Fantasy with Friends – hosted by Pages Unbound – poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
Oh this is an interesting one! When I read it, I think I may have grinned a little. Really excited to dig into this topic, so let’s go!
Fantasy with Friends
Technology in Fantasy
What role do you think technology should play in fantasy? Some authors try to avoid it (ex. worlds set in an imagined past before modernization or worlds like HP where wizards simply do not use telephones or television even though they have been invented). Yet other authors try to imagine what a world with both technology and magic would look like (ex. The Legend of Korra, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series). Can magic and technology work well together? What questions does an author have to address to make it work?
I think technology can – and should, depending on the setting – play a strong role in fantasy. There are so many opportunities to utilise it and have it sit alongside ‘regular’ fantasy tropes like magic or fantastical animals. It also depends what you mean by ‘technology’. ‘Technology’ doesn’t just mean digital or screens or other parts of modern life – the wheel is technology. Horse and cart is a form of technology, etc. So, being really pedantic, every fantasy has some element of technology, whether or not it’s called out as such.
But focusing on modern technology – I think if your setting is modern, ignoring technology just feels weird. This becomes even more apparent in something like Urban Fantasy that is set now. You can’t have teenagers running around in the present day without social media; you can’t have a witch who owns a bakery but doesn’t have a website or mobile. But when it is incorporated into the fantasy, when authors mix magic and technology, it can make for a really fascinating read.
It can be done in different ways, of course, but I definitely think magic and technology can create an interesting combination. This isn’t just restricted to Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance either, where the settings are more typically our world than a second world. I think just because the historical time period predates some aspects of technology, the fact that it’s fantasy means authors can still weave in elements of technology alongside the magic, or even alongside a lack of technology. That is kind of how we ended up with Steampunk, after all!
I think the questions authors should address – whether just to themselves or with something on the page – are, essentially: what does this add to the story? What level of technology makes sense for this world, and how can I tie together technology and magic?
It feels like right now the combination is fairly underutilised, but I think there’s some really interesting ideas to be teased out in combining the two. And if you have recommendations for fantasy that uses technology really well, I’d love to hear them!
Unwrapping Words 