Three, and Other Musings
December 6th, 2007 by Juliet Marillier
One of the things I like about Writer Unboxed is that it takes genre writing seriously – we respect each other as writers and don’t make any assumptions about just where mystery, fantasy, romance, horror or whatever fits in the total spectrum of fiction writing. People who don’t know me well often take it for granted that I must read a lot of fantasy. But genre writers don’t necessarily read mostly genre fiction, let alone mostly their own genre.
I was recently invited to contribute to a fascinating blog called Writers Read, in which a wide range of writers talk about what books are currently on their bedside tables. From Writers Read you can get to a bunch of related reading blogs owned by the creative Marshal Zeringue. These are well worth a visit. Writers, check out your own work against The Page 69 Test.
I always advise aspiring fantasy writers to read as widely as they can, certainly well beyond their own preferred genre. It’s interesting what perceptions we can develop about genres we don’t read. I noted Eric’s recent comment on WU that he hasn’t read any fantasy since he was 13. I’m taking this opportunity to provide a brief reading list for anyone like him who overdosed on bad Tolkien imitations as a teenager, then gave up reading fantasy in the belief that all it offered was derivative epics full of elves, wizards and magic rings. I wouldn’t want to force anyone into reading fantasy, but I do think you may be missing out on some great books.
Try these:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
The Portrait of Mrs Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
My own recreational reading is mostly outside the fantasy genre. When I do read fantasy I choose it with care. These are four of my favourites. Each lies well beyond the perceived fantasy ‘norm’. None is designed for teenage readers. Together they illustrate the depth of talent and the diversity of approach in today’s fantasy writers. I would add the wonderful Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, but it’s a big brick of a novel so perhaps better as a second step toward appreciating how much the genre has developed in recent years.
I did a Q&A for a German blog recently and was asked, among other things, why fantasy is so often written in trilogies. It’s true, a certain mode of fantasy does tend to be structured this way. Many fantasy stories require the creation of a detailed secondary world and contain high themes (often a monumental struggle between good and evil.) A trilogy provides a big enough canvas for that kind of epic tale. I note, however, that with the exception of Kushiel’s Dart, none of the titles mentioned above is part of a trilogy. Most are stand-alone. Jacqueline Carey’s novel is part of a six-book series (a double trilogy, if you like.)
A three-book series does provide a satisfying beginning-middle-end shape for a story that may well cover vast distances of both time and geography. Remember also that the raw material for much of fantasy storytelling is taken from traditional story (myth, legend, folklore and fairy tale) and that in this canon three is a lucky number that pops up all over the place. Three Billy Goats Gruff, three wishes, three bears, three Fates, three brothers seeking their fortunes … Is it surprising that so many of us choose to write our books in threes?
My own current work in progress has just gone off to my editors and I won’t see it again until it returns with their comments in January. It has the same setting as my first series, the Sevenwaters Trilogy, and is a stand-alone novel. Or is it? I had every intention of ending the book in a way that did not indicate the possibility of a sequel or sequels. Did I succeed? Absolutely not. Despite the fact that its one-book plot was, I think, satisfactorily wrapped up on page 496, the darn thing is full of potential for a continuation. I just couldn’t help myself. Because, after all, real life doesn’t wrap itself into neat and tidy packages – it’s got loose ends everywhere. Even if the girl gets the boy and they ride off into the sunset, somewhere on the fringes of the story there is a shadow that we want to explore, a half-seen figure beckoning us onto a fascinating byway. So there is certainly room for another book, but I will put it on record that at this point I have no intention of writing a trilogy.
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i haven’t indulged in any serious fantasy reading in years. but i appreciate the reading list as the guidance i would need without having to wade through multiple subgenres. thanks WU
I loved the Sevenwaters Trilogy, so I’m really looking forward to your new book.
There are definite benefits to trilogies - if a book does well, then it means more of the same. But I think it’s harder for new authors that try to break into print with the first of a trilogy. If the first book doesn’t get picked up, but the author continues to write the sequels instead of trying something different, there’s no chance to sell the others without selling the first. Or if the first book doesn’t do well, then the publisher may not publish the rest, or the author may not even write them. I’ve read books clearly meant to have sequels but never got them for one reason or another.
In my own fantasy WIP, I’m tying up the plot but leaving little openings in case I want to revisit the world or the book does well enough for sequels. But I want it to stand well enough alone.
Sorry for the rambling post.
