#political fantasy

[gailynovelry]

[phoebebuggers]

if the whole “romantacy” genre gets big and we stop getting darker more political fantasy like the poppy war, jade city, and etc i will be so upset

[kittensartswriting]

I watched a book review video, where there was a broader argument that political fantasy is inherently hard to end in a satisfying way and it got me thinking. Because I'm writing a political fantasy myself, I have a lot of thoughts.

I do agree with the argument in some ways. I think many fantasy genre conventions work against political plotlines, so ending it in a satisfying way requires breaking those conventions. So, the argument was that there's broadly three ways for a political fantasy to end and none of them is very satisfying. First, it can end to the protagonists losing. Second, it can end to a protagonist becoming the monarch. And third it can end to the protagonists abolishing monarchy. First is kinda obviously unsatisfying. Second is unsatisfying because it doesn't address the underlying systematic problem about the previous regime, monarchy being inherently unjust, that in a political fantasy should be one of the core themes explored. Third is unsatisfying because establishing democracy after monarchy is in reality a process that takes generations of political struggle, not last act of a book.

There is of course couple of assumptions already in these arguments, which are typical genre conventions. Fantasy governments are usually feudal monarchies and the protagonists are very often royalty or have potential in becoming one, and this is doubly true with political fantasy. I agree with the argument that all those three options are unsatisfying, but I don't think they are the only possible endings, just what usually happens in political fantasies. Specifically I think they are the options when following genre conventions. The genre conventions I'm talking about are not necessarily the assumptions I already mentioned (monarchy and royal protagonist) though changing them can open more possibilities, but rather protagonist with strong character agency, closed endings and story structure with rising action and decisive battle at the climax. Basically I'm talking about the story where saving the world/country rests upon the hero and they defeat the villain which fixes everything.

There's nothing wrong with these genre conventions on their own and they do work very well in a lot of fantasy, but I would argue that they clash with a political story. In reality real political change doesn't come to the scheming or battle between couple of people, it's collective work done for generations. Every person under a political structure has agency (though often power to use that agency is not evenly distributed), which means that politics is in mathematical terms a chaotic system - unpredictable and complex. That's why it's impossible to predict in the moment the political outcomes, but later, when looking at history, the patterns are easy to see. The agency of one person doesn't mean much in grand scheme of things, not even a very powerful person. Their power comes from something, so if they wish to wield that power, they have to uphold it. So if you give the protagonist in a political story a lot of agency, suddenly they are the one single-handedly making the politics and the people of that world become a mass of drones without agency, who don't have ideology, material interests or even opinions. This completely flattens politics and imo any ending will be unsatisfying.

One thing that I find is very much lacking in most political fantasies, is ideology. I think because we are not often taught about the ideological debates and disagreements that led to every political change in history, we often think of ideology as a very modern thing, but it's just inherent part of politics. Every political change starts with ideology, which comes usually long, generations even, before any large political action. It can start with intellectual elites or on grassroots level, but there will always be some thought leaders that define the emerging ideology, which allows it to spread. For ideology to spread the ground needs to be fertile for it. For example instability, economic or otherwise, is very fertile ground for anti-authoritarian ideologies, even more so than injustice and lack of personal freedom. Different classes are also more fertile for different ideologies. Those in power are obviously more open to ideologies that justify their power, while those not in power are more open to ideologies that question the power structures. After ideology has become popular, it still needs power to actually enact change. If it's popular among those with high relative power, that's easy, but if the opposite is true, to gather enough power, they need a popular uprising with power in numbers. That requires much more resolve from each individual, because while they have collective power individually they are still vulnerable, so uprising is personally extremely risky. Which is why a popular uprising needs in addition wide spread desperation.

Still, popular idea and power to enact it is just the beginning. Then starts the long and hard process of actually doing it, which is basically never linear. There were peasant uprisings thorough Middle Ages trying upturn feudal system, but it took centuries for it to actually collapse, in some places in Europe and around the world there were still feudal structures in 1800s. For a major change to really take root, it has to become generally accepted, and when you have just overturned a previous regime, there's obviously still a lot of people who do not accept the new system. There's couple of options, you can go the guillotine route, where you can try to forcibly strip them of their power and/or kill them and their supporters, which most certainly leads to a civil war with uncertain outcomes. Or you can try to work with the old powers, which most certainly leads to them resisting change as much as possible and diluting the changes. It's not really possible to get a clean change from one system to another at one go. It can even get reversed quite quickly. Usually large systemic changes require at least couple of attempts before they stick.

The point of this tangent is to illustrate that if a political story ends neatly tied up, it feels untrue to reality. A revolution, a coup or a reformation is just the beginning of a structural change. The structure of rising action and decisive climax also doesn't fit to how politics work. Winning an army or dethroning a monarch is just a step to the direction of a new regime. The ideological opponents won't just abandon their deeply held beliefs the moment they lose power. It also ties to the character agency, if the protagonist is part of a regime change, they definitely shouldn't be the one coming up with the new regime or it's ideology. There should be already existing popular movement for it before the MC comes into the picture. (Looking at you game of thrones with the last episode going "what if we come up with a new system out of nowhere without any prior ideological discourse on the spot and everyone just agrees?")

