasy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best of ‘… on Anything Really’ 2011: “Why Write Epic Fantasy?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year I’ve completed a number of posts on epic fantasy, which you will find collected under Categories: Epic Fantasy<\/a> in the right hand side bar. But this is one of the early posts, from April 16<\/a>,\u00a0 and I feel worthy, on behalf of what has become a series, for a place in “… on Anything Really’s”<\/em> the ‘Best of 2011’ pantheon<\/p>\n

So without further ado, here it is:<\/p>\n

“Why Write Epic Fantasy?<\/h3>\n
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The Keep of Winds, from "The Heir of Night" -- art by PJ Fitzpatrick<\/p><\/div>\n

Having started to reflect on epic fantasy here on the blog, particularly what the \u201ccore\u201d of the genre is, I\u2019ve also started looking around on the internet to see what other folk are thinking or saying. And I have to say, as an epic fantasy lover and author myself, I potentially found it quite depressing. To understand why, here\u2019s a sample of some of the things I read:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude41 epic fantasy as a genre is misogynist, both in the storytelling and the attention paid to female authors of the genre (i.e. your chances of being a successful epic fantasy author are considerably reduced if you\u2019re a gal);<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude41 epic fantasy glorifies violence for its own sake;<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude41 epic fantasy in particular (and fantasy in general) is reactionary and about denying change, growth and\/or renewal;<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude41 other genres, such as romance, paranormal urban fantasy, crime and YA generally all sell a lot better than epic fantasy, so a writer has a considerably enhanced chance of a successful career if s\/he switches to one of these genres.<\/p>\n

Depressed, \u2018you won\u2019t be after the next exciting instalment of \u2026\u2019 But you may recall that I said \u201cpotentially\u201d<\/em> depressed, because I refuse to be actually <\/em>depressed even if all this is true. So why is that?<\/p>\n

Firstly, I love epic fantasy as a genre. Not necessarily every example that\u2019s ever been penned, especially if the stories are<\/em> misogynistic, reactionary and glorify violence (which sadly, I feel some do), but the genre itself. Remembering that epic fantasy at its best is all about the ability to address the grand sweep of events, in many cases world altering, ask the big questions and use the play of those events to examine the internal conflicts they generate within the protagonists. Great stuff, in my opinion\u2014I love reading it, so it\u2019s perhaps not surprising that I write it as well.<\/p>\n

But there are other reasons, I believe, for choosing to write epic fantasy.<\/p>\n