I’ve noticed that the few novels I had planned and wanted to write as a teenager, I couldn’t until I was older and grown up. I needed to live life and experience first before I could translate anything. I’ve found now I hit my 30s, I’m returning to some old stories and seeing them a more mature light 🥰
I love fantasy/speculative fiction because it's such a great tool for prose. Instead of needing to extraneously dig for pleasing nouns you can make them up and it's liberating af
I haven’t read it yet, but I feel like Legends and Lattes has the vibes you’re looking for. It’s cozy fantasy with low stakes. I’m trying to think of others, but it’s hard with the criteria you describe. I also read a lot of YA fantasy (and Adult as well) and I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for. I really appreciate this conversation, especially when you acknowledged ableism and antisemitism in your writing (how you recognized it). As a disabled, queer Jewish person (with other identities as well), I do love teaching others about how to write disabled characters and recognize ableism/ableist language, but it’s always nice when people tell me that they’ve changed how they think about disability and ableism. My PhD is literally in Disability Studies, so 😂😭 Best of luck with your fantasy projects! That’s so exciting! I’m happy for you! I guess several of my recent flash fic publications would be considered lit fic, but I mostly write YA and Adult fantasy or something more genre based (just wrote a horror pilot that I’d love to adapt as a novel). I think you should write whatever makes you happy! The great thing about shorter projects (short stories, novellas) is that you can explore the genre without the huge commitment of a novel-length work. Enjoy!
That video about all the things wrong with your old fantasy novel sounds incredibly interesting/educational, but I do understand that it would be very vulnerable! I do find the concept of ideas for fiction being bad in some fundamental way very interesting. Especially as a teenager I had a lot of ideas for stories that, looking back, were so fundamentally flawed that they never would've worked. It's kinda good to hear I wasn't the only one :)
@@ShaelinWrites I think I might be writing mine right now. :P It's all good; everyone has to be allowed to screw up the scales for a while before they can hope to play Chopin.
Your reedsy video on literary fiction was the moment that finally gave me the freedom to admit what I really want to write. I also wrote mostly fantasy when I was younger, and even now my ideas are heavily cross pollinated with spec fic elements. So for years I just told people I was writing science fiction… even though I made use of almost NO sci fi genre conventions and a TON of literary genre conventions. Thank you for telling me (you’re literally the only one who ever did) that I don’t have to attain some elitist echelon before I get to call my work what it actually is: literary fiction ❤
"Legends and Lattes" by Travis Baldree was my first cozy fantasy read and it checks all those boxes. I adored it so much. Queer romance, no war & military, very focused setting and worldbuilding, standalone, I believe there's one POV. Maybe two? It's not at all grimdark, but kind of fluffy. It was just pleasant to read and didn't feel like I had to do homework on it. Cozy fantasy is such a niche genre, but very refreshing when you finally come across it.
I recently re-read The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle (1968 I believe). The setting is probably medieval Europe, but through the eyes of the unicorn it's beautiful and alien. I think Beagle was about 29 when it was published. Don't let that depress you. :)
This is so exciting, Shaelin! Your sapphic stand-alone short fantasy is what I want for the genre too! Everything you said about the type of fantasy that is out there right now is basically the reason I was turned off by fantasy too (which is also why I have no recommendations for you…) Also, your moral of the story reminded me of the reason I decided to start writing queer erotica/romance…. My motto is “Write the smut you want to see in the world.”
If I could “like” this a thousand times, I would. Thank you for this insight into your journey. I think most of us here are not only a fan of your content, but also a fan of you. You’ve come to great conclusions here, and your new fantasy book ideas sound interesting and I’d certainly look forward to reading them. As a reader and amateur writer myself, I’ve noticed that good stories involve the character first and the setting or milieu is the fun background you enjoy along with it. I love my own fantasy trilogy and enjoy writing it (it is basically medieval-ish, about war, and on an epic scale) but that’s because that’s what I enjoy. I am careful to also make it about the people struggling through it, not only the “heroes” and the villain(s), but also the people caught in the middle of it all. Thank you, again, for posting this and I look forward to seeing what happens, and if your muse takes you somewhere else, that’s fine too.
