If Dragons Then Royalty
Apr. 9th, 2010 01:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lea_hazel posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fantasyRoyalty and nobility are one of the most common conceits of epic fantasy. Almost every fantasy novel takes place in a world comprised of a series of kingdoms, or similarly structured alternatives. Epic plotlines usually follow the royalty or at least high nobility of one or more of these kingdoms. This applies doubly when the protagonist is a commoner; gaining access to the higher echelons of society is part of their reward.
When I tried to think about fantasy novels (excluding contemporary, and even those have their vampire kings and fairy queens) that defy this convention, I thought first of A Wizard of Earthsea. I may be misremembering, since I read it in translation years ago, but I don't recall Ged or any of the other major characters being noble. A few other books came to mind, where characters sometimes deal with nobility but don't wind up discovered as the long-lost heirs to something, or receiving a noble title, or anything.
I can't think of many fantasies that don't take place in a royal hierarchy, though. For some people, the crowns and swords and other medieval trappings are a major part of fantasy's charm, but it's still a pretty diverse genre. Do people think non-monarchic systems are too much of a divergence for fantasy, or does it just not occur to them that there are other options? Like the title says: If dragons -- then monarchy?
When I tried to think about fantasy novels (excluding contemporary, and even those have their vampire kings and fairy queens) that defy this convention, I thought first of A Wizard of Earthsea. I may be misremembering, since I read it in translation years ago, but I don't recall Ged or any of the other major characters being noble. A few other books came to mind, where characters sometimes deal with nobility but don't wind up discovered as the long-lost heirs to something, or receiving a noble title, or anything.
I can't think of many fantasies that don't take place in a royal hierarchy, though. For some people, the crowns and swords and other medieval trappings are a major part of fantasy's charm, but it's still a pretty diverse genre. Do people think non-monarchic systems are too much of a divergence for fantasy, or does it just not occur to them that there are other options? Like the title says: If dragons -- then monarchy?
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Date: 2010-04-11 12:35 pm (UTC)This is a really good question. A while ago I decided to write a story about two fantasy cultures meeting. The first I made generic-ish pseudo-medieval-English monarchy by default. I wanted to the other to be as different to that as I could manage and it was really hard getting my brain out of the same old fantasy society ruts. I eventually decided to base it mostly on ancient Athens, and the more I read of their history the more I wished other people based stories on it, because their democracy was this fascinating mix of the familiar and the bizarre. (I wish this even more now that my story has died of writers block :))
As I recall the Mirage Makers series by Glenda Larke mixes magic with a thinly veiled Roman Empire vs Middle Eastern tribes, I didn't get that far into it so can't say for certain that neither group had anything resembling a monarchy. Hmm. I feel like I should be able to think of examples, it's disturbing that I can't!