Author Topic: Low or High Fantasy in Literature  (Read 4051 times)

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TheVorpalTribble

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Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« on: February 21, 2011, 07:18:57 PM »
So I'm beginning in earnest a series of books that are sort of Lovecraft meets Grimm's Fairy Tales. They are very gritty, 'low' fantasy. No wizards, dragons, elves or orcs to be seen. In fact, it's even historical. The point of these books are to read and go 'might that have really happened?' 'What if?'

I've found I much more enjoy those types of books than high fantasy where everything is magic, the buildings are magic, everything in history is magical and magical rings are Dollar Store trinkets.

For example, Neverwhere and Small Gods by Neil Gaiman are my favorite fantasy novels.

Which do you prefer and why?

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bhu

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2011, 02:44:16 AM »
lovecraftian?  Does this series has a name?


I generally like low fantasy because authors aren't tempted to do the usual deux ex machina because it seems more jarring.

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2011, 02:46:50 AM »
Small Gods is by Terry Pratchett. :p Did you perhaps mean American Gods?

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2011, 04:49:31 AM »
I like a combination actually, magic needs real limitations that it must obey(low fantasy has this more), but at the same time I rather enjoy it having an active role in the world, with significant cultural influence, without just cribbing off technology(what a lot of 'high' fantasy misuse magic for, they simply replaced technology with omnipresent magic).

In essence, use it, integrate it with the world, but don't overdo it or it loses its magic.
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Gods_Trick

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2011, 05:09:35 AM »

Its not the high or low, its the grittyness. Malazan has a very high magic setting, but the cost of using it and the feel of the magic is definitely steel and grit.

Whats the name of this series. Sounds fantastic?

TheVorpalTribble

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2011, 11:13:08 PM »
lovecraftian?  Does this series has a name?
The Angels That Fell Sideways is the running titles for them as a whole. Feeling it may be too unwieldy however.
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Gods_Trick

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2011, 02:25:31 AM »
lovecraftian?  Does this series has a name?
The Angels That Fell Sideways is the running titles for them as a whole. Feeling it may be too unwieldy however.

Sideways Angels? Too cyberpunk?

TheVorpalTribble

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2011, 01:26:27 PM »
Sideways Angels? Too cyberpunk?
Dunno about cyberpunk but doesn't have the proper feel. Too... modern/mainstream/trendy maybe?

 

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veekie

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2011, 01:33:31 PM »
You can change the directions for colors, if it helps, Good = Light, Evil = Darkness, Wandered Off = Prismatic
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

TheVorpalTribble

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2011, 03:34:08 PM »
You can change the directions for colors, if it helps, Good = Light, Evil = Darkness, Wandered Off = Prismatic
Hmm?  :blink
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veekie

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2011, 08:28:07 PM »
Making a reference to colors beyond shades of light and darkness as the term for these sideways angels. Though I can't quite think of one at the moment.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Prime32

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2011, 09:14:26 PM »
Eh, The Angels That Fell Sideways works for me.
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TheVorpalTribble

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2011, 12:31:40 AM »
I like it, though it's supposed to be a serious, gritty horror/fantasy. Doesn't sound too hokey?
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veekie

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2011, 12:42:12 AM »
Reminds me of Good Omens(Terry Prachett) personally.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Gods_Trick

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2011, 05:29:39 AM »
Reminds me of Good Omens(Terry Prachett) personally.

Indeed.

TheVorpalTribble

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2011, 04:55:53 PM »
Reminds me of Good Omens(Terry Prachett) personally.
Only in that it has angels. Not even really comparable otherwise. These books are basically modern day fairy tales/historical fiction with very little actual religion in them.

They have their own thread here where I give some details.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2011, 04:57:59 PM by TheVorpalTribble »
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veekie

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2011, 11:11:44 PM »
Yeah, but the name calls to mind a quote from the book.
"An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards"
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Gods_Trick

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #17 on: February 28, 2011, 02:28:48 AM »
Yeah, but the name calls to mind a quote from the book.
"An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards"

Exactly that quote. I always thought it Crowley had any choice in the matter he'd have gone Trickster god.

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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2011, 07:52:37 PM »
For "fantasy meets historical fiction" I really like Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, where he basically retells the King Arthur mythos without any unexplained magic.  I highly recommend it if you're interested in that particular style.
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Re: Low or High Fantasy in Literature
« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2011, 05:19:54 PM »
I prefer lower fantasy to high fantasy I guess, in a way. Mostly I like mid-level. I certainly don't mind a little magic and different fantasy races but if the magic starts to be too epic everywhere you loose a lot of the fun wonder that is supposed to be invoked by magic. Or at least magic as you understood it as a child.

I prefer it when a mid level fantasy book sticks to, say, one or two plot-related devices for the high end stuff. I liked, for example, the Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master books by... was it Feist? Anyway those had a lot of "higher level" magical effects but it scales up as the story progresses and for most of the time the enemy has the upper hand in magical things. The only really epic magic was unique to a few characters. Mostly the story focused on events in a war which were far more interesting than the occasional fireball or what have you.

But I love Tolkien and that's fairly low-ish as far as magic goes. A few powerful characters able to do some limited effects but most of the people and the story, again, focus on a war or the struggle to eliminate one.

When everything starts to be magical in nature it can be a bit much provided they aren't kept as novelties. Like in the Harry Potter books. Most of the fantasy bits in that was of little real consequence to the power balance of the forces involved - at all came back to spells with wands and the most deadly of those were few and well defined so that worked.

I guess mainly I like the magic portion of a story to take a back seat to the real story. I like it when it enriches it and adds to the story and doesn't take over what's around it, basically.