As do most fairy tales, these stories assume feudal states with kings and nobles. Is it possible to write high fantasy that doesn’t assume a monarch or functional equivalent? Suggestions in comments.
I can think of a number of stories where the setting starts without one but it's usually because everyone is sitting around waiting for a prophesied king to show up.
A few examples which could get partial credit: The Death Gate Cycle (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman), The Great Game trilogy (Dave Duncan), and The Lord of the Rings all contain both king-based and non-king-based political systems. (Okay, the Shire technically had a king, but he was purely ceremonial by Bilbo and Frodo's time.)
The Shire has a mayor at the time of LOTR. They thought there might still notionally be a king somewhere, but as they hadn't heard from him in centuries, weren't too worried about it.
Sad for the young James, children that age are very literal. I was told by a classmate at the end of the first day of kindergarten that I was getting on the wrong bus to go home. Luckily a classmate who had ridden in with me was there to correct the mistaken student.
High fantasy without a monarch. I'd like a better definition of "high fantasy" please?
If we mean "secondary world", then Jo Walton's Lifelode fits, and so do all of Graydon Saunders' Commonweal books. Maybe Brandon Sanderson's second Scadrial series, starting with The Alloy of Law? I'm not sure who's running the government in those. (There are noble houses, but not an emperor.) Jemisin's Broken Earth. Bujold's Sharing Knife.
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james_davis_nicoll) wrote2018-11-06 03:17 pm
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I can think of a number of stories where the setting starts without one but it's usually because everyone is sitting around waiting for a prophesied king to show up.
A few examples which could get partial credit: The Death Gate Cycle (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman), The Great Game trilogy (Dave Duncan), and The Lord of the Rings all contain both king-based and non-king-based political systems. (Okay, the Shire technically had a king, but he was purely ceremonial by Bilbo and Frodo's time.)
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If we mean "secondary world", then Jo Walton's Lifelode fits, and so do all of Graydon Saunders' Commonweal books. Maybe Brandon Sanderson's second Scadrial series, starting with The Alloy of Law? I'm not sure who's running the government in those. (There are noble houses, but not an emperor.) Jemisin's Broken Earth. Bujold's Sharing Knife.