Is there hope for Modern Fantasy?

Well, my story is weird, but I think it might fall into the concept of modern fantasy.
It starts in modern times, in a Victorian house. Then, about a third into the story, strange things start to happen... objects disappearing, shrinking, multiplying themselves... And a few chapters later, my protagonists find out that magic is leaking in from another dimension.
Here's where I'm not sure whether or not it counts as modern fantasy or not--while the "other dimension" isn't medieval by any means, magic is the norm and technology is rare. So yeah.

"All you have to do is think up a certain number of words! Plus, you can repeat words! And they don't even have to be true!" ~Dave Barry

My novel has magic, but it's magic as in, what people today think is magic. So, like, metaphysics.

But instead of having it be all crystal healing and junk like that, the main character creates a golem-esque creature. And it works. And he comes to life. And that just starts the ball rolling. It just gets weirder from there.

Most of it is more of what I've dubbed "technofantasy", because a lot of it has to do with blogs.

Not normal blogs. Special blogs. Mind control.

Almost more of a science fiction than a fantasy, but throw that golem in...it becomes both.

I figure it all depends on what counts as "Fantasy." I consider my work fantasy, but it usually gets plunked into horror because my leading man is a vampire.

My world is the modern world, pretty much identical to this one except magic is real - and vampires, etc. Sometimes I have trouble making sure it remains fantastic enough to BE called "fantasy"...

Oh, yes.
It's basically, well, the world that I've always used, only fast-forwarded into the modern time. There's magic everywhere, but it's not used for everything because, come on, lighting up a fire with a magic rock will only get you so far. But, damn it, I'm going to have fun with this, because- unlike with other things- I won't be as limited as I was before since interaction between countries is now possible, and technology is fast-forwarded. It's more-or-less resembling the real world, only not as much, only, yeah. For example, there's Court TV for ghosts who want to sue someone before they go into the light.
In fact, my MC is a lawyer for that show.
He hates his job. ^_^

My Nano is planned to be a sort of Modern Fantasy. It's basically undertones of Faeries in the city, and the police force that knows about them. And then I'm hoping that the changeling plot will work out... But Faeries live in the background of the city, out of sight from most people, but they attribute to the crime rate just like humans. So then there is the police, that investigates anything to do with the Faeries. It shall be fun.

I'm partly using all of the old tales about Faeries, but mostly just the concepts. But mostly the Fey will be of my own making, slightly based on the tales. And I don't think that there will be too many humans using magic.

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Screnzy 07: The State of Orange - Won!
NaNoWriMo 06: Dragons in the Bathtub; 07: Sidhe PD - Won!

Screnzy 08: The State of Green. Nathan Green has just woken up from his coma, but is being awake any better?

Depends on what you consider modern, I suppose. :) I'm waffling between WWII and the McCarthy era for my setting. Magic is a historical fact, but has- everyone thinks- completely faded out. No elves, though. :)

-Kit

It's not my fault... the baby ate my brain.

NaNoWriMo 2007: HIdden, a fantasy/mystery set in rural WA during the McCarthy era. Yes, there will be werewolves. Deal with it! :)

My novel is set in the Faery Realm and also concerns a Changeling - or an ex-changleing. I was suprised to see how many novels this year are using Fae as their inspiration.

Novel: Crawley
Genre: Fantasy
Subject: Changelings

I guess mine counts as a modern fantasy setting...

I have four characters all travelling to a new island resort to seek fame and fortune. However, this island is also a secret battleground for four factions that have been struggling to gain rulership over humanity for centuries; Angels, Aliens, Spirits and Demons. The four leads all happen to get drawn into this war, which is where the chaos begins for them.

I've been on something of a modern fantasy kick this year, spurred on by Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians (and wow, doesn't THAT make for an odd combo!), so both of my ideas for this year's NaNo fall under the modern fantasy heading.

