I am currently taking the online class in Sword and Sorcery fiction, from the Storytelling Collective (https://www.storytellingcollective.com/courses/take/write-your-first-sword-and-sorcery/texts/43538965-lesson-1-activity)
I will post my notes and activities in this blog post.
Activity 1
- What are some of your favorite sword and sorcery characters or stories?
- The Elric novels are my personal favorite. Conan is also great, but lacks the depth.
- What is it you like most about these characters or stories?
- I like the doomed fate aspect of the character. I also like how his main sources of power — Stormbringer and his magical powers — have heavy downsides. The theme of cosmic balance is also really intriguing.
- What non-sword and sorcery media are you influenced by (books, comics, TV, movies, games, music, artwork, etc.)?
- Modern crime (The Wire, True Detective, Se7en, Better Call Saul)
- Sci-fi/cyberpunk media (Philip K. Dick, Peter Watts, Three Body Problem, Ghost in the Shell, The Expanse)
- Literary novels (John Fowles, Jonathan Franzen, Moby Dick, James Joyce)
- Post-modern philosophy (Nietzsche, Camus, literary theory)
- Cold war history and “weird” history (conspiracies, spirituality, fringe cultures)
- What do you like most about these media that you might draw on in your own sword and sorcery stories?
- a crime procedural-like structure/plot. Perhaps a detective main character. Or a more realistic depictions of crime and criminals
- framing the supernatural as “sufficiently advanced technology”. Perhaps the gods are nothing more than advanced AIs leftover from the apocalypse of contemporary society.
- Subversion of tropes. Introduction of literary techniques and pastiche. A meta-fictional awareness of the genre
- Themes of existentialism, lack of meaning, cosmic indifference.
- a historical setting. Aspects of the setting inspired by real history (two nations locked into a cold war with “magic nukes”)
- Is there a particular culture or region of the world you identify with?
- I’m from Romania. I have published a RPG sourcebook based on my country’s culture and legacy.
- Are there many sword and sorcery stories told from the perspective of that culture or region?
- Not that I know. We do have myths and folklore that involve heroes slaying monsters (example)