What kind of fantasy do you write?
For that matter, what kinds of fantasy do *I* write?
Many of the panels at the World Fantasy Convention this year were about specific categories of fantasy: for example, Fairytale, Epic, Urban, and Sword and Sorcery. Naturally all those panels tried to define their particular subgenre, frequently showing that there’s significant disagreement about what constitutes any particular type of fantasy.
During the Sword and Sorcery Panel, Patricia Bray specifically urged attendees to look up The Griffin Mage trilogy and made several flattering comments about it. And it was a packed panel, so many thanks, Patricia!
But I wouldn’t have thought of The Griffin Mage trilogy as Sword and Sorcery. Later, thinking about what subgenre I’d personally put The Griffin Mage in . . . well, I’m still not sure. Of course the sub-categories of fantasy blend into one another, but here goes an attempt to sort them out: (more…)