The first one involves all those magical creatures who used to show up on the old heraldic coat of arms having taken human form to avoid being hunted to extinction, but spells only last so long and the main character needs to find a mage to renew his before the as of yet Unnamed Order of Magical Critter Hunters can track him down and eliminate one more unicorn from the world (still debating the actual antagonist's motivation, but he's one of the hunters and hey, he wants the MC dead, so...). Any creatures that showed up on coats of arms, like griffins and dragons and whatnot, are out there, and obviously there's magic, but the populace at large has no idea what's out there, and unless they're a hunter, it doesn't really affect their lives.

In the second one, the magical world exists, and while it's trying to keep a low profile, clashes happen. One such clash occurs when a sprite literally falls into the MC's life. That world's got everything from all the various kinds of fae to vampires and werewolves, all just on the brink of being uncovered by normal people. And, of course, once the MC's aware of it, it's EVERYWHERE. Considering my MC's a normal high school girl, in a fairly normal town on the outskirts of a fairly normal city secretly inundated with the magical, I'd say it counts as modern/contemporary fantasy.

Let's hear it for chipper vampires! There's just not enough of them out there.

2006: Seashells and Horseshoes (WINNER!)
2007: Three chapters in, and STILL no title!

What I'm doing could probably count as modern fantasy, though it's another world, not out own with fantasy elements. The world's tech level isn't to the same standard as our own, but they have powered transportation, telephones and radios. TV and computer equivalents are still off in the future. Magic is alive and well, and in fact it was the appearance of magic about three hundred years ago that spurred on industrial development. So rather than declining, magic is very much on the rise. Magic animals are commonplace (though they're all original creations, not dragons or unicorns), and form the basis of a lot of modern society. No sentient magic animals, though. No elves or anything like that either, just humans.

My protagonist is a magical healer, but not of the ordinary variety - he heals animals. I don't believe you see very many vet characters in fantasy, but in a more modern setting where animal ownership is commonplace (and the animals themselves are highly important - where do you think they get the magic from?), I don't see why they shouldn't exist.

NaNo 2007 - Moths

2006 - The Eye of Rakaros
2005 - Approximate Destruction
2004 - JSBCBS
2003 - From Here To There

Wow, these all sound good...! :)

Mine is either a modern fantasy / modern fairy tale. It's about a woman whose husband goes missing. She discovers that he is actually a fae prince, heir to a very ancient, crumbling fae city-castle. She has to go to his aunts (three fairy godmothers) and find a way to cross over. Once she's there, she has to accomplish various tasks in order to get to the centre of the castle and find her husband. The only problem is that the spell she used to get to this fae world only works for one person (ie. only one person can go back...)

Otherwise, I had an idea for a forensic mystery set in a modern fantasy other world, where a steampunk revolution has provided equivalent technology levels to now, and where a magician known as a delver works as a coroner (delving involves 'mind-melding' with the victim and delving into his body to see what killed him). I would be going for a kind of From Hell vibe on this one, I think.

So what do you think?

I wouldn't call mine modern by any means, but certainly it isn't the typical fantasy.... it's pretty much ridiculous. (^_^) It's set in Rapanui (Easter Island), in a time when there were actually trees and food ;p. Bascially, its an epic drama surrounding the destruction of the wood, up to the last tree being cut down. Stuff like that. Lots of Polynesian lore, magic of course ^_^ mana, Arikis ...you name it! Oh, and the birdman of course! Hotu Matua! ...ok, a little off-topic, but I say go for experimenting with the strange, new modern fantasy!

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Hours of sleep lost: 4
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Mine's modern fantasy to an extent. MC's going to be an extremely messed-up kid living in modern times [most of what I know about him at this point is that he's been having terrifying dreams, has something to do with the death of another modern human, and he will develop magic of some sort]; the story will also include bloodthirsty elves whose main power is illusion and siphoning away others' magic, along with a semipowerful group [magic-wise, anyway] that's trying to kill off the elves / protect humans from said elves.