But usually strong character agency, closed endings and decisive climax are thought of as basis for a satisfying fantasy story, so how would a political fantasy be more satisfying without them? Firstly I would argue they are not always necessary for a satisfying story, but I will say it's harder to make a story satisfying without them. My solution to this is to have different primary plot than the political plot. By that I mean for the protagonists to have different primary goal from the political struggle and it's pursuit being the primary plot, while the political struggle is the secondary plot. The primary goal should of course be connected to the political goal. I think the best way to handle it is to have that primary goal be the reason why the character has their political goal, so the political struggle is an obstacle in their primary goal. The primary goal should be something personal, more intimate in scale and tied to their character arc. This allows the character to have more agency over the outcome of their primary goal and for their primary plot to have a closed ending even if the political struggle doesn't, and has the added benefit of making the political struggle more personal and concrete. The primary plot could be revenge against a monarch or freeing from a political marriage or a lot of other options that forces the character to enter the political arena.

With a dark political fantasy, the ending also doesn't need to be perfectly happy to be satisfying, in fact in dark fantasy the ending is usually more satisfying as a tragedy or bittersweet ending. It could even have a corruption arc, where we watch the hero turn into a power hungry villain, or the protagonist could be antihero from the beginning. In a story like that it can be a perfectly satisfying tragic ending for them to lose or to get to the throne and be just as terrible as the previous monarch. Related to this, I have seen couple of popular posts that express annoyance at people who complain about fantasy having overwhelmingly monarchies as settings. The argument is often that part of fantasy is exploring a completely different mindset from us and to people who lived under monarchy it was just expected fact of life. I think this is generally compelling argument. For a fantasy adventure to have monarchy that goes without questioning is not some secret monarchist messaging. Same goes for a dark fantasy where there's oppressive monarchy that's not changed by the end. But I think with political fantasy it's different, because the main theme should by definition be about politics and power. So if monarchy (or a different political structure) goes without questioning in a story like that, I think the story is lacking in depth. Or maybe it is secret monarchist propaganda.

Also just to add to what I alluded in beginning, I think there's a lot of potential for interesting and satisfying political fantasy with different political system from monarchy and/or protagonists with lower class status, but I wanted to mainly make the point that I think the issues with political fantasy are mainly in the story structure. I don't think there's anything wrong with monarchies in fantasy, I have written monarchies in fantasy, and will in future too, but I do think that beyond political fantasy too sticking to monarchies by default is a little limiting.

To be clear, these are just my thoughts on this, not any rules that would apply to every story that could be described as political fantasy, definitely not. And a lot of this is about preferences. I would love to hear other toughts too!

[ladzwriting]

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS - March 12, 2024

AKA the work formerly known as AquaShame. Illustrated by @t-hornapple, this is the Slavic vampire political fantasy gothic horror of my dreams and your nightmares

Volume 1 comes out on 🫀 MARCH 12, 2024 🦟

Final cover reveal on JANUARY 22, 2024

Preorder:

Itch (signed copies pre-order, US & International): https://ladzwriting.itch.io/the-fealty-of-monsters-vol-1 (you can also download the Prologue as a preview)

eBook: https://books2read.com/TheFealtyofMonstersVol1

Add to GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201742983-the-fealty-of-monsters

Add to The Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3c23d390-61eb-43fa-bb5c-5ea764bacdab

If you like:

🫀 Baru Cormorant 🦟 Villain protagonists 🫀 Age gap yaoi 🦟 Leige/advisor yuri 🫀 Monstrous vampires 🦟 Eat the rich (literally) 🫀 Gormenghast 🦟 Political fantasy 🫀 Killing hundreds to save thousands 🦟 Not romance, not erotica, but high heat horror

As far as the art goes, if you're a fan of these pieces by Häxan, you're in for some delights:

🌚 Yharnam 🌚 Excalibur 🌚 in ecclesia (in church) 🌚 moonbeams*

*Featured in white noise: https://t-hornapple.itch.io/white-noise

Also please read THE LORD OF ASTIIGOS: https://t-hornapple.itch.io/the-lord-of-astiigos-complete-part-1

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS is more intense than most things I have available now, except THE LADY OF THE LAIR

ARC requests will open in January with the final cover reveal

I'm so excited to share this with you all

🫀 https://thefealtyofmonsters.carrd.co/ 🦟

[bencollinsauthor]

Hello,

I just self-published my debut fantasy novel: A Promise Wrought in Steel. It’s the first in a series about grief, apathy, fate, politics, passion, and anger.

