Post Your Syllabus For Modern Fantasy

[McMurphy]

Imagine that you are about to teach a Modern Fantasy college course, and you had to put together a well balanced syllabus of reading material (10 books) for your class to read. What would be your choices? Remember, the point of the syllabus is to provide a well rounded introduction of modern fantasy, not necessarily a list of your top ten favorite novels of all time. Below is my fictional version:

"Modern Fantasy" is a slippery concept. If someone asks twelve different people what is the defination of modern fantasy, the odds are twelve different answers will be given. While some might believe modern fantasy can only fall into the "sword and sorcery" stereotype, others might come to the conclusion that works such as The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick are the true children of fantasy. That is why a clear defination of modern fantasy is necessary. For the purposes of this syllabus, the defination will be that modern fantasy is any fiction published between the 1930's to present that offers an alternate existence through fictional entities such as real or fictional animals/races, fictional magic/powers of the mind, alternate realities, Alter-Earths, or new mythologies. All of the ten books listed below will represent this defination of modern fantasy in different ways.

-J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (first published in 1937) is the starting point of modern fantasy because the book represents an elaborate fictional world (Middle Earth) so successfully that The Hobbit is almost treated like a rulebook for fantasy writers. The story wields a great landscape, highly imaginative characters, and it is an altogether new mythology. The book is also a great example of Joseph Campbell's archetypical hero-tale.

-Fritz Leiber's Ill Met in Lankmar (originally written as seperate short stories as early as the 1930's) fulfills the sword and sorcery aspect of modern fantasy. The two nomads, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, begin their adventures together at Lankmar and travel throughout Leiber's fictional world. Leiber is credited for being the founder of the sword and sorcery genre.

-George Orwell's Animal Farm (first published in 1945) is a good example of modern fantasy. Orwell uses a children's tale approach to cleverly masquerade a political and social satire. The book is important because it delivers a warning against blind faith and totalitarianism. Most importantly, Animal Farm presents one of the best examples of a dysutopian world.

-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (first published in 1950) by C. S. Lewis is a classic example of a young-adult, modern fantasy story. Lewis not only created the land of Narnia, but in the process, he created one of the few fantasy epics for children. The book has a great depth of Christian symbolism.

-The Man in the High Castle written by Philip K. Dick (originally published in 1962) is the most diverse example of modern fantasy. That is why it is one of the most important books of this syllabus. Although it does fall into the definition of modern fantasy, it has often been considered science fiction. It is modern fantasy because, in this book, Dick has created an Alter-Earth where the United States has lost WWII. Even though the book has a neat premise, that alone is not what makes this story so important. Dick also shows the reader how reality is built from illusions because "reality" is nothing more than perception. That is a subject rarely touched in modern fantasy.

-Watership Down, written by Richard Adams (first published in 1972), is a fine example of an utopian story. It acts as a good counter-weight to Animal Farm. Adams uses the lives of run-away rabbits to illustrate the important points on how to live a meaningful life within an meaningful society structure.

-Carrie written by Stephen King in 1974 is included in this syllabus because horror novels are such a vital part of fantasy. Carrie is a teenage girl with telekinetic powers and a religious fanatic as a mother. There is a huge social underlining about religion, peer pressure, high school, and the cruel destructive nature of the human race in this novel.

-Necroscope (originally published in 1986) by Brian Lumley also provides the horror element in modern fantasy. It is the fact that Necroscope tackles the subject of vampires and communicating with the dead that makes it an important addition. Vampires have been around in folklore and fiction for centuries and Lumley makes a professional contribution.

-Small Gods by Terry Pratchett has a more upbeat role in modern fantasy: humor. In Small Gods, a great and powerful god is reduced down to a tortoise because he has only one true believer. It is not that other people don't believe in this god; the problem is the worshipers have centered their beliefs around the shrines of him instead. Unfortunately, his sole believer is a simple-minded garden keeper that gets caught up in something dangerous. It all takes place on a planet called Discworld. It is full of modern day ideas that are misplaced in a sword and sorcery fantasy setting.

