{"id":4793,"date":"2011-04-13T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=4793"},"modified":"2011-04-16T16:20:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T04:20:10","slug":"more-thoughts-on-epic-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/04\/13\/more-thoughts-on-epic-fantasy\/","title":{"rendered":"More Thoughts on Epic Fantasy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I finished my Monday post, More on Epic Fantasy<\/a>, with:<\/p>\n

“So does a book have to be about large-scale war to qualify as epic fantasy? I don\u2019t believe so, but I do feel its has to encompass, in some way, the grand sweep of events\u2014and large-scale war can serve as convenient shorthand for that.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In between times, while I’ve been dwelling in the realm of Tuesday Poem (where our first anniversary group composition is about the myth of the Norse god Tyr and the wolf, Fenris—how epic is that?) I have been mulling over this question. Most particularly, I have been trying to think of individual books and\/or series that I would categorise as epic fantasy that aren’t about large-scale war. And have actually found the exercise quite, well, exercising<\/em>, given that my criteria are that, in order to be epic, a story must encompass some or all of:<\/p>\n

” … the epic sweep of events, encompassing nations, cultures and the \u201cwinds of change sweeping through the corridors of power\u201d <\/em>[or “world altering” as Ted Cross<\/a> perhaps better expressed it in his comment on my post]\u2014in whatever way seems appropriate to the context of the story.”<\/em><\/p>\n

So here’s my “top 3” contenders so far (and yes, I would love<\/em> to hear your suggestions as well):<\/p>\n