The Ruby Throated Humming Bird
On this lens you can follow my research as I write my newest book: The Ruby Throated Humming Bird. This lens well take you through my studies into the creation of a fantasy world. By reading this lens, my hope is that it may help you to write a fantasy novel of your own.
Books I am useing for general research:
What is fantasy?
Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. The genre is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by overall look, feel, and theme of the individual work, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction). In its broadest sense, fantasy comprises works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.
The genre of fantasy is generally distinguished from other works that may use things believed to be impossible by its internal consistency (the marvels do not alter their behavior without reason in a work) and its presentation as true in its context.[1]
The identifying traits of fantasy are the inclusion of fantastic elements in a self-coherent (internally consistent) setting.[2] Within such a structure, any location of the fantastical element is possible: it may be hidden in, or leak into the apparently real world setting, it may draw the characters into a world with such elements, or it may occur entirely in a fantasy world setting, where such elements are part of the world.[3]
Within a given work, the elements must not only obey rules, but for plot reasons, must also contain limits to allow both the heroes and the villains means to fight; magical elements must come with prices, or the story would become unstructured.[4]
Though the genre in its modern form is less than two centuries old, its antecedents have a long and distinguished history.
Fairy tales and legends, such as Dobrynya Nikitich's rescue of Zabava Putyatichna from the dragon Gorynych, have been an important source for fantasyBeginning perhaps with the Epic of Gilgamesh and the earliest written documents known to humankind, mythic and other elements that would eventually come to define fantasy and its various subgenres have been a part of some of the grandest and most celebrated works of literature. From The Odyssey to Beowulf, from the Mahabharata to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, from the Ramayana to the Journey to the West, and from the Arthurian legend and medieval romance to the epic poetry of the Divine Comedy, fantastical adventures featuring brave heroes and heroines, deadly monsters, and secret arcane realms have inspired many audiences. In this sense, the history of fantasy and the history of literature are inextricably intertwined.
Many works are unclear as to the belief of the authors in the marvels they contain, as in the enchanted garden from the DecameronThere are many works where the boundary between fantasy and other works is not clear; the question of whether the writers believed in the possibilities of the marvels in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight makes it difficult to distinguish when fantasy, in its modern sense, first began.[5]
The history of modern fantasy literature begins with George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes, the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults. MacDonald was a major influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, a popular English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century, including The Well at the World's End.
Despite MacDonald's future influence and Morris's contemporary popularity, it wasn't until the turn of the century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience. Edward Plunkett, better known as Lord Dunsany, established the genre's popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. These authors, along with Abraham Merritt, established what was known as the "lost world" sub-genre, which was the most popular form of fantasy in the early decades of the 20th century, although several classic children's fantasies, such as Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, were also published around this time.
Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, with the effect that writers who wished to write fantasy had to fit their work in a work for children.[6] Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many works verging on fantasy, but in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, wrote fantasy.[7] For many years, this created the circular effect that all fantasy works, even The Lord of the Rings, were therefore classified as children's literature.
In 1923 the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales, was created. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, most noticeably The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity at this time and was instrumental in bringing fantasy fiction to a wide audience in both the U.S. and Britain. Such magazines were also instrumental in the rise of science fiction, and it was at this time the two genres began to be associated with each other.
By 1950 "sword and sorcery" fiction had begun to find a wide audience, with the success of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. However, it was the advent of high fantasy, and most of all the popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s, that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream. Several other series, such as C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea books, helped cement the genre's popularity.
The popularity of the fantasy genre has continued to increase in the 21st century, as evidenced by the best-selling status of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.
Fantasy is a popular genre, having found a home for itself in almost every medium. While fantasy art and recently fantasy films have been increasingly popular, it is fantasy literature which has always been the genre's primary medium.
Fantasy role-playing games cross several different media. The "pen & paper" role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was the first and is arguably the most successful and influential, though the pseudo-science fantasy role-playing game series Final Fantasy has been an icon of the console role-playing game genre. Role-playing games have in turn spawned much new art, literature, and even music in the genre. Game companies have published fantasy novels set in their own fictional game universes; the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance series are two of the more popular.
