In my first post, I invoked a term that I’m not sure actually means anything: American fantasy. Of course, I’m not talking about fantasy works written in America by American writers with American accents, eating barbecue. I am fully aware that these are real things, especially barbecue. This was, in fact, exactly the type of fantasy I was weaned on: American writers transmitting Tolkien through the lens of D&D. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman were for all intents and purposes my childhood spirit guides, my d20 Jiminy Crickets, and they are still so very much in my head all the time. No, what I’m talking about is whether there exists an actual sub-genre of fantasy that is for America what Tolkien’s works, and their innumerable spawn, are for western Europe. Continue reading What I meant when I said that thing about american fantasy
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