Question for all you Fantasy Buffs

[kriadydragon]

I promise, flist, I will stop spamming you with questions after this. No curiosity this time, though, it's kind of need to know if anyone can answer.

I have this idea for an original story that I really like and really want to write. It's urban fantasy, an AU of our world but with the fantasy elements totally made up. New religion, new myths, new creatures (with smatterings of the more familiar, such as dragons and imps). The world itself, however, is just like our world - cars, cell phones, TVs and all that (towns and cities will also be made up. Government I'm still deciding on since it doesn't really play a major role).

What I need to know if this sounds like a plausible concept. Are there stories out there that you've read or heard of that did something similar - kept the alternate world pretty much like our world, or relatively the same, but tweeked it in other aspects (such as the mythology, religion, etc but without resorting to, say steampunk)? I know there are stories that have pretty much resculpted our world in order to create alternate universes (His Dark Materials, for example), but in the case of those stories everything was tweeked - government, technology, clothing styles, etc. With my idea, as I said, the only thing I plan on altering are the mythical and religious aspects.

But I'm hesitant because... I have no idea why. I guess my biggest concern would be whether it might throw people off, if they would assume I was basing the myths and religion on something that existed, then get all huffy because "that's not what that myth/religion is actually like!"

Or maybe I'm being too paranoid? I don't know, but I figure that maybe a little confirmation might help.

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

***applauds*** the idea.
Cannot wait to see what you do with it.........
I love AU......and particularly when they feature Sheppard.
Rhymer features him that way and I have love her stories e.g.
Born on the Barrens and The Pirate and the Prisoner etc.........
I wish there were more like them.
I also am tired of people screaming about Sheppard in AU and how
terrible it is............

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

This will be original fiction, not fanfiction. I really like the idea but that, to me, it feels kind of AU light makes me nervous, I don't know why. I guess because most of the stories about AU versions of our world that I've read always went all out, not just with mythology and religion but everything, while with my story it's just mythology and religion that's really changed.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

mythology and religion that's really changed

As a reader, my question would be "such changes would profoundly alter events in history and culture."

What's your direction in terms of that?

Fusions of 'our world' with things like dragons et el don't always grab me because many authors don't try to tackle the practicality of such things, using the idea that dragons can talk as way to prop things up and mingling them as pseudo-humans. But if dragons and other mythical beasts were portrayed as real animals--I find the conflict of men and beasts trying co-exists ala how our world deals with whales, lions, etc-- fascinating.

Take my comments with a grain of salt as I'm more a sci-fi reader than fantasy. I am very intrigued at the thought of replacing myth and religion in either case because how such things shape every facet of our world.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Well, so far it's not actually "our world." That is, it's not really a "fork in the road" kind of story. It's its own world, with its own history, own government, etc. But it has our technology, our way of life. Neither is it a "what if" story (ex. what if magic existed in our world and how would the world be different?). I suppose you could call it a "day/week/month in the life of..." kind of story, more focused on the characters, the town where it will take place and the situation than the world itself. I want the story to be like looking through a window at not only another world but a particular situation. We don't learn every detail about this world, but neither do we need to, because the only things we need to know are those things that matter to the situation and characters.

I hope that made sense. The story is pretty clear in my head but trying to describe it without giving anything away is beyond tricky :P I'm usually a sucker for major world building but so far this story wants to be pretty contained where world building is concerned. Which is another reason why I'm nervous, because most people seem to want AU worlds to have major differences from our world, but the differences in my world are kind of subtle compared to most AU worlds.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Aww, it was the "AU of our world" that lead me to think you were referring to Earth. You have a huge blank slate, but I'm still stuck on the idea that even if this is 'another world' --if you radically alter the bases for most culture and society I.E religion and myths---you impact culture.

The degree is of course up to you.

(I studied intellectual history in collage and I have a curiosity on how such foundations impact society) :-P

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

"if you radically alter the bases for most culture and society I.E religion and myths---you impact culture."

Yeah, this is another reason why I've been iffy. The story centers a lot around a particular religion, and I've been dithering quite a bit on whether there would be other religions, variations on the same religion and so on. Plus, would there be differences, say, technology wise? Little, subtle differences (cell phones, for example. I'm actually iffy about having the characters use cell phones. Although I think that may be because I have a bit of a phone prejudice, especially toward cell phones, I don't know why)?

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

The impact of religion depends on the society and if those who practice it do so in extreme or subtle ways. Also what the facets/demands of the religion is from its followers. Look at our world. You have a chapter of Christianity that included the Spanish Inquisition and Crusades which were darker parts of our history, yet in present day, it's not binding to actual law.

Same goes for Islam. Muslims in America practice their faith differently than say a county like Iran where it governs as well. Such things impact everything from technology, the economy, philosophy, art..etc.

As a writer, it is up to you if you want it to be subtle or profound. Either way, you are the artist. The question is--what do you want it to do?

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

This will be original fiction, not fanfiction.

Yes I understand that........and that is why I **applaud** it
because I like AU.........then added my statement about AU ff
which I like too.
I still say "Go For It!!!!!!!!!!"
:-)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see ;) You jumped into AUs and Sheppard and it threw me.

I'm definitely going to write this, hesitant or no. I like the idea too much not to (oh, Joe F is the template for one of the characters ;)).

