Contemporary fantasy
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Fantasy media
Genre studies
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Contemporary fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, also known as modern-day fantasy, or indigenous fantasy. These terms are used to describe stories set in the putative real world (often referred to as consensus reality) in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist, either living in the interstices of our world or leaking over from alternate worlds. It thus has much in common with, and sometimes overlaps with secret history; a work of fantasy in which the magic could not remain secret or does not have any known relationship to known history would not fit into this subgenre. Occasionally certain contemporary fantasy novels will make reference to pop culture.
Novels in which modern characters travel into alternate worlds, and all the magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are thus not considered contemporary fantasy.
Contemporary fantasy is also to be distinguished from horror fiction, which also often has contemporary settings. When encountering magical events and creatures, the protagonist of a horror novel is horrified, while the protagonist of a fantasy novel (contemporary or otherwise) is filled with a sense of joy and wonder. Horrifying events may happen, but the fundamental distinction is vital.
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Subgenres
Contemporary fantasies often concern places dear to their authors, are full of local color and atmosphere, and attempt to lend a sense of magic to those places, particularly when the subgenre overlaps with mythic fiction.
When the story takes place in a city, the work is often called urban fantasy.
The contemporary fantasy and low fantasy genres can overlap as both are defined as being set in the real world. There are differences, however. Low fantasies are set in the real world but necessarily not in modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy. Contemporary fantasies are set in the real world but may also include distinct fantasy settings within it, such as the Harry Potter series, in which case they would be high rather than low fantasy.
Examples
- The "Young Wizards" series by Diane Duane - the protagonists live in Manhattan, New York, but each book in the series has a different setting; settings include various planets within and outside of the Solar System and various alternate universes.
- Charles Williams, 1930s - His novels are mostly set in London, and he is called the father of contemporary fantasy.
- Charles de Lint - He uses a disguised Ottawa, Ontario as a setting.
- Tim Powers - His novels in this subgenre are mostly set in California.
- Various works by Mercedes Lackey.
- Various works by Tanya Huff.
- J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series - set in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and 2000s.
- Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch, set in Moscow. It has three sequels that form a tetralogy; Day Watch, Twilight Watch and Final Watch.
- Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy - The trilogy takes place across several universes including "ours".
- Little, Big by John Crowley - Set in an unnamed New York City and a rural area to the north.
- War for the Oaks by Emma Bull - Set in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- The Wood Wife by Terri Windling - Set in Tucson, Arizona
- The Word/Void novels by Terry Brooks - Set mostly in Illinois.
- Hannah's Garden by Midori Snyder - Set in the rural Midwest
- Tithe by Holly Black - Set in New Jersey, as well as Valiant - Set in New York City
- Minions of the Moon by Richard Bowes - Set in New York City
- Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block - Set in Los Angeles
- Dark Cities Underground by Lisa Goldstein - Set in San Francisco
- The Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle - Set in a disguised Berkeley, California
- King Rat by China Miéville - Set in London
- The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - Set in Chicago
- Neil Gaiman's American Gods (taking place all over the US) and Neverwhere (set in an underground London)
- Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series
- Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence - Set in 20th century Britain.
- Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place
- Josepha Sherman's Son of Darkness
- Tom Deitz's The David Sullivan series
- Clive Barker's Weaveworld and Imajica
- Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series
- Jenna Black's The Devil Inside - set in USA with demons.
- Natasha Mostert's The Other Side of Silence and Season of the Witch
- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay mostly set in 21st century Aix-en-Provence
Contemporary fantasy can also be found on the mainstream fiction shelves in the work of Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic), Louise Erdrich (The Antelope Wife), Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni (Mistress of Spices), and others.
Another area where contemporary fantasy plays a large role is in Japanese anime story telling.
- Type-Moon's Fate Stay Night Set in Fuyuki City, certain families have magical circuits in their blood, and can cast spells among other abilities.
- Takahiro Yamato's Kaze no Stigma is set in modern Japan and center around a young man with powers to control wind.
The Mighty Thor of Marvel Comics can also be considered to belong to this sub-genre, depicting a god of Norse mythology sharing his life between 20th Century New York City and the legendary Asgard. The same can be said of Hellboy.
References
- Martin Horstkotte, The postmodern fantastic in contemporary British fiction. WVT, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-88476-679-1
- Lance Olsen, Ellipse of uncertainty : an introduction to postmodern fantasy. Greenwood Press, Westport 1987, ISBN 0-313-25511-3
External links
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