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sunnymodffa in fail_fandomanon

Hold Your Horses - FFA Post # 255

Oct 03, 2013 02:46

This was going to say "placeholder" or something similar. But now, especially after taking 253 from a trot to a canter to an all-out gallop, it's a request, nay, exhortation to nonnies to please stop saying "giddyup, go faster, post!" and let us all enjoy the post that is instead of just yearning for the post that will be ( Read more... )

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Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 19:51:23 UTC

An anon on the last thread postulated the existence of a sub-genre that could be called "cozy fantasy" - books where characters are mostly tripping around and living their lives in a fantasy universe rather than constantly engaged in an Epic Struggle Against Evil. It came up in the context of Mercedes Lackey's Bardic Voices books, the first of which mostly focused on a girl seeking out training as a musician (and which tacked on a clearly afterthought Real Plot at the end).

Since Anne McCaffrey is a meme topic du jour, her Dragonsinger is probably another good example of it.

Any fans of the genre? And anyone have other cozy fantasies they like?

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 19:52:31 UTC

SA. And well I'm at it, I might as well confess that I've been known to do things like just read the first section of Kushiel's Dart where she's training to be a courtesan and then quit as soon as the actual plot gets started.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 19:58:06 UTC

I think Pamela Dean's Tam Lin fits that. There is dark stuff going on in the background, but a lot of it is just about the pleasures of being a college student with a group of friends. Though it's set in our world with the fantasy elements breaking through, not in a separate fantasy world.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 20:10:53 UTC

I think Anne McCaffrey's books have too much save-the-world kind of developments to be considered cosy.

I nominate Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 22:08:49 UTC

No way. There's way too much convoluted adventure plot and philosophy involved. Cozy fantasy is much more when they just sort of bum around and build houses and learn how to fight/sing/cook whatever. It's actually not a very exploited genre outside teen lit.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 23:08:05 UTC

Who does it in teen lit? The only people coming to mind are some of the dystopia writers who spend the first book showing us how the dystopia works before they break it down in subsequent ones, which I don't think quite counts.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 5 2013, 01:39:40 UTC

ayrt Well, I'd put some of Lackey's novels into the category (the book with Rune, the second Owl's Flight novel, a couple of the Jouster novels as well.)

The first set of Circle books by Tamora Pierce also fit in relatively well into the genre. And other anons have added more examples.

It's just, western teen books are often more oriented on identity and forming bonds with friends and family, and that will bleed over into fantasy for them. Adult fantasy in western novels are still mostly oriented on epic/high fantasy, which is more about intricate plots or world changing events and quests.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 20:32:47 UTC

That's mostly what Temeraire is, at least the first novel. There's a battle scene at the end but it's just kind of tacked on so the book will have a climax. The point of the book is a guy discovering the strange new world of being a dragon riding dude instead of a sea captain.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 20:37:35 UTC

Cozy Fantasy makes me think of Cozy Mysteries where thee is plot but nothing too bad happens. This sounds like slice-of-life genre like you find in manga/anime like Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 20:53:53 UTC

Yeah, some of these examples confuse me. They still contain death and danger and I would think it'd be more natural to associate cozy with exactly that, slice-of-life.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 21:00:21 UTC

I think if we limited it to that, we'd come up for almost nothing on Western fantasy (I'm not familiar with manga/anime). Even the coziest seems to feel the need to toss in some death and danger at the end.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 21:07:00 UTC

AYRT

That makes sense. If there's expansive worldbuilding along with traveling around though, I don't know if I'd call it cozy. Like Temeraire doesn't fit, but Tooth and Claw would?

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 22:18:32 UTC

Natsume's Book of Friends is an excellent example of cozy fantasy manga - there's a strong fantastical element with spirits and gods and ghosts, but it's also a very quiet, home-oriented series as it's mostly about a young boy's loneliness and his learning to make friends and trust.

I'd put Mushishi in the same category. A series of small, self-contained stories revolving around spirit animal/bacteria (for lack of better terms), the parts they play in peoples' lives, and the man who travels about investigating them. Again, there's a strong emphasis on friendship, community, and human links with each other and nature.

The movie Kiki's Delivery Service is pretty cozy fantasy as well!

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 22:23:35 UTC

Excellent examples! Kiki's Delivery Service should be like the dictionary definition of cozy fantasy.

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 22:24:41 UTC

The TV series Charmed for sure!

Re: Cozy Fantasy anonymous October 4 2013, 22:54:46 UTC

If you like children's books, Jill Murphy's 'The Worst Witch' series is excellent. Girls' boarding school setting.

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