Hi Juliet,
As a writer, I have read several genres outside of my own, thrillers/suspense. The more I read outside of my genre, the more I see where it can be improved. I’m moving away from the traditional thriller concept novel and leaning towards strong characterization, stronger writing intertwined with a strong concept - in essence the Literary Thriller.
I think all writers should read outside of their genre for a different perspective. I find it spawns my creativity.
I love how the story takes the writer to unexpected places, and that once there, other stories suggest themselves. It’s magical, no pun intended.
I’m glad I partly inspired a post.
Several people at various times have pointed out the breadth of fantasy is not all Tolkien derived.
I think my greater problem goes a little beyond fantasy and into my fav genre of sci-fi, too. It’s when the storyverse doesn’t have enough grounding in reality to be plausible.
I recently tried to watch Gaiman’s Mirror Mask, and could barely get halfway through it before being disgusted with the seemingly nonsensical, masturbatory dream-like imagery.
I’m not sure what drives me mad with some of this stuff — perhaps a lack of connection to any and all reality. I enjoyed Pan’s Labrynth, but that had a very strong reality root in the era of WWII.
Grounding points and reference points are very important to me, and I suspect they are important to other readers/viewers as well.
I don’t mind something like Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, or even a Vanilla Sky. At some point the crossover breaks down for me though, with say, another Gaiman work such as, What Dreams May Come.
I can enjoy a David Lynch movie because I know from the beginning it’s not supposed to make sense. The problem with introducing audiences to new fantasy or even more fantastical sci-fi is the grounding/reference point to reality serves as a kind of ’shortcut’ to hook the reader into the universe without having to expend a lot of effort up front having to learn new concepts.
When any kind of ’speculative fiction’ fails to provide a common ground or set of reference points by which I can engage in the storyverse without being overwhelmed or assaulted by nonsense, chances are I (and a lot of others) are not going to appreciate it.
It’s not just fantasy. It’s any genre that explores the wild, when the author just dumps me there and doesn’t explain the relevance/reference to the familiar, namely, our own reality.
I believe our own reality is deeply magical, Eric. I guess it was being brought up on traditional stories that shaped my psyche in this way. ‘Exploring the wild’ is exactly what I most love to do in my writing. That means both the wild within us and the wild through which we travel.
But I agree that the reader needs something to grasp hold of, an integral, meaningful core to the novel. For me, characters who grow, develop and interact in a way that touches and interests me are enough to provide that core, however unusual the world of the book may be. I have never enjoyed the kind of fantasy novel in which the invented world is more important than plot and character.
As an additional thought, I would add Guy Gavriel Kay to the list of fantastic non-elven, non-mastrubatory writers. Tigana or the Lions of Al-Rassan are both based on VERY prevelant historical themes the world-over. I once read an interview with Kay who said that no matter where he went, Korea, Poland, etc, someone in the crowd assumed that Tigana was written for their own personal history. Now THAT is an accomplishment. Interestingly, he made another point about Tigana, saying that the reason he wrote it as a fantasy novel was that with fantasy, the world is universally accessible to readers.
I agree with what you said. Most fantasy writers I know don’t exclusively read fantasy novels or do «research» by reading other people’s fantasy works.
I’m looking forward to your “Heir of Sevenwaters” book (though waiting another year for it will surely kill me!!). Your trilogy was wrapped up nicely but the characters were so compeling that you could easily write a book for each one of them.
It’s true that you see a lot of fantasy works in trilogies. I’ve read some trilogies where I thought they could have prolongued it for another book or so… because the story had lots of potential but was a bit rushed.
It’s a pity that many excellent works are practically unknown.
Some really interesting comments here! Anthony, I must try reading more thrillers and suspense myself, since I often find it a challenge to maintain pacing.
Aredendra, I did consider putting The Lions of El Rassan on Eric’s reading list (it’s one of my all time favourites) but decided it is really a historical novel, not a fantasy. Although there are two moons in the sky and the cultures and places have invented names, it is definitely set in Moorish Spain and has no supernatural or magical component that I can recall. Tigana should probably be on the list - a wonderful, sad book that is entirely relevant to the real world.
Carina, I hope my new book will be worth the wait!
I’m glad you see potential for a sequel to the new opus. I wouldn’t mind seeing another Sevenwaters Trilogy and I’ll bet a lot of other readers wouldn’t, either.
Vis a vis the value of fantasy; I continually quote Ursula K. LeGuin who has said “Fantasy is our natural language for telling the spiritual journey and the struggle for good and evil in the soul”. I agree wholeheartedly: all good fantasy is, I think, allegory to some degree and as such tells us about the human condition in ways other genres cannot touch.