I totally get it, I stopped reading fantasy for the same reason. It started to feel heavy and unenjoyable and repetitive, but I felt like I had to keep reading because “I like History, right?”. I read Howl’s Moving Castle last year, and it surprised me how fresh it feels, having been written so long ago. The worldbuilding is so soft and light and loose, the structure and plot are very different from mainstream fantasy, but it feels inherently familiar because it evokes children fantasy works from a couple decades ago. There isn’t a chosen one, a big war, world-shaping consequences, there is just relationships and magic. And it was so fun to read, I didn’t want it to end!
As a fantasy writer who found your channel in the Dr*g*n T**r era I'm so glad to hear that you've come back to the genre and realized what parts you like about it and want to contribute towards!
It sounds like you might want to read some solarpunk too. That's the sci-fi version of basically everything you're asking for, and it's more well-defined as a genre than cosy fantasy. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a good example (part of novella duology though, so not totally standalone).
Your fantasy taste is PRECISELY what I want to read (and write) and what I am always searching for within the genre! The best I've been able to find are Dreamsnake by Vonda N Mcintyre, and both The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu by Ursula K le Guin (who has many novels, novellas, and short stories within the Earthsea world, almost all of which are peaceful, slow, small-scope, and beautiful). You're right, there seems to be a hole in the market
I've never commented on a video before but it's crazy how your journey mirrors a lot of mine. I've been watching a lot of your videos on healing your writing process because I'd built myself up as only an SFF writer but struggled with confidence and feeling like I wasn't good enough at worldbuilding etc. Then I began exploring other genres and realized I love literary fiction, but I still love fantasy/sci-fi and now I'm kinda realizing I can just write what I want. That's a lot about me but genuinely, your videos have been so helpful in a) seeing someone else who's gone through something similar b) knowing it's okay to take your time and find your confidence and figure stuff out. Thank you!!
I relate to so much of what you said here. When I was younger I had a lot of very ambitious ideas for fantasy books I wanted to write, then I fell in love with classics in college and my tastes changed. Now I’m back to writing and getting ideas for ~light~ fantasy books and short stories. All part of the journey to finding our style 😊
This video was very relatable. I’ve always gravitated towards you the most out of all of "Authortube" because I moved between fantasy and literary fiction around the same time you did (so yeah, I cared, and I loved following your litfic journey!). I wrote epic fantasy as a teenager, then as an adult I fell in love with litfic too and wrote a smaller-scope, intimate fantasy with not as much action, basically trying to write a literary novel in a traditional fantasy setting. That novel actually got picked up by a small press but it just didn't connect with people, and now I’m writing litfic with fantasy elements. As for genre snobbery, it was pretty alienating being a more "literary" fantasy writer. When I was publishing fantasy, my peers and some readers/reviewers were pretty vocal about how fantasy is overlooked by those literary snobs even though fantasy is so much deeper and more thought-provoking than their dull, pretentious, navel-gazing novels. I felt pretty isolated. It's in the local litfic community that I feel people are open to anything, as long as you do it well.
First, as I *ALWAYS* say: *ONE MUST WRITE, WHAT ONE FEELS RIGHT.* There's absolutely no reason whatsoever, to write what "other people expecting". Just write what comes *NATURALLY* - and, well, always remember that, for *ALL* Writers - Yes, even *the* Best and Greatest ones!! - there are, sometimes, badly-written stories, too... it happens, and the Greatness is simply to know, which Stories to go ahead and publish (be it as they are or after a period of editing) - and which ones to simply forget about and move on. And - well, as we're all just human beings, sometimes it can happen, that even *the* Best Writers, might accidentally publish something which isn't that good. That's humans and that's Life. Personally, Fantasy has *always* been my most favourite genre - of course, not the formulaic one (of people simply copying from Tolkien and the like...), but the *truly Original* stuff. The Greatest ones are: "The Coincidence Makers", by the AMAZING *YO`AV BLUM* (and, well, *everything* he wrote and will write - he is simply *the Best EVER!!* I LOVE his stuff). "Garden of Salt" ("Humility Garden" + "Delta City" - here's some LGBT-touching Fantasy for you... 🙂), by the Divine *FELICITY SAVAGE.* "Deep Secret" (as well as "The Merlin Conspiracy" - but read "Deep Secret" first!), by Diana Wynne Jones; it is, in fact, my number one most favourite reread of all time. "The Never Ending Story", by Michael Ende. "Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll. "The Borrowers" Series, by Mary Norton. The "Amber" Series, by Roger Zelazny. "Master and Margarita", by Mikhail Bulgakov. The "Thursday Next" Series, by Jasper Fforde. "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", by C.S. Lewis. And more and more and more and more... 🙂
Not queer, but "Roadsouls" by Betsey James checks several of the boxes you mentioned. Small scale, diverse characters, no war and deep-character focused storytelling. Also beautifully written. Mrs. James' prose is off the charts. It's my fantasy bible, lol.
