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November 2008
History As It Wasn't: Writing Historical Fantasy
M.K. Hobson's work has appeared in SCI FICTION, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Interzone, and many other fine publications. Her short story The Hotel Astarte — a historical fantasy — is on the Preliminary 2009 Nebula Ballot. You can read it at: online. She recently sold two historical fantasy novels, The Native Star and The Desired Poison, to Bantam Spectra. She blogs at mkhobson.livejournal.com.
Historical Fantasy is the Rodney Dangerfield of the fantasy world. No respect! Spec-fic pundits — notorious for their love of obsessively detailed categorization — can't even agree on whether it's deserving of being called a subgenre at all. This despite the fact that some of the biggest hits of the past half-century have been squarely classifiable as historical fantasy: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, for example, which spent four months on the New York Times best seller list, has ranked among the top five trade paperbacks on the monthly Locus bestseller lists for almost four years. Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes (sixth book in her hugely popular Outlander series) debuted atop the New York Times best seller list. There's Naomi Novik's Temeraire series — recently optioned by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson — and if it's critical acclaim you're interested in, how about Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which won both the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel, and was long-listed for the Booker Prize? Not to mention established masters like Emma Bull, Judith Tarr and Diana Paxston, as well as the popularity of work by rising stars like Elizabeth Bear, Charles Coleman Finlay and Stephanie Burgis. Historical fantasy is a category that's not only going strong, it's gaining steam (ahem) as vampire books wither and pale in the sunlight and overchewed chick-lit loses its flavor. So, what is this "historical fantasy" you speak of? The bemusement of the spec-fic pundits is understandable, bless their quarrelsome little hearts. Is "historical fantasy" the same as "alternate history?" Is it just "steampunk" with a little mumbo-jumbo thrown in? Here's my humble attempt at classification: Alternate History is what an actual historian would call a "counterfactual" — that is, an extrapolation of real world events unfolding from critically altered decision points. Big names in alternate history are Harry Turtledove, Eric Flint, and Kim Stanley Robinson. Alternate history has even gotten some lit-cred with works like Philip Roth's counterfactual The Plot Against America. Secret History typically leaves history (in the main) unchanged, but brings to light what "really happened" behind the scenes. Alan Moore's graphic novel From Hell is Secret History at its best. The recent National Treasure movies might also fit well into this category, if it weren't for all the exploding subterranean timber-slides that look suspiciously like rides at Six Flags. The lunatic fringe of Secret History is "conspiracy theory" fiction, which generally has little to do with actual history, but can be extremely (fnord) fun. Steampunk is Victorian science fiction, adopting the style of 19th century "scientific romances" by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, and Mary Shelley. Some suggest additional "-punk" classifications for non-Victorian-era historical science fiction: "Clockpunk" for the Renaissance-era and "Dieselpunk" for works post-1900. (Which leaves only the Middle Ages — "Buttresspunk," anyone?) Magic, if there is any, usually takes a back seat in these punk-ly tomes... because, well, you know. Science. Historical fantasy may include elements of some or all the above, but the focus is squarely on the supernatural. Wherever history deviates from the actual, it is typically the result of some magical — not social, political, conspiratorial, or mechanical — element. Historical fantasy generally asks what would happen if history were played out under fundamentally different rules — that is, with magic as either an accepted (or not-so accepted), known (or not so known) component of society. Whew. I'm glad we've got that all sorted out. I feel ready for a nice lie-down and a cold compress. But I must forge ahead. Writing historical fantasy So you're ready to start writing some historical fantasy, are you? Good for you. Have a biscuit. First you'll have to decide what era to focus on. This is not a decision to take lightly. You will be doing a lot of research, so having a passionate affinity for a certain time and/or place will keep you from going mad with despair when you're in the Caernarfon Royal Lending Library in Wales trying to convince someone at the reference desk that you absolutely HAVE to get your hands on their one and only copy of Burke's antique treatise on Brythonic languages. On the other hand, keep in mind that certain historical eras are more crowded than others. A quick look a recent edition of the Historical Novels Review (put out by the wonderful Historical Novel Society) gives a good indication of the centuries "popular" as subjects of historical fiction:
As you can see, the 19th and 20th century are the undisputed homecoming king and queen of the historical fiction world, while the 3rd, 5th, and 7th through 10th centuries sit at home in their prom gowns sobbing. But it's really not that much of a surprise, given that writing historical fiction requires — yes — research. Much, much research. The 19th and 20th centuries were well documented in sources that are still readily available today. In addition, the average reader will know more about these eras, and you as a writer will have less work to do to pull readers into your narrative. But the flipside, of course, is that while it may be easier to research (and write) in these eras, you may be wading into a very competitive marketplace, and you'll need to think hard about how to make your Regency different from the fifteen other Regencies coming out that month. How? Why, with magic, of course! Remember, we are talking about historical fantasy here, not just plain old boring historical fiction. While the market may be glutted with Regency romances, Regency fantasies are (for the moment) somewhat harder to come across. Think it through If you're going to write historical fantasy, be prepared to sit staring at your computer for long periods of time, thinking very, very hard. You will probably shed a few tears and pound your head on the desk as well. Of course, you have to do this with any kind of fiction, but historical fantasy can be extraordinarily mind-bending. What impact would the supernatural elements you're adding actually have had on society? Is magic "out in the open," or is it kept secret among a magical elite? If the former, how is balance maintained in society between those who have magic and those who don't? If the latter, what are the ramifications for your magic users if they're found out? How would the awareness of magic challenge the power structure of the time? What impact would it have on political structures? How about class structure? You begin to see what I'm saying about the staring and crying and head-pounding. With traditional fantasy fiction, you can approach all these annoyances with a clean slate. You're master of your secondary-world domain, and you can set it all up according to your liking. With historical fantasy, get ready for a lot of fiddling and retrofitting. And remember, no matter how carefully you set it all up and think it all through, there will be some nit-picky history enthusiast who will corner you at a con and tell you exactly why it's all wrong. Be prepared for this. I recommend brass knuckles, or, failing that, mace. Use your power wisely It's a standard rule of writing historical fiction that you have to understand the mores of the time — no matter how unflattering or unpalatable — and faithfully represent them. Historical fantasy gives you a little wiggle room on this. You can play with those mores a bit, and imagine how they might have been impacted or changed as the result of the supernatural elements you've added. In Elizabeth Bear's Wax, for example, she imagines an America where the expansion of the colonies was halted by the war magic of the Iroquois — changing the whole balance of power on the American continent. Beware, however, of using your magic wand to "whitewash" history — erasing racism, sexism, or elitism by sorcerous fiat will not only leave you with a toothless and unsatisfying story, but one which loses most of the oomph of historical fiction: giving the reader the opportunity to understand in a real and visceral way how our social attitudes and customs have changed (or not) over time. In conclusion Historical fantasy has been, and continues to be, a popular offshoot of the main fantasy genre. It's a dynamic playground for the imagination, mingling the pleasure of being immersed in a time past with the numinous frisson of the supernatural. I hope you'll check out some of the books and stories by authors listed in this article — many of these authors' work can be found regularly in Paradox, the genre's premier outlet for short-form historical fantasy. There are links and other great resources at Uchronia as well as www.alternatehistory.com. |
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