No elves in mine, and probably no faeries, but there will be a bizzare demony wolf that attacks the people on the planet my story takes place on :D

First time I'm doing a NaNo that's fantasy, and it's a post-apocalpytic tale of a planet's destruction, and it slowly being rebuilt by those who stay. I'm not sure when it's set, but it's definitely NOT set in our world or time. I'm thinking that it's somewhat modern because the planet (before the apocalypse) is a thriving world, one of the most elite, with state of the art technology and incredibly successful businesses dotting the landscape. I'm not sure what my MC's role in all of that is, except for that she's a young woman starting out in her chosen profession when all of this occurs. Maybe a mail girl? But there's definitely going to be magic. I'd try to do science, but I'd utterly fail at putting any sciency aspects into my story, so, it's going to be fantasy and not science fiction.

(I'm so impressed by all these descriptions, these tales all sound so incredible!)

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50,000 words or bust...

Both of them sound pretty interesting. ^_^ Of course, I'm kinda partial to the first one because I do so love fairy tales. But why is the spell only being for one person a problem? Wouldn't the fae prince have ways to get around himself?

2006: Seashells and Horseshoes (WINNER!)
2007: Three chapters in, and STILL no title!

You know, having started this thread, I probably should have described my NaNo a bit more. But, honestly, I'm quite a bit jealous at how well formed everyone else's modern fantasy ideas are. I've got characters, and setting, but still lacking plot, which I shall pretend is the least important step of the process.

"Night on Fire", previously "Gypsy", previously "Hero", previously, previously, previously...

*ahem*

"Night on Fire" is set in southern Florida, near Orlando, in fact, and deals with the world thousands of years after the Time Past, full of fantasy, dragons (though, they were the size of house cats and were more of a nuisance than anything else), and magic. The main character is a girl named Rachel, a waitress at the Temple Club, a high class nightclub near one of the busier sections of town. She's a very quiet girl, past high school but not quite out of college, who spends most of her time playing fantasy games on her computer or lugging around massive weights of roleplaying game books in her backpack which she lugs around to work each night. She certainly isn't aware that her boss happens to be a vampire, one with a cheery disposition and a certain attachment to the 80s New Wave. She doesn't suspect anything is out of the ordinary from her boss, Arlais NoLastName, until one of her old friends shows up from "out of town." The woman goes by the name of 'Red,' and takes an immediate dislike to Rachel, tolerating her only when Arlais is supervising. 'Red', as Arlais calls her, happens to be the last surviving Elf, and seems to have inherited elven superiority and annoyance, if little else. Also included is an overbearing fire marshal named John Arklay, a werewolf chase, zombies, fire axe-wielding vampires listening to Duran Duran and "The Crazy Bitch Jhanyl Back From the Dead"...

And that's all I've really got. I've been planning on having the plot jump back and forth in time, from Now, to Time Past, with the main character of those sequences being Red, as Tamarel/Tamara, and dealing with the destruction of the Old Old World. Included is Tamara's first experience with magic, which is a rare thing that is typically met with a very puritan witch-burning response, a pet dragon that fits easily into most overhead storage bins, and the phrase "Here Come The Drums!" which I was dared to do as a result of my circle of friend's fanatical devotion to Doctor Who...

Was thinking about working in an angle of a "Secret History", the sort of "What Really Caused of the Crusades (A single undiscovered spellbook found in the desert by vampires who use it today to run a monopoly on the surviving supernatural world)", "Was There Really a Magic Bullet That Killed JFK? (No)" and "What the hell was disco all about anyways? (Play "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer backwards in your CD-ROM drive....it'll install Windows)."

Still, I'm a bit scared, this is my first real attempt, and I'm afraid of mucking the whole thing up.

These have all been fantastic so far! Must hear more, much more!

It's called "urban fantasy" ;)

-= Sassee Bioche =-

Well, my story is set in the present. I'm having a "mythical creatures are real and need our help" type of book.
I think it would be fun to be mixing mobile telephones and dragons XD

My first few novels were practically pure classical fantasy. The first followed the quest of a young fire mage, who was also the heir to a mountainous region in a country. His companions were a human fighter and an oread (mountain nymph), as well as a furry critter called Twitter. Twitter was a made-up animal that I named a poret.

