Necromancer’s Gambit: Book One of the Flesh & Bone Trilogy is the first book to coin the term ‘metaphysical fantasy’. The best way to get a feel for what the term metaphysical fantasy means, therefore, is to read that novel. Otherwise, you may wish to read my short story, Black Swan, which also falls into the genre.
black-swan-short-story-adam-daltonv12
Black Swan was written as an entry for a competition being run jointly by the Second Life site called Black Swan and Death Ray magazine. The story was shortlisted, but didn’t win. Apparently, the judges fell out when selecting the winner.
You might simply want to think of the word metaphysical as meaning ‘philosophical’ (as it does when we refer to the metaphysical poets of the 17th century). Metaphysical fantasy, therefore, is at the smart end of the fantasy genre, just as Asimov is at the intelligent end of scifi. A good example of a metaphysical fantasy writer of this sort is Philip Pullman, who wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Alternatively, you might prefer to understand the word metaphysical as meaning ‘gothic’ when it is used to describe fantasy literature. Then, you might think of other gothic writers like Edgar Allen Poe and Mervyn Peake.
Other notable metaphysical fantasists are
- JV Jones, with her Fortress of Grey Ice trilogy
- R Scott Bakker, with his Prince of Nothing trilogy
- Alan Campbell, with his Deepgate Codex trilogy.
Some features of metaphysical fantasy:
- there are often gods interfering in people’s lives, so the question of whether we have free will is debated
- the meaning of life is implicitly considered
- when meaning does not come from the external environment, the nature of the self (including its dark side) is often explored
- it lends itself to great irony (as frequently demonstrated in Necromancer’s Gambit).
Return to home page: http://metaphysicalfantasy.wordpress.com
June 2009, all being well
Hi Adam,
A friend of mine spoke to you in Leeds on Saturday and bought your book which she is reading at the moment. I have just finished my first fantasy book. She said you mentioned you offered to look over a couple of chapters. I appreciate you are very busy, but I am wondering if the offer was still on the table so to speak. Either way, all the best with your work in the future.
Martin.