-The graphic novel, Sandman: Season of the Mists by the novelist Neil Gaiman (first published as a graphic novel in 1995) makes an unique addition to modern fantasy. Sandman has great depth in writing that is all too uncommon in the comic book medium. The premise of the Sandman series is that there is another level of reality that is often identified as dreamland. Sandman is the name of the Lord of Dreams, and his family is known as the Endless. The series if full of abstract ideas and complex storylines. Sandman: Season of the Mists is a perfect introduction to new readers because there is a prologue that fully describes the premise of Gaiman's reality. Sandman was the first and only comic book series to win the World Fantasy Award.

[dwndrgn]

I'd take your class

[SDNess]

I'm going to make my own syllabus, but I still don't understand your definition of "modern fantasy". What would be other types of fantasy, in this case...

[littlemissattitude]

I don't think I've read enough fantasy to be able to do this exercise. However, it's got me thinking about a similar syllabus for a science fiction class. So, when I've got it sorted out in my own mind, I'll probably post that.

Only one thing I thought of when I was reading yours, McMurphy: I think I would probably include something by Clive Barker, as long as you're considering horror as a part of fantasy. Other than that, I think I agree with dwndrgn...I'd take your class anytime.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by SDNess

I'm going to make my own syllabus, but I still don't understand your definition of "modern fantasy". What would be other types of fantasy, in this case...

You, of course, are free to construct a syllabus built upon the framework of your own personal defination of "Modern Fantasy." In fact, I highly encourage people to make one based on how they see fantasy rather than on a prescribed version.

The term fantasy can umbrella various subgenres of fictional worlds, entities, mythology, etc. from a prism of approaches. Horror is a good example. Should it be considered less of an example of fantasy than, say, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time? Personally, I believe it shouldn't because such distinctions really stem from a preference of storytelling approach rather than from a variance from defining characteristics. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry isn't fantasy because, while it does depict a fictional tale, it also weaves fiction within a factual world and the factual laws of existence. Carrie by Stephen King may be considered fantasy because the novel centers around the adolescent social torture of a girl "gifted" with supernatural mental powers: a gift that is not traditionally viewed as a possibility in the real world.

Defining Modern Fantasy as a subgenre of Fantasy is the act of acknowledging the starting point and the present trend in fantasy writing that stays faithful to it. It would be hard to argue with the notion that most mass marketed fantasy novels keep true to Tolkein's (and perhaps Leiber's on a smaller scale) vision of epic conquests. Since Tolkein is often viewed by scholars as the turning point of fantasy writing, they tag him and the 1930s as the starting point for Modern Fantasy. While I happen to uphold that notion, it would be closed-minded of anyone to consider it as "fact," so I am more than happy to entertain other definations.

[knivesout]

This is a very interesting topic, McMurphy, and I think I see where you're coming from with your list. I'm a little tied up right now (strung up on the rack again ) but I just have time to propose another addition to your list: ER Edisson's The Worm Ouroboros. Edisson was a contemporary of Tolkien who, in this book and the two following it, (Mistress of Mistresses and A Fish Dinner In Memision) created a fantasy very different from Tolkien's. Edission used a purposefully archaic prose style to weave complex story that focussed on sheer grandeur of vision and some rather odd metaphysical underpinnings. Morality is secondary here, or at least, far more ambiguous. Hedonsim here is not the monopoly of decadent tyrants but an ideal in itself. Since much of modern fantasy is influenced by Tolkien, Edisson's work, although terribly obscure and with its own flaws, can serve as a pointer to a very different kind of fantastic muse.

I'd also like to argue HP Lovecraft into the syllabus - what do you think?

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by knivesout

This is a very interesting topic, McMurphy, and I think I see where you're coming from with your list. I'm a little tied up right now (strung up on the rack again ) but I just have time to propose another addition to your list: ER Edisson's The Worm Ouroboros. Edisson was a contemporary of Tolkien who, in this book and the two following it, (Mistress of Mistresses and A Fish Dinner In Memision) created a fantasy very different from Tolkien's. Edission used a purposefully archaic prose style to weave complex story that focussed on sheer grandeur of vision and some rather odd metaphysical underpinnings. Morality is secondary here, or at least, far more ambiguous. Hedonsim here is not the monopoly of decadent tyrants but an ideal in itself. Since much of modern fantasy is influenced by Tolkien, Edisson's work, although terribly obscure and with its own flaws, can serve as a pointer to a very different kind of fantastic muse.

