I always loved fantasy but over the years starting with all those talking animal books and graduating to books such as Lord of the Rings but I’ve begun to read less and less of it discounting urban fantasy. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I started picking up some books touted as having unusual settings for fantasy such as Deborah Coate’s book set in the Dakotas, Elizabeth Bear’s book Karen Memory or Laura Anne Gilman’s book Silver on the Road.
Sure I used to read epic fantasy Stephen R. Donaldson or David Drake’s Lord of the Isles series and even, up to a point, Robert Jordan. I loved the world building and the magic and all sort so different creatures but then I stopped pursuing these types of books. As I started to think about why I read fewer fantasy novels and felt so uninterested in Games of Thrones (gasp, sacrilege I know) I realized that I’m not so excited about the epic part of fantasy anymore as I am about the relationships of characters within the fantasy.
The books mentioned above all have in common the theme of the west as place which is certainly catnip to me having been raised in the west and it doesn’t hurt that each one of these authors brings their version of the west to vivid life. More importantly for me though the books listed above all have strong characters relating to one another. These are all people I felt like I might know or could have a conversation with if I met them. Their problems are so much more “real world” than attempting to find a specific object or going on an epic quest. Magic certainly runs through some of these books and Isobel in Silver on the Road does go on a journey but it was never meant to be an epic one but rather a sort of training mission. The magic in the books isn’t what drives the story but rather her relationship to the Boss and her realizations about her life and her role in the world. It doesn’t hurt either that all of these books have intriguing female characters as the lead, sure there may be cool women in epic fantasy but they tend to be more supportive. Lest you think that I’m only interested in female leads another excellent fantasy that I read this past year was the Ocean at the End of the Lane. Once again a fantasy set in the “real” world with a strong character relationship.
I’m thrilled that these types of fantasies are cropping up and thriving. I don’t think there is any real concern that they will displace epic fantasy and for those of us who want something a little different than elves; trolls and dragons we now have ever greater choice and variety in fantasy. In addition to the books above you might want to check out Mary Robinette Kowal’s series beginning with Shades of Milk and Honey or Jo Walton’s Among Others, both these authors write stories with strong characters and intricate relationships. What is your favorite non epic fantasy?
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