Contemporary fantasy
Encyclopedia
Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy or indigenous fantasy, is a sub-genre
of fantasy
, set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its sub-genre, urban fantasy
.
) in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist, either living in the interstices of our world or leaking over from alternate world
s. It thus has much in common with, and sometimes overlaps with secret history
; a work of fantasy in which the magic could not remain secret or does not have any known relationship to known history
would not fit into this subgenre. Occasionally certain contemporary fantasy novels will make reference to pop culture.
Novel
s in which modern characters travel into alternate worlds, and all the magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are thus not considered contemporary fantasy.
Contemporary fantasy is also to be distinguished from horror fiction
, which also often has contemporary settings. When encountering magical events and creatures, the protagonist
of a horror novel is horrified, while the protagonist of a fantasy novel (contemporary or otherwise) is filled with a sense of joy and wonder. Horrifying events may happen, but the fundamental distinction is vital.
.
When the story takes place in a city, the work is often called urban fantasy
.
The contemporary fantasy and low fantasy
genres can overlap as both are defined as being set in the real world. There are differences, however. Low fantasies are set in the real world but necessarily not in modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy. Contemporary fantasies are set in the real world but may also include distinct fantasy settings within it, such as the Harry Potter
series, in which case they would be high
rather than low fantasy.
and frequently marketed as magical realism, itself arguably a fantasy genre. Example include Practical Magic
by Alice Hoffman
The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
, and Mistress of Spices
by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni.
's Fate Stay Night is in Fuyuki City, certain families have magical circuits in their blood, and can cast spells among other abilities, while Takahiro Yamato's Kaze no Stigma
is set in modern Japan
and center around a young man with powers to control wind.
The Mighty Thor
of Marvel Comics
can also be considered to belong to this sub-genre, depicting a god of Norse mythology
sharing his life between 20th Century New York City
and the legendary Asgard
. The same can be said of Hellboy
.
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its sub-genre, urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
.
Definition and overview
These terms are used to describe stories set in the putative real world (often referred to as consensus realityConsensus reality
Consensus reality is an approach to answering the philosophical question "What is real?" It gives a practical answer: reality is either what exists, or what we can agree seems to exist....
) in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist, either living in the interstices of our world or leaking over from alternate world
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
s. It thus has much in common with, and sometimes overlaps with secret history
Secret history
A secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars.-Secret histories of the real world:...
; a work of fantasy in which the magic could not remain secret or does not have any known relationship to known history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
would not fit into this subgenre. Occasionally certain contemporary fantasy novels will make reference to pop culture.
Novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s in which modern characters travel into alternate worlds, and all the magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are thus not considered contemporary fantasy.
Contemporary fantasy is also to be distinguished from horror fiction
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, which also often has contemporary settings. When encountering magical events and creatures, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of a horror novel is horrified, while the protagonist of a fantasy novel (contemporary or otherwise) is filled with a sense of joy and wonder. Horrifying events may happen, but the fundamental distinction is vital.
Subgenres
Contemporary fantasies often concern places dear to their authors, are full of local color and atmosphere, and attempt to lend a sense of magic to those places, particularly when the subgenre overlaps with mythic fictionMythic fiction
Mythic fiction is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes and symbolism of myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The term is widely credited to Charles de Lint and Terri Windling...
.
When the story takes place in a city, the work is often called urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
.
The contemporary fantasy and low fantasy
Low fantasy
Low fantasy is a term used to describe a variety of works within the sub-genres of fantasy fiction. Low fantasy places relatively less emphasis on typical elements associated with fantasy, setting a narrative in real-world environments with only vague elements of the fantastical, sometimes just...
genres can overlap as both are defined as being set in the real world. There are differences, however. Low fantasies are set in the real world but necessarily not in modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy. Contemporary fantasies are set in the real world but may also include distinct fantasy settings within it, such as the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series, in which case they would be high
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
rather than low fantasy.
19th and early 20th century
- Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
: The Bottle ImpThe Bottle ImpThe Bottle Imp is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson usually found in the short story collection Island Nights' Entertainments... - Edith Nesbit: The Magic City, Psammead series, House of Arden series, The Enchanted CastleThe Enchanted CastleThe Enchanted Castle is a children's fantasy novel by Edith Nesbit first published in 1907.-Plot summary:The enchanted castle of the title is a country estate in the West Country seen through the eyes of three children, Gerald, James and Kathleen, who discover it while exploring during the school...