My second novel was also a quest – three brothers trying to find the pieces of a statue that – when assembled – would grant them one wish. They were going to wish for their mother to be restored to life. The boys were all half-fox faerie (their father was the fox faerie). One of the boys was also an apprentice magician, whose master came along to help them. They were joined by a young thief (a girl). They met vampires, griffins and all sorts of other fantasy things – but no elves.

My third novel followed a young elf and his companions (mostly other elves, a couple humans – one of which was a wizard) as they tried to overthrow the usurper to the throne of the elven kingdom. The second part had the two main characters – who’d been separated at the end of the first part – reunite. The third part followed them on a quest to assemble the history of the elves. Obviously, that one was heavy on the elves, but I did my best not to make them cliché.

Now, I tend to fuse different genres. A couple years ago, I wrote a novel about a team of secret agents stationed in New York City. They were basically assassins and bounty hunters for a foreign government. Most of them had magic of one sort or another that they used to their advantage in their work. One had wings that he was able to hide when he was around normal humans. The magic was really the only thing that made it fantasy, but there was loads of magic.

The novel I wrote last year was a fusion of suspense and urban fantasy. It followed the work of a private detective who was settling in to a city populated by elves. It was not your typical elven city. In fact, it was very much like the city I lived in at the time. That one had dragons – who could take a into humanoid form – and elves and a few humans. It also had a crazy stalker and a bunch of spies. I had loads of fun writing it and it was my first NaNo. (By the way, I think I had a scene where my dragon used a cell phone. ^_^)

Shortly after NaNo finished, I wrote a story that was set on a pseudo-Victorian world, so I guess that might count as steampunk, although they used magic to power things (not that the regular people knew that). They had to stop a monster that was trying to kill all the mages in an area.

During the month before Screnzy, I wrote a novel following the life of bard-thief, who was working with a knight and wizard to collect enchanted jewels. That was the closest I’ve come to writing classical fantasy in over two years. I also very much like the characters I created for it.

The story I plan for this year’s NaNo is a contemporary fantasy mystery. It’ll mostly take place at a school for magic, but one that has technology powered by magic. There won’t be elves, but I’ll have fae, dragons, griffins and sprites.

Basically, this long description was to say: I love magic, so it always appears in my fantasy stories. Elves and other fantasy beings show up when it makes sense for them to do so. Overall, I don’t abandon classical fantasy elements. I adapt them to fit the modern environment.

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NaNo 2006: Steel Bars - 59,233 words
Screnzy 2007: The Enchanted Forest - won
NaNo 2007: Turning Beetles into Buttons - 51,949 words
Screnzy 2008: Simple Gifts - 43 pages total & Butterfly - 9 episodes

I write mostly technologically-advanced (or comparable to our level) fantasy set in alternate worlds - nothing having to do with Earth at all. I have written one classic adventure type fantasy (sword & no sorcery), but I don't like it too much.

www.MLoriMotley.com

Currently editing NaNo '07: Brother Crow

I'm doing a time travel story with dragons, how cliche?

Of course, the time travel means it's all over the map, time-wise, but it is on the Earth, and the MC is from 1700's Europe, the Antag. from Carthage, and the other MC from Han Dynasty China (I think, working on the dyansty thing..)

Will probably have them come to the present some, and the near future.

--steve--

DON'T PANIC -- D.A.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- H.S.T.

NaNo'06=The Lost Vintages -- 14,000 wds -- ugh

I'm doing a time travel story with dragons, how cliche?

Of course, the time travel means it's all over the map, time-wise, but it is on the Earth, and the MC is from 1700's Europe, the Antag. from Carthage, and the other MC from Han Dynasty China (I think, working on the dyansty thing..)

Will probably have them come to the present some, and the near future.

--steve--

DON'T PANIC -- D.A.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- H.S.T.

NaNo'06=The Lost Vintages -- 14,000 wds -- ugh

Sure, I think there's hope. Mine is set at my ex-job, within a large law firm's library. I'm going to change the surroundings a little bit, but I don't have to change my villain at all. My in-house demons are not the attorneys, but instead the managerial support staff.

