The Accolade by British painter Edmund Blair Leighton exhibits an idealized view of history common in historical fantasy. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Fantastic art is an art genre The parameters of fantastic art has been fairly rigourously defined in the scholarship on the subject Many Anime TV series movies and OAVs fall into the Fantasy genre Fantasy art is a genre of Art that depicts The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H A number of Fantasy themed Comic books exist For example Elfquest Monster allergy W A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a Magazine which publishes primarily Fantasy fiction. Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes usually involving magic, Supernatural events make-believe creatures or exotic Fantasy worlds Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy television is a genre of Television featuring elements of the Fantastic, often including magic, Supernatural forces or exotic Fantasy Though the Fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old its antecedents have a long and distinguished history Though The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is The Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with Science fiction, horror and Fantasy There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises A fantasy world is a type of Imaginary world, part of a Fictional universe used in Fantasy novels and games A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature Lovecraftian horror is a sub-genre of horror Fiction which emphasizes the Psychological horror of the unknown (in some cases unknowable over gore or other A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J Edmund Blair Leighton ( September 21, 1853 &mdash September 1, 1922) was an English painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite

Historical fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, related to historical fiction. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Historical fiction is a sub-genre of Fiction that often portrays alternate accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events It includes stories set in a specified historical period but with some element of fantasy added to the world, such as magic or a mythical creature hidden in the cracks. The categorization of Time into discrete named blocks is called Periodization. Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature Often the magic retreats from the world so as to allow history to continue unaltered, as in Lord Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow, which takes place in Spain, but which ends with the magician in it removing himself, and all creatures of romance, from the world, thereby ending the Golden Age. Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett 18th Baron of Dunsany ( 24 July 1878 &ndash 25 October 1957) was an Anglo-Irish writer and The Charwoman's Shadow is a 1926 Fantasy novel by Lord Dunsany, and is among the pioneering works in the field even before the genre was Such fantasies, if they do not have the magic carefully hidden from history, shade into alternate history. A secret history (or shadow history) is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real (or known History which is claimed to have been deliberately Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction

Alternatively the story may be set in a purely fictional world which either strongly resembles a specific historical period or contains elements of history evident in its characters, settings or story, for example George R. R. Martin's acclaimed series "A Song of Ice and Fire", inspired by the Wars of the Roses, and R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing books which draw on ancient Middle Eastern civilizations such as the Persian Empire, Scythia, Hellenistic Greece, and the Crusades yet is set in a purely fictional location. George Raymond Richard Martin ( September 20, 1948) sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American Author and Screenwriter A Song of Ice and Fire is an award-winning series of Epic fantasy Novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485 were a series of dynastic Civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York Richard Scott Bakker (born February 2, 1967, Simcoe Ontario) is a Canadian Fantasy Author. Prince of Nothing is a series of Fantasy books by the Canadian author R The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents Unlike alternate history, the history contains many elements that are not derived from a specific historical period. Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction

Many if not most works by fantasy authors derive ideas and inspiration from real events, making the borders of this subgenre fuzzy.

Subgenres

When a specific era of history is popular with writers, a subgenre may spring up, such as Celtic fantasy, which includes such works as Katharine Kerr's Deverry series, or Teresa Edgerton's Green Lion Trilogy. Katharine Kerr (born 1944 is a Science fiction and Fantasy novelist best known for her series of Celtic -influenced high fantasy novels set in the fictional Teresa Edgerton (born Van Nuys, California, in 1949 is an Author of Fantasy novels and Short stories set in worlds that parallel These works are (loosely) based on Dark Ages Celtic cultures. The separate folklore of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland has sometimes been used indiscriminately, sometimes with great effect; other writers have distinguished to use a single source. ^[1]

The Welsh tradition has been particularly influential, owing to its connection to King Arthur and its collection in a single work, the epic Mabinogion. ^[1] One influential retelling of this was the fantasy work of Evangeline Walton: The Island of the Mighty, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon, and Prince of Annwn. Evangeline Walton (24 November 1907 – 11 March 1996 was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley an American author of fantasy fiction The Island of the Mighty is a Fantasy Novel by Evangeline Walton, the earliest in a series of four based on the Welsh Mabinogion The Children of Llyr is a Fantasy Novel by Evangeline Walton, the second in a series of four based on the Welsh Mabinogion The Song of Rhiannon is a Fantasy Novel by Evangeline Walton, the third in a series of four based on the Welsh Mabinogion Prince of Annwn is a Fantasy Novel by Evangeline Walton, the fourth in a series of four based on the Welsh Mabinogion. A notable amount of fiction has been written in the area of Celtic fantasy. ^[2]

Examples of historical fantasy

The era listed is the location, or source for the setting, for these works.

• R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing: Hellenistic Greece, Ancient Persia, Crusades
• Gillian Bradshaw's Down the Long Wind trilogy, Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, and In Winter's Shadow: Sub-Roman Britain
• C. J. Cherryh's The Russian Stories: Medieval Kievan Rus'
• Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: Napoleonic England
• Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead
• Kara Dalkey's Genpei: Medieval Japan
• Sara Douglass' The Crucible Trilogy: Medieval Europe
• David Gemmel's Lion of Macedon: Ancient Greece
• Sarah Hoyt's Shakespearean Fantasy Series
• Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana: Renaissance Italy
• Guy Gavriel Kay's A Song for Arbonne: Medieval Occitania
• Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan: Moorish Spain
• Guy Gavriel Kay's The Sarantine Mosaic: Byzantine Greece
• Guy Gavriel Kay's The Last Light of the Sun: Viking England
• Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series: Celtic Middle Ages
• Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle: Pre-Arthurian and Arthurian Britain (also Atlantis)
• Nathalie Mallet's The Princes of the Golden Cage: Arabia
• Fiona Patton's Branion Realm series: Celtic Middle Ages
• Mary Stewart's Merlin series and The Wicked Day: Post-Roman Britain
• Judith Tarr's The Hound and the Falcon: Medieval England, Byzantium and Rome
• Harry Turtledove's Thessalonica (Byzantine Greece) and War Between the Provinces (American Civil War)
• Tim Powers's The Anubis Gates: Victorian England
• Tim Powers's The Drawing of the Dark: Renaissance Europe
• Tim Powers's On Stranger Tides: Early Nineteenth Century Caribbean
• Tim Powers's The Stress of Her Regard: Early Nineteenth Century Italy
• Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Tomoe Gozen Trilogy: Feudal Japan
• Delia Sherman's The Porcelain Dove: Revolutionary France
• Josepha Sherman's Prince of the Sidhe series: Dark Ages Ireland & England
• Gene Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete: Ancient Greece
• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Saint-Germain novels: Various eras
• Naomi Novik's Temeraire series: England during the Napoleonic Wars
• Adam McCune & Keith McCune's The Rats of Hamelin: Medieval Germany
• Justin Allen's Slaves of the Shinar: Ancient Mesopotamia
• Juliet Marillier's The Sevenwaters Trilogy: Ninth Century Ireland

See also

• alternate history

References

External links

• Historical fantasy Book recommendations at RealityEnds