, The Magic WorldThe Magic WorldThe Magic World is an influential collection of twelve short stories by E. Nesbit. It was first published in book form in 1912 by Macmillan and Co. Ltd., with illustrations by H. R. Millar and Gerald Spencer Pryse...
and other works - Charles WilliamsCharles Williams (UK writer)Charles Walter Stansby Williams was a British poet, novelist, theologian, literary critic, and member of the Inklings.- Biography :...
: An early innovator of theology-oriented contemporary fantasy. - Edward EagerEdward EagerEdward McMaken Eager was an American lyricist, playwright, and author of books for children. Eager's works for children were distinctive in their use of the theme of magic making an appearance in the lives of ordinary children - what would now be classed as contemporary fantasy...
: The Magic Series - P. L. TraversP. L. TraversPamela Lyndon Travers OBE was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist, popularly remembered for her series of children's novels about the mystical and magical nanny Mary Poppins...
: Mary PoppinsMary PoppinsMary Poppins is a series of children's books written by P. L. Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their... - C.S.Lewis: That Hideous StrengthThat Hideous StrengthThat Hideous Strength is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. The events of this novel follow those of Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra and once again feature the philologist Elwin Ransom...
Later 20th and early 21st century
- The Young WizardsYoung WizardsYoung Wizards is a series of novels by Diane Duane.The Young Wizards series presently consists of nine books, with a tenth in progress, focusing on the adventures of two young wizards named Nita and Kit. Each novel pits Nita and Kit against the "Lone Power", an entity ultimately bent on the...
series by Diane DuaneDiane DuaneDiane Duane is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.-Biography :...
- the protagonists live in Manhattan, New York, but each book in the series has a different setting; settings include various planets within and outside of the Solar System and various alternate universes. - Virtually the entire oeuvre of Charles de LintCharles de LintCharles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
- Most of the novels of Tim PowersTim PowersTimothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
- Various works by Mercedes LackeyMercedes LackeyMercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
. - Various works by Tanya HuffTanya HuffTanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science-fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood...
. - J.K. Rowling's Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series - set in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and 1990s. - Sergei Lukyanenko's Night WatchNight Watch (Russian novel)Night Watch is a fantasy novel by Russian writer Sergei Lukyanenko published in 1998...
, set in MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. It has three sequels that form a tetralogyTetralogyA tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
; Day WatchDay WatchDay Watch , is a 2006 Russian dark fantasy action film marketed as "the first film of the year", opened in theatres across Russia on January 1, 2006, the U.S. on June 1, 2007 and the UK on October 5, 2007. It is a sequel to the 2004 film Night Watch, featuring the same cast...
, Twilight Watch and Final WatchFinal WatchFinal Watch is a fantasy novel by Russian writer Sergey Lukyanenko. It is the sequel to Night Watch, Day Watch, and Twilight Watch.-Background:...
. - Philip PullmanPhilip PullmanPhilip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
's His Dark MaterialsHis Dark MaterialsHis Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife , and The Amber Spyglass...
trilogy - The trilogy takes place across several universes including "ours". - Little, BigLittle, BigLittle, Big: or, The Fairies' Parliament is a modern fantasy novel by John Crowley, published in 1981. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1982.-Plot synopsis:...
and other works by John CrowleyJohn CrowleyJohn Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and mainstream fiction. He studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer... - War for the OaksWar for the OaksWar for the Oaks is a fantasy novel by Emma Bull. The book tells the story of Eddi McCandry, a rock musician who finds herself unwillingly pulled into the supernatural faerie conflict between good and evil...
by Emma BullEmma BullEmma Bull is a science fiction and fantasy author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. She has participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder... - The Wood WifeThe Wood WifeThe Wood Wife by Terri Windling was published by Tor Books in 1996, and won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. Set in the mountain outskirts of contemporary Tucson, Arizona, the novel could equally be described as magical realism, contemporary fantasy, or mythic fiction...
by Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award... - The Word/VoidWord/VoidThe Word & Void series by Terry Brooks is a trilogy of dark urban fantasy novels primarily set in Illinois in the late 20th and early 21st century....
novels by Terry BrooksTerry BrooksTerence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print... - Hannah's Garden by Midori SnyderMidori SnyderMidori Snyder is an American writer of fantasy, mythic fiction, and nonfiction on myth and folklore. She has published eight novels for children and adults, winning the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati...
