McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Genre Craft: Expectations of a Hybrid Genre

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the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
In re fantasy westerns, there are always King's Dark Tower books, but they would seem to have taken off on Stephen King already being a success, and other than that, I can't think of any that succeeded; Mark Sumner had a trilogy of which the third one never saw print, and K.J. Bishop's The Etched City is in that direction, and there is a Felix Gilman this year.  All of these struck me as fun but none of them really took off, so if there's a trick to making this work i have no clues as to what it is.

meg_evonne:
Dang. I'm awestruck with your reading acumen.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: meg_evonne on June 30, 2011, 04:18:48 AM ---Dang. I'm awestruck with your reading acumen.

--- End quote ---

I read very fast, and I usually read a few hours every day.  After a few decades it adds up.

meg_evonne:
but you have to have the mind to remember. mine doesn't anymore.

Lanodantheon:
It's not a real thread on this forums until Neurovore gives his sage-like advice at least in a small chime.

One of the reasons I posted this topic was because there are a lot of people who are a lot more well-read than me. One or two to the titles you listed actually look interesting(Or at least that one by Felix Gilman).

I mentioned before that I've put the Dark Tower series out of my mind, for the simple reason that I couldn't get into it and wanted to approach this subject of genre from a cinematic rather than a literary perspective(even though this will be a novel). 

Though after reading more about it I almost want to slog through at least the audiobooks.

On the subject of Steampunk, there is room in the novel for a kind of Magical Steampunk. That is, Golem-like artifices that resemble reflections of technology in an ocean of Magic, but are at the end of the day Magical objects.

Back on the 2 topics at hand that I originally put forth. Going back words:

2. On the topic of how to do the Fast Draw, I've come to the conclusion that in either case of guns or no guns or something between that gathering/charging of energy will serve the needs of drama for the fastdraw. Wizards need to charge their fireballs and that can create good tension. It's also a great gimmick for limiting the Power Level of Magic Users.

1. I haven't come to a conclusion yet on this point. I do not know if I want guns or gun-like objects.

What remains is a cost benefit analysis: What the inclusion of firearms adds versus what ripples on the pond it creates.

For reference, until about 10-20 years before the story begins, the world's Tech-level had been essentially a perpetual 1066 even with Magic. What little Magic there was was used in isolated case and didn't really improved the quality of life. Mostly for engineering projects for example. A Magically Constructed Castle by itself does nothing to increase life expentancy per se.

Warfare is...Swords and Sorcery. Most advanced weapons on the battlefield are Magical Artificeie Compound Bows and Crossbows.

The three options in my head are thus:

A. Firearms like we have in the real world. A True Western...with Magic too. And swords. This would be distinctive and it would make for quite the blood bath since you have the most advanced weapons imaginable just put into the hands of people still in the mindset of "Charge on horseback. Kill with spear." This would be augmented by making Magical armor somewhat bullet-resistant at the low end and at the high-end bullet proof. Also the chanbara cliche of Knights so good with swords they can knock bullets out of the air.

This would allow for the theme of the Death of the Romanticized medieval age. But I'm lukewarm to this idea because I know several series that feature the introduction of Firearms like this and they usually relate to a hatred of the modern age on the author's part. I myself like fantasy, but do not hate the modern age.

But, it also ceases to be true Swords & Sorcery and becomes Swords & Sorcery now with guns...


B. No Firearms.

It preserves Swords & Sorcery perfectly. The Sword, the bow, the crossbow and others can take the place of the Gun in the Western mythos since it is so closely linked with Chanbara. The Western Elements become a bit of a flavor in terms of plot construction, but it is otherwise High Fantasy in my own way.

It would be more difficult to differeniate from the endless swarm of similar stories and worlds.

C. Firearm-like Magical Projectile Warfare. Firearm-Foci

This option is halfway between the two, and keeps it S&S and adds in Firearm-like weapons through cheating. Instead of a gunpowder-based Firearm, Wizards use Foci shaped like Guns that are otherwise just magical objects that channel magic for use as projectile weapons. A firearm is just a really easy to use projectile weapon. What these Firearm-Foci would do is give the same results without making it an easy to manufacture technology.

In this case, the Firearm-Foci would require Magical ability of some kind to be able to channel, gather and store the magic needed for them to work. It would also necessitate "Sparks" people who only have enough Magical ability to use these weapons and similar items and do nothing else magically speaking.

Note: I have a hard magic system to go with this world already. Which would make carrying these weapons extremely rewarding and hazardous at the same time for these Sparks.


But, I don't know which one sounds....most attractive.  Could use a second or third opinion.

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