Oh boy what you are describing is exactly why i have been in a years long reading slump. I've always side-eyed lotr and all its successors and been on the hunt for the cozy, small scope fantasy with interesting concepts and characters. Heres a current list of my favourites: - The Newford Series by Charles de Lint. These are mostly urban fantasy but can have some other genre aspects on top. Best start with Dreams Underfoot, a short story collection and see if you like the tone. I think they are unfortunately out of print but can be found in used book shops or online. - Radiance and Deathless by Catherynne M Valente. Radiance is a bit scifi related and Deathless is a sort of retelling of a russian myth. Language is gorgeous. And the Fairyland series of hers is also a favourite, but that is of course middle grade. - Howls Moving Castle, Castle in the Air and The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. She's mostly known for children's lit but has very fun worlds and characters. If you don't mind children's lit give the Chrestomanci Series a go. - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Very viby, very good structure. I've got to give The Starless Sea another chance but i didn’t love that one as i love The Night Circus. - I personally like The Invisible Library series Genevieve Cogman, although the characterisations can be a bit inconsistent and the plots get a little convoluted. It's a good time though. - The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee is a weird book, and that's the only way i can describe it. I love it. - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. A dude discovers a hidden london. It's fun and has interesting characters, although some of Gaimans writing can have a very, how shall i put this, male gazy kind of vibe. I think the fantasy books you seek are out there, but very few and far between and usually older. I blame the og lotr movies for that bc that seems all that has been published the last 20 years. Also theory time: i think the reason why children's and middle grade fantasy books are more colourful and vibrant and less lotr esque is bc for a long time, even a little today, these were the only acceptable books for women authors to publish. Diana Wynne Jones talks a bit about that in her On the Magic of Writing book. Like children's fiction was looked down upon but at least you didnt waste your precious time trying to write actual literature as a woman instead of caring for your children and home. There's def a through line of misogyny that leads from women being confided to children's lit to the state of fantasy lit today.
As a long, long, longtime watcher, I don’t think you ever expressed snobbery. You seemed more like someone who was very familiar with a genre (fantasy) from their childhood who then spent a lot of time exploring something new and different (lit fic) and eventually went back to that genre with fresh eyes and new tools. Personally, I think genre snobbery just makes both genres less interesting, and your experiences in both camps makes me all the more interested in the writing to come.
I love your guidelines for fantasy stories, I want to see more of that too! I’d also recommend the EarthSea series (including Tales of Earthsea) and the Goblin Emperor. Doesn’t tick all the boxes you mentioned but does most of them.
That sounds so cool and I'm so happy you're rekindling your enjoyment for that little spark in you!! Hope you have fun exploring those uncharted lands for as long as it's fun!
@Shaelin The fantasy book you've been searching for is Gideon the Ninth. Check it out, and if you like it you'll love the sequel Harrow the Ninth, because it's very literary fiction style.
seconded!! doesn’t really hit the cozy/standalone/small-world parts but the level of evil and tender and feral lesbianism and pure Gender… can’t recommend it enough
I'm at a point in my life where I can feel that my taste is changing from mostly reading fantasy and classics, and writing fantasy, to reading and writing a lot of literary fiction. The change is making me feel unsettled, it's like my identity as a writer is changing. I try to tell myself that it doesn't have to be one or the other, and maybe in time I'll come back to mainly fantasy sagas. This video and your journey are really reassuring to me. I should explore what I feel pulled to explore, it doesn't matter what I've always thought and told people I'd write.
