Low fantasy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Low fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy fiction involving "nonrational happenings that are without causality or rationality because they occur in the rational world where such things are not supposed to occur." Low fantasy stories are set either in the real world or a fictional but rational world, and are contrasted with high fantasy stories which take place in a completely fictional fantasy world setting with its own set of rules and physical laws.
Low fantasy places relatively less emphasis on typical elements associated with fantasy, setting a narrative in real-world environments with elements of the fantastical. Sometimes there are just enough fantastical elements to make ambiguous the boundary between what is real and what is purely psychological or supernatural. The word "low" refers to the level of prominence of traditional fantasy elements within the work, and is not any sort of remark on the works' quality.
Contents |
Examples
Literature
- The Borrowers by Mary Norton
- The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
- The Doll's House by Rumer Godden
- Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
- The Green Mile by Stephen King
- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
- The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
- Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
- The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
- That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis
- Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
Comics
- Fables by Bill Willingham
- Preacher by Garth Ennis, Glenn Fabry and Steve Dillon
Gaming
- White Wolf Publishing's "World of Darkness" setting, including:
- Vampire: The Masquerade (1991)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse (1992)
- Mage: The Ascension (1993)
- Skirmisher Publishing LLC (d20 RPG)
Television
- I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)
- Kindred: The Embraced (1996)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)
- Charmed (1998–2006)
- Supernatural (2005–present)
- True Blood (2008–present)
See also
- Contemporary fantasy, which is set in the real world but may, in some cases, include high fantasy
- Magic realism