Charles Yallowitz was kind enough to join me in June as a guest. As part of the Christmas replay, I share once again his post about the magical beasts that populate the pages of fantasy.
Charles is the author of the popular series Legends of Windemere and you can find his books through his Amazon author page and he shares the journey of their creation on his blog.
Thank you to Sue for offering to host a promo/guest blog. Now to get the introduction and promo stuff out of the way. My name is Charles E. Yallowitz and I’m the author behind the Legends of Windemere epic fantasy series where the latest one is Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue. I also just released a 27-page short story for 99 cents called Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts, so you can get a quick, cheap taste of me . . . whatever. Let’s move on to the fun!
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One of the staples of the fantasy genre are the magical beasts from mythology and the recesses of the author’s imagination. Yes, I’m aware that some people feel that such things are overused and no longer have a place in the genre. In fact, I’ve gotten into that debate several times. Seriously, how can someone say dragons are fine, but they get angry about unicorns, griffins, mermaids, and the rest of the menagerie? I digress and now I will repress the anger.
Balrog from Street Fighter
Magical worlds are filled with unique creatures ranging from large versions of regular animals to off the wall critters. Look at Middle Earth for this. You have beasts that range from giant spiders to sentient trees to the terrifying Balrog (as seen to the right). They roam the wilds and attack cities. They appear to the pure of heart or obey the darkest of wills. Most of them tend to be living in the ruins of ancient civilizations that were destroyed by the citizens’ own hubris. The point here is that nearly every fantasy series has at least one creature that is not from the real world.
The challenge with including such beasts is the ‘HOW’. The Hobbit (book!) had Smaug the dragon as the main enemy and other creatures were smaller obstacles. This is before the time where people got bored with the adventure tale. This type of story allows for the unique flora and fauna of a world to be displayed at relatively random intervals. D&D and video games would call these random encounters because they were typically not main plot essential. They were more for character evolution and world building. For example, the Hobbit would have gone the same without the giant spiders of Mirkwood, but Bilbo Baggins found his courage and Sting’s power there. Also, any creature could have been used for the effect, which seems to be another sign of how beasts are used.
Most of the new fantasy that I’ve read doesn’t touch on magical creatures unless the story focuses on them. Bears and wolves have taken the place of ogres and pegasi. Yet, dragons still show up and you see magical beasts on emblems. I’m not sure if this is a push to make fantasy more realistic or it’s just part of a cycle where the focus is more on human enemies than monsters. Personally, I like a balance, but I will admit that it’s difficult to put a monster into a story without it feeling like a random encounter or a dungeon crawl. The Compass Key has tons of battles against unique creatures, so I do worry about this. The first act has the heroes wandering a swamp, the second act involves a lost tomb for a chapter, and the third act is in a place I can’t talk about. Monsters are everywhere in these relatively untouched regions of Windemere, so it makes sense to me that they would be there. To a reader though, it might not be seen that way. Yes, I know the adage ‘you can’t please everyone’.
So, what do people think of the use of magical beasts in literature? Are the days of anything that isn’t a dragon over? Seriously, why do dragons get a pass when they’re the most overdone critter? People get angry over a hobgoblin being used, but swoon over another red dragon. I just don’t
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Great point of debate, Charles. I used plenty of them in my fantasy, but they were more character than monster. I get that styles change over time, but is there no room for creatures in fantasy any longer?
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It might cycles. Eventually, people will tire of the low monster, low magic fantasy and look at the other side of the coin. The current trend is grittiness, politics, etc. that you find in Game of Thrones. Nothing against it, but that’s the current standard. Back when it was Harry Potter and LOTR, you did find more magical creatures in fantasy. So it might be a waiting game for their return or one has to search a bit more.
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Or make it happen…
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Need that opening. I still get the occasional ‘you should make it more like Game of Thrones’ message. There are people legitimately upset that some heroes are still kicking around the whole series instead of dying off. A TV show I watch just started a new season and had a pretty big ‘culling’ of main characters. People were cheering and saying this is how a TV show should be. So there’s a definite audience bloodlust these days.
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I think I just have to write the way I feel it. TCOS almost became a Greek tragedy, but I couldn’t take it that far. I still took it as far as I dared.
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I felt that way about the psychological thriller I attempted. Like I couldn’t let it go entirely into the darkness, so I got as close to the abyss as I could.
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That usually is a sign of good storytelling. Go there, but yank it back somehow.
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I love creatures in fantasy. I read a lot of urban fantasy, which still has plenty of creatures, some traditional (like the unicorn in Ben Aaronovich’s “Foxglove Summer”), some unique creations (I’m thinking of Kate Griffin’s “Matthew Swift” series in particular here). I think they enhance the worldbuilding and connect with a rich tradition of creatures in fantasy. I’d probably be a little disappointed to read a fantasy novel with no creatures at all.
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I agree. Magical creatures act like ‘living’ proof that you’re in a different world. Not sure how else to describe it.
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Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.
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Pingback: Best Fiction and Writing Blogs | M.C. Tuggle, Writer
A magic beast or two steals the scene in my latest wip. Thanks for some great advice.
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Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
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Thanks, Viv 🙂
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Pingback: Replay -Guest Post – What do you look for in magical beasts? | oshriradhekrishnabole
Just as my eleven years old son would say, “They got to look cool, Mommy!” To think of what he said he got a point in some ways and one time my girlfriend just broke her relationship with her boyfriend and she reminded me of what my son told me before. “Damn Prince Charming is a real devil in disguise. A face that is too beautiful which hidden the heart of a stone!” …. Well, dragons are cool, indeed.
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I’ve always had a fondness for dragons 🙂
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Drag0ns are magical and majestic creature. I say, I am that happy that I was born on the year of the Big Dragon in the year 76.
And then later, one of my daughter was born on the year of the Small Dragon. Ain’t that cool?
😀
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Very cool 🙂
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