Editorial 05/07

Genre Jumping

Fantasy and Thriller

I just know that everyone has been asking themselves, how can I best mix other genres with fantasy. At least I hope so, because that's what I've got planned for my next few installments as editor. For the first one, let's look at how to add elements of a Thriller to a Fantasy story, or elements of Fantasy to your latest Thriller.

Thriller, like Fantasy, can cover a lot of things, and most fantasy stories have some aspects of thrillers in them already. If you want to add more thriller elements to your fantasy story, think about your favorite thriller books and movies. Then adapt the ideas for your fantasy setting. What would James Bond do if he had a wizard behind him instead of Q? What would Jack Ryan do if he had to contend with revolting Dwarves in the mines instead of terrorists?

Another good source of inspiration is in the newspapers everyday. Same rules apply. What would the Government of your kingdom do if it were attacked from within it's own borders? How would a rebellion in the neighboring kingdom affect them? What would your young apprentice mage do if he were called to military service to stop an invading army of Trolls? All these ideas can lead to a more thriller-like atmosphere in the story.

Don't forget that a super spy can work just as well in a fantasy setting as in a modern one. The gadgets will change, in fact, they may vanish in favor of magical training, but it will still have much the same feel. David Eddings has done some of this with the Nation of spies in The Belgariad and The Elenium.

Going the other way, you can always introduce some mystery to your modern thriller by adding a touch of magic to it. The Pulps were great for this. Doc Savage, The Destroyer, The Avenger all had to sometimes face off against a magical or seemingly magical foe. You need to consider carefully, though, what is appropriate for your setting. A James Bond type spy isn't going to work well against an army of Ogres unless your world has been designed to accommodate that sort of thing. However, a strange cult might work. Maybe their 'magic' is mere trickery, but maybe there is really something more to it. For these types of stories, ritual and long involved casting rites often mesh better than quick incantations. Always go with what will feel right for your story.

In a modern setting, always try to use history as a resource for ideas. History and myth is full of events that might lead to an explanation for magic ina moder setting. Twist real world events to suit your needs. F. Paul Wilson writes some wonderfully tense thrillers with his Repairman Jack character which sometimes have fantasy elements in them, and sometimes don't. He meshed the work of Nicolai Tesla with his darkest envoy of evil to break a hole between our world and a world of eternal night in one novel in a way that felt right, even though he went from conspiracy nuts to pure evil in just a chapter or two. It meshed because everything that happened went slowly at first and built on what came before.

That's all the advice I have for now. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to write to the newsletter, or mail me directly.

Thanks for reading this, and I hope you find it useful.

Colin Back on the Ghost Roads