- Tithe and a number of other works by Holly BlackHolly BlackHolly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
- Minions of the Moon by Richard BowesRichard BowesRichard Bowes is an American author of science fiction and fantasy.Richard Bowes was born in Boston in 1944. He attended school both in Boston and on Long Island, New York. In his third year, he took writing courses with Mark Eisenstein at Hofstra University...
- Dangerous Angels and other works by Francesca Lia BlockFrancesca Lia BlockFrancesca Lia Block is the author of adult and young adult fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry, most famously the Weetzie Bat series. Block wrote her first book, Weetzie Bat, while a student at UC Berkeley; it was published in 1989 by Harper Collins. She is known for her use of imagery,...
- Dark Cities Underground by Lisa GoldsteinLisa GoldsteinLisa Goldstein is a Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award nominated fantasy and science fiction writer. Her 1982 novel The Red Magician won the American Book Award for best paperback novel, and was praised by Philip K. Dick shortly before his death...
- King RatKing Rat (1998 novel)King Rat is the debut novel by China Miéville. Unlike his Bas-Lag novels, it is not a New Weird story but an Urban Fantasy, set in London during the late 1990's. It follows the life of Saul Garamond after the death of his father and his meeting with King Rat...
by China MiévilleChina MiévilleChina Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party... - The Dresden FilesThe Dresden FilesThe Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher.He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in...
series by Jim ButcherJim ButcherJim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K... - A number of works by Neil GaimanNeil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, among them American GodsAmerican GodsAmerican Gods is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow. It is Gaiman's fourth prose novel, being preceded by Good Omens ,...
and NeverwhereNeverwhereNeverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC Two. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi...
, set in a secondary world below London with links to the real world. - Kelley ArmstrongKelley ArmstrongKelley Armstrong is a Canadian author, primarily of fantasy works.She has published sixteen fantasy novels , set in the world of the Women of the Otherworld and the Darkest Powers series, also two crime novels in 2007 and 2009...
's Women of the Otherworld series - Susan CooperSusan CooperSusan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
's The Dark Is Rising SequenceThe Dark is Rising SequenceThe Dark Is Rising is the name of a five-book series of children's contemporary fantasy novels by Susan Cooper, published in 1965–1977, which depicts the struggle between the forces of good, called The Light, and the forces of evil, known as The Dark... - Peter S. BeaglePeter S. BeaglePeter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
's A Fine and Private PlaceA Fine and Private PlaceA Fine and Private Place is a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle, the first of his major fantasies. It was first published in hardcover by Viking Press on May 23, 1960, followed by a trade paperback from Delta the same year. Frederick Muller Ltd. published the first United Kingdom hardcover...
and other works by him. - Josepha ShermanJosepha ShermanJosepha Sherman is an American author. In 1990 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel The Shining Falcon.-Buffyverse:*Visitors *Deep Water ...
's Son of Darkness - Tom DeitzTom DeitzThomas Franklin Deitz was an American novelist from Georgia. He had the A.B. and M.A. in medieval English from the University of Georgia. He was the author of the "Soulsmith Trilogy," comprising the books Soulsmith, Dreambuilder, and Wordwright...
's The David Sullivan series - Clive BarkerClive BarkerClive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
's WeaveworldWeaveworldWeaveworld is a novel by Clive Barker. It was published in 1987 and could be categorized as dark fantasy. It deals with a parallel world, like many of Barker's novels, and contains many horror elements....
and ImajicaImajicaImajica is a fantasy novel by British author Clive Barker. Barker names it as his favorite of all his writings. The work, 825 pages at its first printing in 1991, chronicles the events surrounding the reconciliation of Earth, called the Fifth Dominion, with the other four Dominions, parallel... - Eoin ColferEoin ColferEoin Colfer is an Irish author. He is most famous as the author of the Artemis Fowl series, but he has also written other successful books. His novels have been compared to the works of J. K. Rowling...
's Artemis FowlArtemis Fowl (series)Artemis Fowl is a series of fantasy novels written by Irish author Eoin Colfer and all the books are best sellers, starring the teenage criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl II. The author summed up the series as: "Die Hard with fairies." There are seven novels in the series; the first was published in...
series - Jenna BlackJenna BlackJennifer Bellak is an American author of paranormal romance novels, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy novels under the pen name Jenna Black. She published one novel under her married name, Jennifer Barlow and at least two short stories under her maiden name.-Biography:Jenna Black was raised in...