It takes place in a world with gods, their consequences, and alchemy, but most of its troubles are cause by armies rather than the mystical. Armies like the legion of Tunulm, which forty years ago inflicted bitter reprisals on the Tribes of the Veltoi. Now an alliance of Veltoi tribes march south against their neighbor, and war and the chaos it brings shall reign in the Republic. And alchemy, the study of change, of secrets, may lead to truths too harsh to bear.

There is gore and violence, and there are allusions to sex and two sex scenes, if those aren’t your thing I understand.

[vyuntspakhkite-l-darling]

Biting the Bullet - WIP Introduction

"Take a look at this, dove."

War is upon the huge empire of Kristalya, and the only son of one of the most respected military families among the nationalists does the unthinkable; he runs away to join the rebellion.

Arsioly Shir-Taka doesn't look back. Joining the rebels is an easy choice when his other option is to stay in a place that will kill him unless he lives a lie. Plus, he's come from a long line of strong men and has hung around his father long enough to know how this all works. He just has to grab a gun, point, and shoot, right?

"Well, I'm not scared. I'm excited." "Excited to kill people?"

He and his eccentric fireteam go in with high hopes. They're young, skilled, and motivated, helping bring in a new era of acceptance and freedom for people who would otherwise live beneath the feet of their social superiors.

But as complications arise and Arsioly's untamable ambitions lead him into direct conflict with his powerful-as-ever father, it becomes clear that war isn't as exciting as they thought.

"Is this really how you want to die, son?"

Look for #biting the bullet vld for updates on this project!

[killemwithkillness]

07/25/2023

Thinking about how part of my deconstruction journey was when I added a fake religion to my fantasy book, then had the uncomfortable realization of how easy it is to just make up an entire half-assed religion on the spot because it didn’t sound all that different from what I believed in real life. 

Now I’m an agnostic atheist who gives their characters religious trauma.  Write what you know I guess lol

[falseheretic]

yea.. i guess i could post again..... LOL

here's some art highlights since ive been away

idk how active ill be on tumblr but ill try 😭 ( then again i always say that then stop posting again LOL )

follow my twitter for active posting...

[bookcub]

first page of city of brass by s. a. chakraborty

[andreai04]

“But maybe being a monster was my calling.”

[gailynovelry]

me yesterday: NaNo is so hard I cannot even do five hundred words I am going to fall short of my goal and die

me today: hee hoo fantasy politics go brrrrr one thousand words of worldbuilding fuckery

“You speak with much of the same candor as the youngest Herald did when he met my Consultation,” the Matrius was telling Joy. “Which is only as much as one should expect from a Herald, I would think,” he replied. “There are reasons why my Beldam left me in charge of her diplomacies, and not one of the older fey. Much as I do, you Heralds know enough of the political going-ons of the world to discuss it candidly and without rancor.” “Without rancor” was not the way Crislie would describe Meparik’s approach to conversation.

[noahhawthorneauthor]

ok but I really love Tadak this guy deserves the world and the first time I read this I was waiting for him to be a bad guy but he's really just a himbo who needs a hug.

[mantequillabooks]

Not much of a romance (as a genre) reader. Romance as a subplot in a fantasy book on the other hand tho..................I'm definitely there.

[ladzwriting]

Coming out March 12, 2024 with illustrations by @t-hornapple

A Slavic gothic horror political fantasy light novel with vampires perfect if you like:

🫀 Baru Cormorant

🦟 Villain protagonists

🫀 Age gap yaoi (between adults)

🦟 Leige/advisor yuri

🫀 Monstrous vampires

🦟 Eat the rich (literally)

🫀 Gormenghast

🦟 Political fantasy

🫀 Killing hundreds to save thousands

🦟 Not romance, not erotica, but high heat horror

All links, story summary, and trigger warnings:

[mawu-writes-stuff]

hi! me again!

i've been working on my little passion project all day since about 9am, i've got the story part of the new, rewritten ad done, and i'd desperately trying to assemble a team!

there's plenty of positions, both paid and voluntary, as well as scheduled and unscheduled positions!

here's what i'm looking for:

paid:

writers

storyboard artists

concept artists

page illustrators

promoters (if that's the word??)

editors (video and literary)

voluntary: (always open!!)

beta readers

reviewers

ok i don't really quite know what others BUT we can figure something out if you're interested!

ALSO!!

payment is very VERY flexible! i've got no solid plans for budgeting yet, and i've got to take care of irl matters first. whether your position is paid or has a deadline or not, is entirely up to you. but, once you pick one, i do expect you to commit.

anyone who wants to help can dm me here, or any of my other social media! i'll put them in the notes.

here ya go! please please check it out, and if you like what you see n wanna support me or join the team, i implore you to share, donate, and dm me!

hope you enjoy!!

londyn ~ 💛💛

[mayas-reviews]

The most popular review I’ve done (according to my analytics) is this one about The August Few: Amygdala by Sam Fennah.

I did not like it.