On Monarchy in Fantasy Fiction

Filed by: Darren Turpin on December 22, 2008 at 9:28
Filed under: Books and Reading

MonarcyMarie Brennan took a look at the fantasy genre's enduring fascination with monarchy over at sfnovelists.com last week.

Marie made some very good points about just why it is that rule by kings, queens, princesses, princes et al seems to be such an ingrained trope of the genre (mythic resonance, focus of dramatic attention on key individuals) and there's nothing wrong with that sort of thing at all. But I also agree that it would be great to see some variety in the governmental power-structures from time to time.

Admittedly, we do see the occasional imperial (monarchic militocracy) or rule by a shadowy cabal of thieves and / or assassins (anarchic feudalism) or a council of wise mages (oligarchic noocracy) or knife-and-pyre-wielding high-priests (totalitarian theocracy) but there are other options out there that would be equally interesting to read about. Something based on the dynastic plutocracies that held sway in the mediaeval Italian City States, perhaps? Or how about a genuine meritocracy, in which the rulers are selected from amongst those best-suited for the job as a result of their skills and abilities (or would that be pushing the willing suspension of disbelief just a little too far?)

Of course, some of those systems (or others) may have been explored already and I just haven't come across them yet - any suggestions or recommendations for further reading?

Filed on: December 22, 2008
Filed under: Books and Reading
Tagged With: | |

Comments

4 Responses to 'On Monarchy in Fantasy Fiction'

  1. GFS3 on December 22nd, 2008 1:16 pm

    Interesting post. I've never quite thought about this before. One of the challenges is that government is really what fantasy books are about and its easy to fallback on the monarchy because most fantasy novels are based (in some part) on our Medieval history. Constructing a complex governmental system for an author's world would require lots of research -- and possibly distract for the main story lines. Just a thought.

  2. Darren Turpin on December 22nd, 2008 3:22 pm

    A good thought, that. And very true that most medieval power-bases were monarchic in basic structure, but there's still room to experiment without always assuming the Divine Right of Kings model, surely?

    Although as you say, I expect it largely depends on the author's degree of affinity for / interest in the world-building aspect of their story-telling.

  3. Tracy Falbe on December 22nd, 2008 8:52 pm

    There is certainly room for fantasy to include explorations of varied forms of government. I suspect that monarch and/or noble figures dominate in fantasy because part of the appeal of fantasy (for me at least) is experiencing a character that has great power and influence on society and history. A monarch or noble is the quickest route to that experience.

  4. Darren Turpin on December 23rd, 2008 11:52 am

    Hi Tracy - Yeah, that's pretty much Marie's point as well: the focus on the actions of an individual in a position of ultimate authority is more dramatic and mythic. And I can see the attraction of that, absolutely - as you say, a lot of fantasy readers are looking for just that sort of 'Hero With a Thousand Faces' style uber-myth.

    But personally, I think these days I'm more attracted to the 'low fantasy' setting, or fantasy-noir as it's sometimes called: the relatively ordinary character (albeit usually one with an above-ordinary ability or characteristic that makes them worthy of narrative interest) who is thrust into an extraordinary situation and just trying their best to survive the experience.

    For example, in Steven Erikson's Malazan books - which on face value are about as epic as you can get - he often focuses in on the 'ordinary' men and women, like the Bridgeburners, for example - who are caught up in the clash of continental empires and just trying to come out of it alive and relatively unscathed.

    But I think I might have strayed off-topic a bit there... ;)

Leave a Reply






Technorati


Technorati Authority:

View blog authority

Add to Technorati Favorites

Miscellania


British Blog Directory. Blog Flux Directory