's The Devil InsideThe Devil InsideThe Devil Inside is a horror-themed third-person shooter video game released in 2000 by Cryo Interactive. The game's script was written by Hubert Chardot, better known for his work in the Alone in the Dark series. The game is presented as a reality television game show documenting the supernatural...
, set in the USA with demons. - Natasha MostertNatasha MostertNatasha Mostert is a South African author and writer presently living in London.-Personal:Born in Johannesburg South Africa, Mostert grew up in both Johannesburg and Pretoria. She now lives in the United Kingdom, in Chelsea, west London although she still owns a house in Stellenbosch in her native...
's The Other Side of Silence and Season of the Witch - YsabelYsabelYsabel is the tenth novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was first published in January 2007 by Viking Canada. It is Kay's first urban fantasy and his first book set outside his fantasied Europe milieux since the publication of his first three novels in the 1980s...
by Guy Gavriel KayGuy Gavriel KayGuy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction. Many of his novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid...
mostly set in 21st century Aix-en-Provence - Rick RiordanRick RiordanRichard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr. is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series...
's Percy Jackson & the OlympiansPercy Jackson & the OlympiansPercy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fantasy fiction books authored by Rick Riordan. The series consists of five books, as well as spin-off titles such as The Demigod Files and Demigods and Monsters. Set in the United States, the books are predominantly based on Greek...
series, set in 21st century United States - P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files series following Jack Fleming a vampire P.I.
- Freda WarringtonFreda WarringtonFreda Warrington is a British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published when she was just finishing her teen years; in the intervening years she has seen numerous stand-alone novels and a trilogy published...
's Aetherial Tales series - James Hetley's Dragon's Teeth and Dragon's Eye
- Richelle Mead's Georgina Kincaid series (Succubus BluesSuccubus BluesSuccubus Blues is a supernatural novel by Richelle Mead, which can be considered as urban fantasy/contemporary fantasy . It is the first novel in the six novel Georgina Kincaid series...
, Succubus on TopSuccubus on TopSuccubus on Top is a supernatural novel by Richelle Mead. It is the second novel in the Georgina Kincaid series, which will have six books but only currently consists of five...
, Succubus DreamsSuccubus DreamsSuccubus Dreams is a supernatural novel by Richelle Mead. It is the third novel in the Georgina Kincaid series, which will have six books but only currently consists of five...
, Succubus HeatSuccubus HeatSuccubus Heat the fourth novel in the urban fantasy Georgina Kincaid series written by Richelle Mead. It is written in a first-person perspective following the main character, Georgina Kincaid, who is a succubus working at a local book store, Emerald City Books & Cafe.-Plot:Georgina Kincaid has...
, Succubus Shadows, Succubus RevealedSuccubus RevealedSuccubus Revealed is the sixth and last book of the urban fantasy series Georgina Kincaid, written by Richelle Mead. In this book, Georgina is offered the dream job for a succubus - a transfer to Las Vegas...
)
Overlap with other genres
Contemporary fantasy can also be found marketed as mainstream or literary fictionLiterary fiction
Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction . In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon...
and frequently marketed as magical realism, itself arguably a fantasy genre. Example include Practical Magic
Practical Magic
Practical Magic is a 1998 American fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman...
by Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1996 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name...
The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
, and Mistress of Spices
Mistress of Spices
The Mistress of Spices, , set in contemporary Oakland, California, is a novel by Indian American writer and University of Houston Creative Writing Program professor Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.-Plot summary:...
by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni.
In other media
Type-MoonTYPE-MOON
is a Japanese game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operations...
's Fate Stay Night is in Fuyuki City, certain families have magical circuits in their blood, and can cast spells among other abilities, while Takahiro Yamato's Kaze no Stigma
Kaze no Stigma
or is a Japanese light novel series written by Takahiro Yamato and illustrated by Hanamaru Nanto. After the death of the author on July 20, 2009, the story remains incomplete at eleven volumes...
is set in modern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and center around a young man with powers to control wind.
The Mighty Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
can also be considered to belong to this sub-genre, depicting a god of Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
sharing his life between 20th Century New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the legendary Asgard
Asgard
In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
. The same can be said of Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
.