Similarly, series of novels based on fantasy films and TV series have found their own niche.
Modern fantasy, including early modern fantasy, has also spawned many new subgenres with no clear counterpart in mythology or folklore, although inspiration from mythology and folklore remains a consistent theme. Fantasy subgenres are numerous and diverse, frequently overlapping with other forms of speculative fiction in almost every medium in which they are produced. Noteworthy in this regard are the science fantasy and dark fantasy subgenres, which the fantasy genre shares with science fiction and horror, respectively.
Professionals such as publishers, editors, authors, artists, and scholars within the fantasy genre get together yearly at the World Fantasy Convention. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the convention. The first WFC was held in 1975, and it has occurred every year since. The convention is held at a different city each year.
Additionally, many science fiction conventions, such as Florida's FX Show or MegaCon, also cater to fantasy and horror fans; and anime conventions, such as JACON or Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy, and dark fantasy series and films, such as Cardcaptor Sakura (fantasy), Sailor Moon (science fantasy), xxxHolic (dark fantasy), and Spirited Away (fantasy). Many science fiction/fantasy and anime conventions also strongly feature or cater to one or more of the several subcultures within the main subcultures, including the cosplay subculture (in which people make and/or wear costumes based on existing or self-created characters, sometimes also acting out skits or plays as well), the fan fiction subculture, and the fan vid or AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction and/or doujinshi in or related to those genres.
Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction).
In popular culture, the genre of fantasy is dominated by its Medievalist form, especially since the worldwide success of the The Lord of the Rings and other Middle-earth related books by J. R. R. Tolkien. In its broadest sense however, fantasy comprises works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.
Fiction I am Reading for Inspiration:
What is Sword & Sorcery?
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a fantasy subgenre generally characterized by swashbuckling heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters.Joseph A. McCullough V, "The Demarcation of Sword and Sorcery"
Latest Updates on My Progress:
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Today I hit paydirt big time.
Today I went to the library, a big library, one that supplies books for 5 differant colleges... a big, big library... and there I told a librarian my frustrations, my endless searching, and getting no where, than I told her what it was I was looking for and why I needed it, and OMG! In less than an hour I had 13 volumns on Inca and Olmec relgions! I couldn't believe it! Of course this is a 4-story library with 2 million books, a university library and not my town's small local library, but still, it was a complete godsend and I am so glad I went there.
The lesson here: Google and the internet may be great, but they sure can't bet going to the library and doing some die-hard research. If you are having the same problems I had, you might want to do what I did and head to the library and talk to a librarian. If the library doesn't have what you need, they can most likely get it for you through inter-library-loan, usually with in 48 hours, you well have what you need in your hands.
I found some great books at the library today, and there are these bird-gods and were-jaguars in Olmec and Inca mythology that are exactly the type of thing I was looking for.
In my story, the tribe is basicly a mix of the "lost tribes" from the central America region, only now a thousand years later, they have migrated to the deep unexplored regions of the Amazon Jungle and they have evolved into a total differant tribe that blends the religons of the old tribes.
I'm having so much fun reading these books I got out... I might end up writing a whole series based on this stuff!
Who are the Norte Chico?
The Norte Chico civilization (also Caral or Caral-Supe civilization The name is disputed. English-language sources use Norte Chico (Spanish: "Little North") per Haas et al. (2004). Caral or Caral-Supe are more likely to be found in Spanish language sources per Shady. This article follows usage in recent English-language sources and employs Norte Chico, but the title is not definitive. Peruvian Norte Chico should not be confused with the Chilean region of the same name.) was a complex Pre-Columbian society that included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, having flourished between the 30th century BC and the 18th century BC. The alternative name, Caral-Supe, is derived from Caral in the Supe Valley, a large and well-studied Norte Chico site. Complex society in Norte Chico emerged just a millennium after Sumer, was contemporaneous with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, and predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia.
