Small question to you all

[Knight_Wolf]

Can a story set in past historical period stuff like armors, clothes hair styles, etc but in fiction countries or lands without a magic system or weird creatures dragons, fairies, etc be considered fantasy????

[Darkstrong]

Surely it can. If the only thing that separates "real world" from "fantasy world" is the name of the countries, then what is the real difference?

[vothnthorvaldson]

Kind of my case, and I'm not sure. I put my story in fantasy but it's mostly because I didn't know where else to put it.
I suppose fiction lands by definition mean fantasy, however, I'm not sure that is what the majority of readers will expect from a fantasy story.

[TopJimComics]

In Gaming, I think that's referred to "low fantasy". When you add magic and weird creatures it's called "high fantasy".

[TimCaloweh]

I'd consider it medieval.

[Knight_Wolf]

thanks for fast reply people
the thing i a few ideas in back burner that working slow as a make knight´s song
setting in term of era could from roman era to renascence but most don´t any kind of magic in them that i made the 1st post now i´m convinced that there low fantasy ideas but there fantasy type stories!

Cocas
Daniel

[vothnthorvaldson]

Interesting point. Although there is little variation in what 'high fantasy' encompasses, I never got what was meant by 'low fantasy'. Sometimes it's used as 'low-key' for sure, less evident (if not outrageous haha) fantasy elements like complex magic systems and dragons etc, sometimes it seems to be used only when there is apparition of fantasy elements in a non fantasy setting, a la early 'fantastique' genre or 'magical realism' genre. But wikipedia just told me low fantasy has a larger meaning than these two, so I still don't get what it is exactly

[Darkstrong]

As I understand the terms is "low" and "high" stand for "low concentration" and "high concentration" of fantasy elements in the world. So its a sliding scale. Basically, if you take a normal medieval country and and one fairy to it, and it is a very low fantasy novel. Throw a couple hundreds of elves, a dragon and a couple of wizards, and your novel becomes pretty "high" on fantasy.

[Knight_Wolf]

there more creature or mage the higher the fantasy?

[TopJimComics]

Interesting point. Although there is little variation in what 'high fantasy' encompasses, I never got what was meant by 'low fantasy'. Sometimes it's used as 'low-key' for sure, less evident (if not outrageous haha) fantasy elements like complex magic systems and dragons etc, sometimes it seems to be used only when there is apparition of fantasy elements in a non fantasy setting, a la early 'fantastique' genre or 'magical realism' genre. But wikipedia just told me low fantasy has a larger meaning than these two, so I still don't get what it is exactly

I didn't do a very good job, but I was just trying to clarify that it's still fantasy. I was using fantasy RPG definitions rather than literary, but was just meaning that there are two ends of the spectrum. Where a certain fantasy story lands is probably subjective (unless you're a the extreme).

there more creature or mage the higher the fantasy?

Either I'd say. Like in a world with no monsters but everyone uses magic, I personally would call that high fantasy. In a world with hardly any magic, but with dragons, trolls, orcs, goblins, etc.., I would also personally call that high fantasy. There's not really a line, or even "medium fantasy" as far as I know.

[punkarsenic]

this could be useful for your question:

so, youre saying a story that is set in a fictional medieval analogue, but without any elements that wouldnt exist in our reality (ie magic)? id say that, despite not being set in a real country, thats historical fiction. fantasy isnt about era or aesthetic, but rather the narrative freedom of breaking from reality.

[punkarsenic]

In Gaming, I think that's referred to "low fantasy". When you add magic and weird creatures it's called "high fantasy".

not quite - high fantasy refers to fantasy that exists entirely in a fantasy world; think lord of the rings. low fantasy, on the flip, relates to our own world through being set in a modern setting, urban fantasy, or having a protagonist from Our WorldTM - think narnia or harry potter.

[TopJimComics]

not quite - high fantasy refers to fantasy that exists entirely in a fantasy world; think lord of the rings. low fantasy, on the flip, relates to our own world through being set in a modern setting, urban fantasy, or having a protagonist from Our WorldTM - think narnia or harry potter.

Remember, I said in gaming (role playing games) and not works of fiction. I did a quick google search and older gamers like me tend to think of the terms like I do =). But now that I looked up the Wikipedia, I for sure understand what it means in fiction.

[InkSpecter]

Yes. It would be called a low fantasy world! Dragons, elves, and magic, and such is called high fantasy. You could also call it pseudo-historical if it takes a lot if cues from real world evolution, history, or events.

[vothnthorvaldson]

All these answers are very interesting. It does look like 'low fantasy' actually has several meanings.

I like the idea of calling OP's story 'pseudo-historical' in the sense that it says very straightforwardly what to expect: realism, but in slightly altered way. (However, I'm not sure if it's the case in English, but the "pseudo-" prefix sounds a little bit derogatory to me).

Now, (sorry OP for introducing my own problem), in my case I have a world that somewhat resemble ancient Mediterranean civilizations, mostly realist but not historically or culturally accurate, with small incursions of fantasy such as fantasy animals (but realistic in a biological/ecosystemic point of view = animals that could exist), possible healing magic (but stays open to other interpretations), presence of divinities in a quite material way (but this is only fantasy because no readers believe in my set of divinities), so yes, I think I'm always on the edge between realism and fantasy. What would you all call that in comic vocabulary, and do you think I can keep it under the fantasy tag?

[InkSpecter]

I would definitely say yours is fantasy! If you leaned hard on the meditaranian aspect and made the incursions into the unreal based off location accurate myths and beliefs, I think you could claim pseudo-historical...

And yeah it does sound almost derogatory... I can just hear an angry history buff yelling, 'wHaT Is tHiS PsEUdO hIsTOrY nOnSeNSe?!'.

[Strontium]

I think the actual term, rather than low-fantasy, for a story set in an invented world without any magical elements is more of a speculative-fiction story in a Created World.

[punkarsenic]

Remember, I said in gaming (role playing games)

oh, i didnt see that bit oops. interesting that the terms used differently in games

[Knight_Wolf]

all of you have great points and thanks for the replies.
but in way the problem is under what should i wend time for upload a story that say is set in world similar to the 17th century names, wardrobe, weapons, flora, but all cites and country are made up by me should go under the fantasy genre or not?
an adventure genre would very useful I think!

[joannekwan]

What is the core of your story? Thinking about that may help narrow down a genre. Is it political focusing on the objectives of a few individuals that interconnect in their stories? Drama would be a decent pick. Is it about a war with lots of battle scenes? Action may fit.

I think if you put it in the fantasy genre, people may be disappointed if it doesn't have any magical elements.