Fantastical Confusion

In a previous post about the fantasy genre, I briefly mentioned “high-fantasy” and “low-fantasy”, but I didn’t go into detail about the two. I thought it was time to delve a bit deeper into the fantasy genre and discuss a bit about the subgenres.

High-fantasy or epic-fantasy is set in an alternate, fantasy, world created by the author, in other words, this isn’t Kansas, Dorthy. It is defined by the epic nature of not only the world it is set in but by the characters living in that world. The story most often revolves around the main character who has a special talent for magic or is a skilled fighter, maybe a little of both, and you follow them from a young person through their journey as they grow into whatever their ‘power’ might be and mature. There is usually a struggle between good and evil, ending in a battle where our matured main character must step forward and fight. The good versus evil theme may showcase a deep moral struggle, such as wizards who are using their power inappropriately, or a warlord subjugating those around him. Whatever the struggle taking place, the evil can be in the forefront, meaning everyone knows who the baddie is, or it could be a shadowy dark figure no one can identify.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a good example of high-fantasy. Some novels don’t seem to have a clear set genre, while J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels technically take place in the real-world, Hogwarts itself is separated from the real world by magic and becomes a world-within-a-world and for some that sets it firmly into the high-fantasy genre, while others believe it should remain classified as low-fantasy because of the real-world elements.

Low-fantasy novels take place in the real world and become a fantasy story when magical or supernatural elements leak into that reality. The focus is more on the real world, rather than the magical elements. It often shows how mortal humans deal with these magical elements, how they adapt to them, rather than the magic being the larger part of the storyline. While a character may go through the same journey as a high fantasy character, evolving from a young, naïve personality, to a mature adult, there is less emphasis on the fantastical element that got them there and more on the reality of the world they live in.

 Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series is an example of low fantasy. Artemis lives in the real world but is confronted with magical creatures he didn’t know existed. While the story contains many fantasy elements, the focus of the story isn’t on those magical beings he meets, it’s focused on his search for his father. The magical beings happen to be along for the ride.

There are occasions where the lines become blurred between the subgenres. Confused by all of this yet? Yeah, a lot of us are. So let’s throw some more stuff in there and mix the pot.

The paranormal genre generally deals with elements that are outside of reality and can’t be explained through science. They often deal with things like gods, angels, the soul, or resurrection stories. Things that remain outside our complete understanding. Creatures that often feature are vampires, zombies, werewolves, aliens, ghosts, or those with supernatural abilities like telepathy. Time travel can also be classified as paranormal, though some people consider time travel a part of the science fiction genre.

Now let’s toss in urban fantasy because I’m just mean that way, the main difference between urban fantasy and paranormal is the magic. If the power of your character is magical, you’re in an urban fantasy novel. If your main dude is a vampire, there’s no magic to strip away from him, he is, in essence, a human who was made a vampire and not through any magical means, he’s a paranormal creature. Unless a wicked witch cursed him to that existence, he’s paranormal.

At this point, I shall confuse you further, Harry Potter could be shoved into the urban fantasy category, rather than high or low fantasy because if you take away the magic you’re left with a real-world novel.

There is also a supernatural subgenre, which I'm not going to get into, because frankly, I don't understand how it differs from paranormal, again it's confusing and people often disagree on how these genres are classified. After reading many articles about it, I ended up with nothing more than a migraine and I don't understand it any more than when I began reading about them.

I know this is confusing, the fantasy genre has a broad range of subgenres, there many others that I haven't mentioned. Placing your book into the correct category can often require the use of a flow chart or maybe a wizard of your own as you try and separate elements and figure out where your novel falls. Take your time, ask readers for some assistance, especially your beta readers, they read a lot can they can suggest where they think they might find your book when searching genres on a site.