I'd also like to argue HP Lovecraft into the syllabus - what do you think?

ER Edisson sounds really interesting! Is there any recommendations of how one would get his/her hands on Edisson's fantasy? I would love to read either of the two works you posted.

Undoubtly, Lovecraft would be an excellant selection for part of a syllabus line-up.

[knivesout]

Opps..it's ER Edisson. Sorry. Well, here is a good page on The Worm Ouroboros, which presents a very fair assesment: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...in/classicworm
Both Ouroboros and Mistress of Mistresses have been re-issued as part of the Fantasy Masterworks series.

[SDNess]

Defining Modern Fantasy as a subgenre of Fantasy is the act of acknowledging the starting point and the present trend in fantasy writing that stays faithful to it. It would be hard to argue with the notion that most mass marketed fantasy novels keep true to Tolkein's (and perhaps Leiber's on a smaller scale) vision of epic conquests. Since Tolkein is often viewed by scholars as the turning point of fantasy writing, they tag him and the 1930s as the starting point for Modern Fantasy. While I happen to uphold that notion, it would be closed-minded of anyone to consider it as "fact," so I am more than happy to entertain other definations.

What was fantasy before 1930 though? Was there even "fantasy"?

Edisson does sound extremely interesting. I'm surprised that I have never heard of him before...is the novel famous in any respects?

[knivesout]

Edisson's works are what you'd call forgotten. They are not everyone's cup of tea - just as tea is not everyone's favoured morning cup. If you do get hold of his work, expect incredibly dense, archaic language, a thick, obscure plot - and a seriously epic feel.


Fantasy before 1930...well, prior to the modern age, I expect that myth and legend held the place now filled by fantasy. Also, there were fantastic tales such as those of Cyrano de Bergerac, but I suppose the genre as a coherent whole in the modern era only began post-Tolkien.

[knivesout]

Another possible addition to the syllabus - Italo Calvino's The Castle of Crossed Destinies (1973). A cross between allegory and fantasy, it imagines a group of travellers who find themselves in a castle - or is it a tavern - one stormy night. Once they refresh themselves at a banquet that is going on, they all want to trade tales, as travellers will. However, they find they are struck dumb, so they use a tarot deck to narrate their tales to each other. In the process, their stories weave and interweave as each person uses cards from another's narrative to tell their own tale. The stories themselves turn out to be re-tellings of western legends, like the Faust myth.


The whole story is an amazing commentary on the nature of imagination and fantasy, and should be part of a serious overview of modern fantasy, IMO.

[Cartazon]

Originally Posted by SDNess

What was fantasy before 1930 though? Was there even "fantasy"?

Of course! William Morris, though better known for his graphic artwork, wrote a number of fantasy novels in the last part of the 19th century which heavily influenced the development of fantasy in the early part of the 20th.

George MacDonald (d. 1905) is probably best known for his children's stories, but his adult novel Phantastes still stands strong as a work of fantasy literature.

Then of course there is Lord Dunsany, who wrote The King of Elfland's Daughter and a plethora of other fantasy tales that are still regarded highly by other fantasists. I would probably start with him for a course (but give students extra credit for reading MacDonald or Morris).

Someone has already mentioned Lovecraft, which is a definite must, if you're goin gto include horror. I'd also add Mervyn Peake, author of the Ghormengast trilogy.

Including Terry Brooks first Shannara book might make sense, if you want to examine the way fantasy went from being a fringe element of the already fringe genre of Science Fiction, to become a strong and marketable genre in it's own right. You could also use it as a way to demonstrate the influence of Tolkien on both writers and readers.

Lastly, to bring the tradition of modern fantasy to it's most current, I'd add China Meiville's The Scar, which revolutionizes the typical tropes and expectations of epic fantasy.

[knivesout]

I think we have a syllabus now.

[dwndrgn]

Where do I sign up?

[knivesout]

Bumping this up in case anyone has additions! Cheers!