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

You jumped into AUs and Sheppard

**guilty as charged**
:D
I always seem to do that, but even if I had not, I would
be applauding and am pleased to see you move ahead in this
new project........
:-)

[sholio]

The closest thing I can think of, off the top of my head, is Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series, which is our world -- cars, telephones, etc -- but in this world, Death, War, Nature, etc. are embodied by mortal humans who are chosen in various ways (Death, for example, becomes the new Death by killing the old Death). It includes a lot of actual mythic and religious beliefs (there is a literal Heaven and Hell, for example) but also blends in a lot of different stuff, like the Incarnations themselves.

*thinks* I'm also reminded of a similar idea in Monique McNaughton's Naughts and Crosses series, only it's not *just* religious but, also, a world that's racially flipped -- it's what basically amounts to the modern world, technology etc. being the same, but with a majority-black and minority-white population (and the dominant religion is something different).

Oh, and I just thought of another! Amber by Roger Zelazny, in which Earth is just like our Earth (or at least it seems that way), but all worlds in the multiverse (including Earth) are "shadows" cast by the one true world, called Amber, where the main characters (and true magic) hail from. Our world is not noticeably different from the world we know, but it's very different on a meta level -- that is, the main characters know that the world is not the "real" world, but a shadow of Amber. And magic, etc. in Amber does not seem to be based on a particular mythology or belief system, though the world itself is pretty much a typical sort of pseudo-medieval-Europe with some differences. Actually, if you haven't read the Amber books, they're really cool and was one of my favorite fantasy series when I was a teenager -- the first book is Nine Princes in Amber and they're also collected in an Amber omnibus edition that has the whole thing.

I think it sounds like a really cool world-building idea, personally. I love fantasy and sci-fi that doesn't quite conform to the usual genre stereotypes, but stretches out and takes chances.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is what I wanted to know. I feel a little better, now :D

My idea is such an odd idea - at least for me, because I do love going all out when it comes to world building - because, technically it's not really our world but its own world. As I mentioned to Kristen above, it's neither a "fork in the road" story nor a "what if" but more a "day/week/month in the life of.." The focus is more on the characters and situation than the world itself, so the world building is probably the lightest world building I've ever done for any story. The only difference between our world and this one is the religion, myths and magic (I don't even think the world itself will have a name. Government is still pending). So I guess you could also say it's an AU of our world if someone wanted to see it that way, it's just that that's not really the focus of the story.

And I guess my reservations were really because the only Earth AUs I've ever come across were either urban fantasies or where our world was drastically changed (steampunk type worlds). A part of me kept thinking I should probably make the world more different, more unique from our world, but the plot wouldn't have it.

So it helps knowing that similar concepts do exist out there :D I really want to write this story, but those reservations kept getting in my way.

[sholio]

Yeah, after reading what you have in mind, I like it even better, because what you're basically proposing is an imaginary world with more or less the same level of technology as our world, right? And one of my general peeves with most fantasy is how they tend to get stuck at "medieval". There is no reason why it's inherently more realistic for a fantasy world to have knights, castles and feudalism than for it to have internal combustion engines and telephones. :D I really love seeing fantasy worlds that take a different angle. Kristen's definitely got a point that the world seems more internally consistent if you've considered how their general history, government, religion and so forth are all tied together, but I don't think you have to, any more than 90% of fantasy worlds have really put a lot of effort into figuring out how a world with no Roman Empire and subsequent invasion of Germanic tribes ended up with something that looks just like feudalism on Earth. It's just ... not within the scope of the story. And I don't see why it has to be unless that's the kind of story you're wanting to tell.

There is probably a lot more anime/manga than Western fantasy that does what you're talking about -- Fullmetal Alchemist, for example, which appears to be sort of an AU version of post-WWI-era Europe, but the names of the countries and the map are completely different: it's an imaginary world with a roughly 1920s era of tech (and some technology that is beyond what we have -- they've got cyborgs, for example). On the other hand, nearly all urban fantasy could be seen as some sort of AU of that sort, since if you really think about it, adding actual vampires or werewolves to Earth's history probably would have resulted in political changes, but most urban fantasy doesn't deal with that. :D

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Heh, it was an anime that sparked my current idea, actually :D Anime is such a bad influence on me ;)

because what you're basically proposing is an imaginary world with more or less the same level of technology as our world, right?

Exactly :D It's something I've really been enthralled with for a while now. Though I still love Medieval sword and sorcery and will one day write some, I adore the idea of fantasy set in other time periods. Obviously, though, the tricky part is making it work, and I think until I see the story on page and get some feed bacck for it, the reservations are going to linger.

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

Mercedes Lackey's Bardic Universe is the first thing that came to mind.

[ranlynn.livejournal.com]

Well, someone already mentioned Fullmetal Alchemist series. That's closest match I can think of. There are some others that might be close.

Simon R Green has a 'hidden history' series, featuring a character called Edwin Drood. He's sort of a supernatural James Bond.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_R._Green#The_Secret_History_series

In addition to 'Bardic Voices Mercedes Lackey also has a 'SERRated Edge' series (urban elves). Many of this were co-weritten with other authors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Lackey#The_SERRAted_Edge

Actually, Baen Books has an online library with many 'urban' fantasies plus scifi & straight fantasy books.
http://www.baen.com/library/
http://www.webscription.net/c-1-free-library.aspx

You can download sample chapters and even whole books in HTML, rich text and several ebook formats for free.(can be a little tricky to navigate).

Here's a link for 'Born To Run' by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon, part of the SERRated Edge series.
http://www.baen.com/library/0671721100/0671721100.htm?blurb