In archaeological nomenclature, Norte Chico is a Preceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic; it completely lacked ceramics and apparently had almost no art. The most impressive achievement of the civilization was its monumental architecture, including large platform mounds and sunken circular plazas. Archaeological evidence suggests use of textile technology and, possibly, the worship of common god symbols, both of which recur in pre-Columbian Andean cultures. Sophisticated government is assumed to have been required to manage the ancient Norte Chico, and questions remain over its organization, particularly the impact of food resources on politics.
Archaeologists have been aware of ancient sites in the area since at least the 1940s; early work occurred at Aspero on the coast, a site identified as early as 1905, "We see the site as a 'peaking' of an essentially non-agricultural economy. Subsistence was still, basically, from the sea. But such subsistence supported a sedentary style of life, with communities of appreciable size." and later at Caral further inland. Peruvian archaeologists, led by Ruth Shady Solís, provided the first extensive documentation of the civilization in the late 1990s, with work at Caral. A 2001 paper in Science magazine, providing a survey of the Caral research, and a 2004 article in Nature, describing fieldwork and radiocarbon dating across a wider area, revealed Norte Chico's full significance and led to widespread interest.See CNN, for instance. Given the tentative nature of much research surrounding Norte Chico, readers should be cautious of claims in general news sources.
The inspiration for my "Lost City": Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu (, "Old Peak", ) is a pre-Columbian Inca site located above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire.
The Incas started building it around AD 1430 but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although known locally, it was largely unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early twentieth century.
Who were the Incas?
The Inca civilization began as a support group in the Cuzco area, where the legendary first Sapa Inca, Manco Capac founded the Kingdom of Cuzco around 1200. Under the leadership of the descendants of Manco Capac, the Inca state grew to absorb other Andean communities. In 1442, the Incas began a far-reaching expansion under the command of Patchacuti. He founded the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu), which became the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.Civilizations in America
The empire was split by a ritual war to decide who would be Inca Hanan and who would be Inca Hurin, which pitted the brothers Huascar and Atahualpa against each other.
In 1533, Spanish Conquistadores led by Francisco Pizarro, took advantage of this situation and conquered much of the existing Inca territory. The Conquest of the Inca Empire In succeeding years, the invaders consolidated power over the whole Andean region, repressing successive Inca resistance and culminating in the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Perú in 1542. The militant phase of Inca liberation movements ended with the fall of resistance in Vilcabamba during 1573. Though indigenous sovereignty was lost, Inca cultural traditions remain strong among surviving indigenous descendants such as the Quechuas and Aymara people.
Who were the Olmec?
The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in what are roughly the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The Olmec flourished during Mesoamerica's Formative period, dating roughly from 1200 BCE to about 400 BCE. They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed.See Pool, p. 2. Although there is wide agreement that the Olmec culture helped lay the foundations for the civilizations that followed, there is disagreement over the extent of the Olmec contributions, and even a proper definition of the Olmec "culture". See Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures for a more indepth treatment of this question. Among other "firsts", there is evidence that the Olmec practiced ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies.
The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the aptly-named colossal heads.See, as one example, Diehl, p. 11. In fact, the Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking and beautiful, and among the world's masterpieces.See Diehl, p. 108 for the "ancient America" superlatives. Artist and archaeologist Miguel Covarrubias (1957) p. 50 says that Olmec pieces are among the world's masterpieces.
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What were the Amazonas like before the Inca Empire?
The department of Amazonas has a millennial history. There is some evidence exhibited on rocky walls dated from the most remote times, including the rock paintings of Chiñuña-Yamón and Limones-Calpón in the province of Utcubamba. Some of these haughty pictorial samples were made by people that had a hunting economy. These people perhaps left their traces 6 or 7 thousand years ago. At the times in which the formation of Peruvian civilization was consolidated, there appeared a type of ceramics mainly identified in Bagua.
From Chachapoyas culture, there are many architectural remains, such as Cuélap, Congón (now called Vilaya), Olán, Purunllacta (now called Monte Peruvia), Pajatén, etc. All these structures appear to be related. Their age is not known, nor the order of their construction.
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Who were the Chachapoyas?
