Yatterings

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

The expectation that fiction should be pacey and action-packed isn’t restricted to fantasy. But I’m not sure I agree with the implication of the question - I don’t think these aspects are necessarily a prerequisite to writing fantasy or having it published. It’s a very broad genre - more so than at any time in its history - and while much of it is action oriented, there’s a great deal that isn’t. The field’s become so catholic, in fact, that maybe it would be useful if we stopped regarding it as a single amorphous category and saw it as a loose collection of sub-genres. Action-centred sword and sorcery is one of the more popular branches, and it’s true that there is a certain competitiveness within that strand as far as fast paced, conflict-driven narratives are concerned. As that’s one of the traits of this particular sub-genre, I think it’s fair enough.

Of course, you could say that any author, of whatever category, who ignores the need to provide their readers with pacey storylines should perhaps be taking a serious look at what they’re doing. Shepherding the reader smoothly through your plot ought to be one of a writer’s prime objectives.

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

Books stopped having it all their own way around the time Marconi began experimenting with radio. If you see the craft as part of the entertainment industry, as I tend to, then we’re competing with numerous other means of delivery. In recent years, many of these other mediums - games, the Internet, etc - have the added appeal of interactivity. Consumers (and I’m sorry I can’t think of a more apposite word) are no longer required to be passive. But we tend to forget that books are the original and arguably most potent form of interactivity. It’s beholden on readers to think. To dream along with the writer, if you like. It’s possible to read passively, but the exercise is often immensely more rewarding if readers are engaged. Whether they are, of course, is again the primary responsibility of authors.

But it would be foolish to deny that the rest of the media isn’t having an effect on the way prose is written. Take a look at the majority of novels written to up, say, 1930 and you’ll find a much more leisurely, mannered pace. People’s attention spans are definitely shorter than they were, largely as a result of the instant gratification culture we now have. Authors have to take that into account. There was a time when we had the luxury of a chapter or two to draw readers in. Now, if you don’t hook them instantly you’re in trouble.

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

I assume you mean how easy is it to squeeze something fresh out of well worn themes, like the Arthurian legends? It’s how you tell them. If that wasn’t true, we wouldn’t have had, for example, countless thousands of stories dealing with vampires, and they wouldn’t remain perennially popular. All genre fiction deals with tropes. In so called traditional fantasy that might include dragons, elves, fairies, gallant swordsmen, conniving sorceresses and the rest. How you move and motivate them, the situations you place them in and the plot twists you can wring out, are what adds the spark. Good fantasy - good fiction of any kind - tends to be about relationships between characters and the exploration of certain eternal verities, rather than how the scenery’s arranged.

In an increasingly global culture, I’m not sure how you differentiate British or European fantasy from anybody else’s. Though I do think Western European fantasy does have a distinct flavour all of its own. Defining it is tough. I’m inclined to echo Robert Heinlein’s famous remark when asked to define science fiction. He replied, “It’s what I say it is.” While its possible to interpret that as an arrogant response, I think he was putting his finger on the difficulty of encapsulating the form in an easily digestible way. I’m sure there’s a distinct strand of British fantasy, but you kind of have to see it to identify it.

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

As I’ve never really tried to write oriental inspired fantasy, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer this. Though I have incorporated shards of oriental philosophy and martial attitudes into some of my books. My feeling is that any reasonably competent writer should be able to empathise with and to some extent duplicate aspects of a culture they aren’t a part of, albeit with the aid of research. After all, you don’t have to be a murderer to write crime novels.