How Do You Define Fantasy?

[lea_hazel]

I was thinking... How do you define fantasy? What do you think makes a novel a fantasy book, rather than science fiction, or some other genre? Aside from obvious tropes and markers (dragons + monarchy + quest to save the world), I mean. Is it the presence of magic? Is it a setting that has the semblance of human past, however flimsy? Any setting that's not contemporary or historical, and lacks obvious science fiction markers, like advanced technology, space-faring or other forms of futurism?

I'm asking because I'm curious, but also because I'm working (on and off) on a story that I'm not sure if I could define as fantasy or not. It has no magic, the mythology is no more real or cohesive than human mythologies, all the characters are human. Yet it takes place in a world that is more or less obviously not Earth, and makes no mention of Earth or of human civilization as we know it. Ostensibly, it and our world are mutually exclusive. It's also lacking in any of the traditional fantasy plots; more of a family drama than anything else.

Comments

[lea_hazel]

I just worry that labeling my story as fantasy, even though that's what I've called it from the start, would create undue expectations. I feel like people would start reading it expecting that mythology will be treated as fact, the way fantasy usually does, when the story itself is perfectly agnostic. Or that they'll feel cheated because the war or revolution or whatnot that they think is being set up never happens.

I like the story itself a lot, even though it suffers from thesaurus-itis, but I think I might have accidentally created a false set-up for a story that's not the one I meant to tell.

[puritybrown]

It sounds quite similar to K.J. Parker's novels to me -- I love Parker's work, and they are typically shelved under "fantasy", but they have no magic to speak of, mythology is even less important than in the real world, and in general they are down-to-earth and not structured like conventional fantasy novels. Parker's more about politics and manipulation and grand schemes than family drama, but otherwise your story sounds similar.

To me, the crucial thing that distinguishes fantasy from other forms of fiction is that it's about things that can't happen in the world as we know it. To put it in a scheme:

Mundane contemporary fiction: things that could be happening now
Mundane historical fiction: things that could have happened back then
Science fiction: things that haven't happened yet, but maybe (as far as the author's awareness of science goes) could happen in the future
Fantasy: things that couldn't happen in the world that we know at any period of time

[lea_hazel]

I will have to look up K.J. Parker, because she (he?) sounds pretty interesting!

Fantasy is my out for designing a society using any elements that I see fit. world-building is one of my favorite aspects of writing, so that way I can mix and match, and don't have to spend the next six months researching some semi-esoteric historical setting where queerness is not big deal so I can explore how people's personal orientation tints their prejudices. Or something.