The Chachapoyas, also called the Warriors of the Clouds, were an Andean people living in the cloud forests of the Amazonas region of present-day Peru. The Incas conquered their civilization shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in Peru. When the Spanish arrived in Peru in the 16th century, the Chachapoyas were one of the many nations ruled by the Inca Empire. Their incorporation into the Inca Empire had not been easy, due to their constant resistance to the Inca troops.
Since the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors were the principal sources of information on the Chachapoyas, unbiased first-hand knowledge of the Chachapoyas remains scarce. Writings by the major chroniclers of the time, such as El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, were based on fragmentary second-hand accounts. Much of what we do know about the Chachapoyas culture is based on archaeological evidence from ruins, pottery, tombs and other artifacts.
The chronicler Pedro Cieza de León offers some picturesque notes about the Chachapoyas:
:"They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple (...) The women and their husbands always dressed in woolen clothes and in their heads they wear their llautos, which are a sign they wear to be known everywhere."
Cieza adds that, after their annexation to the Inca Empire, they adopted customs imposed by the Cuzco-based Inca.
The name Chachapoya is in fact the name that was given to this culture by the Inca; the name that these people may have actually used to refer to themselves is not known. The meaning of the word Chachapoyas may have been derived from sacha-p-collas, the equivalent of "colla people who live in the woods" (sacha = wild p = of the colla = nation in which Aymara is spoken). Some believe the word is a variant of the Quechua construction sacha puya,'' or people of the clouds.
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What Does Wikipedia Say About Fantasy Literature?
It is difficult to define the precise 'beginning' of fantasy literature, as stories involving magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature. Homer's Odyssey thus satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature, as a distinct type, began to become visible in the Victorian times, with the works of writers such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany and George Macdonald.
Some commentators assert that the South African-born, English professor of philology, J. R. R. Tolkien, was seminal to the mass-popularization of the fantasy genre, with his hugely successful publications - The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien himself, though, was largely informed by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths - particularly Beowulf - but it was after his work that the genre began to receive the moniker, "fantasy." J. R. R. Tolkien's close friend C.S. Lewis, author of the The Chronicles of Narnia, also an English professor interested in similar themes, was also associated with popularizing the fantasy genre.
Preeminent authors in the genre who undertook popular fantasy works after Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s are listed below.[citation needed] The names listed are presented in chronological order, from the earliest published to the latest, along with their most significant works.
- Michael Moorcock: The Elric of Melnibone series (first novel published 1965).
Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain (first book published 1964)
Ursula K. Le Guin : The Earthsea series (first book published 1968)
Fred Saberhagen: The Earth End sequence (first book published 1968)
Terry Brooks : The Shannara series (first book published in 1977)
Piers Anthony : The Xanth series (published 1977)
David Eddings : The Belgariad (first book published in 1982)
Raymond E. Feist : The Riftwar saga (first book published 1982)
Stephen King : The Dark Tower series (first book published 1982)
Terry Pratchett : The Discworld series (first book published 1983)
Guy Gavriel Kay : The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy (first book published 1984)
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and others : The Dragonlance series (first book published in 1984)
Tad Williams : Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series (first book published 1988)
Robert Jordan : The Wheel of Time series (first book published 1990)
Terry Goodkind : The Sword of Truth series (first book published 1994)
Robin Hobb : The Farseer, Liveship Traders and Soldier's Son trilogies (first book published 1995)
Philip Pullman : The His Dark Materials Trilogy (first book published 1995)
George R.R. Martin : A Song of Ice and Fire series (first book published 1996)
J.K. Rowling : The Harry Potter series (first book published 1997)
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, the majority of fantasy works have been literature. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other media.
Want to Read a Fantasy Novel?
- List of fantasy novels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- List of fantasy novels From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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CrypticFragments wrote...
the one I'm working on is historical supernatural
:D
girl you just have more stuff out there than like anyone!
and now I'm gonna go play making banners cos I'm BORED
Posted September 28, 2008
by EelKat
I love Eels. I love Bobcat. I am a Giant Squid and a Squid Angel.
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