I'm using magic found with the law books.

Magic is kept to a certain few. It's something along the lines of what attending university during the Middle Ages, only a small percentage of people can access it. Those people have to be two extremes: either black or white. No gray. Nothing else matters, you have to be pure or corrupted.

Beyond magic and demons, I really don't think anything else from high fantasy is porting over into this particular story.

I'm not sure what's going to carry over from the past, except that the magic is only found within books, the internet and the like don't count.

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I'm lightly treading on Star Wars, but as far as fantasy stories, I don't have much to draw from unless it's Dragonlance, and my hopeless love for half-elf Tanis. World building is incredibly daunting to me, which is why I want to start out with a setting I know.

I wish everyone luck. And look forward to hearing more about your stories.

+----
Write On!

Or sometimes "Contemporary Fantasy" especially if set in rural areas.

Last year's story for me was a mix of fantasy and mystery, taking the idea that there was a Veil in which the celtic crossquarters were particularly vulnerable times for interaction between the realms especially for those that were versed in the Magick.

"Looking for another adventure already?"

2006 - Faire Gypsy, Faire Game - winner
2007 - Immortal Jeopardy -

Well, not sure if it's modern fantasy, but it's a mix between fantasy, the modern world, and scifi.

Because in my novel, the Dark Ages never really happened, and there will be magic and some exclusive magical creatures. Of course, they would not be abundant, because most of them would have been hunted down a long long time ago. But yes, magic will be there, and a few magical/fantasy creatures. No elves or dwarves or whatever, though.

I think supertraditional fantasy (aka, medieval, elves, dwarves, wizards, etc.) has come and gone. It just doesn't do it for me anymore. Thankfully, there are plenty of stories that don't feel the urge to include all of the standardized (as per LotR, mostly) fantasy elements. :).

*whoosh* There went my sanity xD.

http://s11.invisionfree.com/LGBTNaNoSupport - the unofficial site for all LGBT(PAQ) and non-LGBT(PAQ) NanoWrimo-ers!

If only the wind could carry my muse to me...

Personally I hate the vast majority of urban fantasy, but yes, my story does seem to fit that umbrella.

... Well, it will be if I actually get around to doing any preparation for it, which is necessary if it's going to work. The magical element will be more or less subtle, or if not exactly subtle as more of a thing that happens at times rather than something to be controlled, used, or even thought about all too much. I wouldn't go as far to call it magical realism, but it's definately taken boatloads of influence from that.

Anyway, the general plan calls for underlaying the world (which is modern - fictional city with different values than most real modern cities would have) with a layer of myth. The preparation I need to do is writing lots of extremely short stories in the world which may or may not be refered to, but will add some depth and generally useful devices to be used whenever I have the need, plus hopefully add a certain tone to the story that I'm aiming for. The story will probably mostly centre on characters and society though, rather than on any magical elements.

Y'know, the more I summarise it, the more it sounds like magical realism ... but I don't *want* to go to the Lit Fic forum. Too ... pretentious.

Wow, after reading all this I'm not feeling sorry I entered "Fantasy" category in my profile. Mine is definitely modern fantasy, for it is set in the present and has perfectly ordinary characters only one character is IMMORTAL SEA-CREATURE.

My partner is also writing a fantasy novel, but more classical one.

Last year I tried horror story with same character, but it didn't work out for my story wasn´t scary. Let's try it this way then. And I'm writing in Finnish, so I won't bother this forum with excerpts.

Very keen on the term "technofantasy." :D

^_^ I was wondering how long it would be before someone pointed that out.

A comment on a post somewhere above this--I'm not even remotely surprised at how much "fae" is being used this year. The recent commercial success of series like Artemis Fowl (which of course is very much urban fantasy) and Holly Black's "modern faerie tales" and younger Spiderwick Chronicles point to a big audience--and what people like to read, people like to write. (H.B. is a particularly notable example, as her and Tony DiTerlizzi's new Spiderwick book DEBUTED on the children's New York Times bestsellers list--at number one.)