Yatterings

Where is fantasy going with market expectations of constant pace and action?

I’m not necessarily sure the entire market expects constant action. A section of it does, certainly but it always has. Hopefully there will always be room for more reflective tales building towards more gradual revelation. At the moment I see both ends of the spectrum catered for, and all the variations in between.

Is this fuelled by the growth of genre films and gaming?

The influences I see coming from gaming and films are twofold. Firstly, readers are increasingly inclined to look for the unexpected plot-angles and the hidden clues and I think that’s great, as it keeps writers on their mettle and makes for more interesting stories. Secondly, now that readers can picture fabulous magic effects and incredible monsters all the more clearly thanks to CGI, we writers can really let our imaginations loose, because there’s no limit to our special effects budgets.

How easy is it to either revive things like the matter of Britain? Is there such a thing as British or European fantasy? If so, what might define it?

Personally, if I never have to see another half-baked rehash of the Arthurian Cycle, I’ll be a happy woman. It’s been done to death by uninspired writers peddling out-of-focus copies of other people’s retellings. I see no point in a writer trying to revive The Matter of Britain unless he or she has something really 100% original to bring to the table.

Which isn’t to say there isn’t some intriguing material in Celtic, Romano-British and Saxon storytelling. European fantasy can be rightly proud of those roots. Writers should be looking at such sources for fresh inspiration rather than settling for stale second-hand ideas.

Can Western fantasy ever truly deal with the non-occident?

I see no reason why not as long as western writers do their best to leave their inherited, unconscious biases behind. There’s a definite trend in fantasy writing that’s moving away from those northern European roots to explore the myths, cultures and ideas of Africa, Asia and the Americas. I think it’s one of the most interesting developments in the genre at the moment.