Favorite Fantasy Riffs

Fantasy is my favorite genre to read and I can’t imagine writing much in any other genre, in part because of its incredible flexibility. Even though there are still rules to abide by, reader expectations to meet, and time-honored tropes to implement, a fantasy novel is only limited in scope by the author’s imagination.

As a reader of fantasy, I get an extra thrill out of recognizing a glimpse of the real world, understanding a literary reference, or experiencing a cultural flavor from across the globe. I believe this is the reason readers and writers alike enjoy fantasy as a genre—because it’s a safe playground in which to explore big ideas and their natural consequences. It’s fun to place seemingly incongruous elements side by side and ask “what if?” It’s the draw of limitless creative liberty.

I’d like to describe some of my favorite cultural and historical elements and where I hope to integrate them inside my fantasy WIP, “The Waking”.

First, I’m a consumer of Netflix anime, so I have a keen interest in Japanese, Korean and Chinese food, clothing, traditions and history. There’s so much to appreciate about a culture that values beauty and interpersonal responsibility to such a deep extent.

In Celandra, the Elven race are sea-lovers who built an ocean-themed city on cliffs overlooking the kingdom’s eastern shores. They wear long robes with gauzy accoutrements, hair accessories and ocean jewels. They’re magicians who live for thousands of years storing up knowledge, most of which they share with their human allies; some of which they protect in secret, because their long memory teaches them humans are not to be trusted.

Another culture I feel closely connected to, because of my Native American heritage, is nomadic hunter-gatherer tribal communities found all over the world. For a different writing project, I’ve done research on the Saami people in arctic Scandinavia, who have a lot of similarities to my own ancestors. I enjoy contemplating the ruggedness and simplicity of life lived deep within nature, both at the mercy of the elements and sustained by the same.

Before the kingdom of Celandra was founded by humans and Elves, there lived many nomadic races, one of which appears in The Waking. The Osakk are a mighty people made up of smaller, close-knit communities. They value the prowess of the warrior and the freedom of evocative dancing, running with wolves, and giving the battle cry. Their food is hearty and their bodies hardened. They make companions of wargs that stand tall as a house and are NOT pets.

Medieval England gets a lot of bad rap these days, but there’s still a lot of creative gold to be fashioned from the ancient bones of Europe. The intrigue of a Spanish court, the diplomacy of the French, the cunning of the Italians, the adamance of the Celts. Besides… castles. What more could you want to stir the blood of your readers?

I made the capital city of Celandra feel like medieval Bristol because I wanted it to be the hive of political corruption, as well as the economic center for trade. Humans in Celandra have always been greedy and power-hungry. It’s why the Elves don’t trust them, and it’s why the humans don’t get along with the Osakk at first.

There isn’t space to tell about the cold-hardy Russian-mongolian villages, or the water-loving vinedressers of south Celandra modeled after mountain dwellers in arid places. I’m sure I’ve got threads of other things woven in, subconsciously, taken from every book I’ve read, movie I’ve watched, experience I’ve lived.

That’s the fun thing about writing in a world you crafted from scratch yourself. It’s a type of self-exploration and you never know what you might stumble across.