Shaelin asking for book recommendations at the end, "especially if you feel like it's one I will enjoy" was so funny to me because a lot of my favorite fantasy novels involve people getting murdered left and right and quite possibly making the world worse as a whole 😂 Whether or not I'm invested in a main character makes up about 90% of whether or not I like a book, and I find myself drawn to fantasy specifically because you can explore character traits/backstory that can't really exist in human beings. My current favorite series is the Market of Monsters trilogy (starting with Not Even Bones) partially because the main character is unhinged and partially because it has my favorite fantasy setting (a version of our world in which monsters are real and interact with human society in a way that demonstrates how monstrous humans can be).
Perhaps try the Monk and Robot duology by Becky Chambers? Its sci-fi but I think fits your criteria. Not standalone, but they are novellas and can easily read them both in a setting or two. If you’re ever in the mood for epic fantasy in a non-western setting, I highly recommend the dandelion dynasty. It has military action, but I’m not a military fantasy person and the author writes it in a way that’s extremely engaging to read. Second book also introduces a sapphic relationship, though that isn’t a main focus of the plot.
P. Djèli Clark's works may be right up your alley: they are very queer, deeply rooted in Egypt or New Orleans, and make some wonderful departures from tropes. They are more on the adventure side, and mostly novellas.
The House in the Cerulean Sea is queer (mlm), a relatively short standalone, not a medieval European setting and I'd say on the whimsical side. I think that checks most of your boxes. It was quite popular last year so you may have read it already. It's about a guy with a boring desk job in the world's magical orphanage organisation going to check that everything is in order in the more unique houses. The rest only hit some of your requirements: Ursula K. Le Guin's the Left Hand of Darkness is about a world where everyone's "ambisexual, with no fixed sex" (from wikepedia, basically they're asexual except for a few days per month) might fit you but it is technically sci-fi. It's old but I think it holds up. Her books of Earthsea are a series, though they're pretty self-contained and on the shorter side. You watch her grow as a writer as you go along. Not queer though. Neil Gaiman writes along the mythical side and his books are usually very short standalones. I don't think he has very queer stories though. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the only one I've read of his so far. Good Omens is also very good and on my TBR. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is gay, but it is a medieval retelling (though not just medieval england) of St. George vs the dragon and it is quite long. You might like Naomi Novik's work in Uprooted or Spinning Silver. They're very fairy-tale standalones like in a Slavic setting. Again not queer though. :( Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky straddles the line between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (imo), and has a few queer main characters, modern setting but also long. Guy Gavriel Kay writes Historical Fantasy with a Literary bent to them which might suit your fancy, not sure if he has any short and queer work though as I've only just started reading his stuff.
A recommendation that's not exactly cozy, and it is a series but each book is pretty short: The Flowers of Prophecy series by Natalia Hernandez, it's a sapphic fantasy story set in a world inspired by Latin America. (I haven't gotten very far into the first book so I can't personally speak on its quality but I am confident in saying that I will almost certainly be biased in its favor as a Latina fantasy lover who is also tired of the oversaturation of medieval Europe inspired fantasy)
I relate to the "searching for the perfect fantasy book" conundrum, so I don't think it's just us! I also grew up loving fantasy but don't read it nowadays bc adult fantasy doesn't interest me. The fact that "cozy fantasy" has become a term has me hoping for a shift in the fantasy landscape in the future
Fantasy arouses strong emotions. Already there are one hundred and nine comments on this post ! Andrew Lang (1844 -1912) wrote The Red Fairy Book and The Blue Fairy Book and was one of the most famous authors of his day, a classical scholar from the Scottish Borders who published works on every subject under the sun. Now he is almost forgotten - *Andrew Lang: The Life and Times of a Prolific Talent* by Stuart Kelly. The Scotsman online. George MacDonald (1824-1905) was much admired by C.S. Lewis and is still widely read. MacDonald wrote *Lilith: A Romance* (Lilith was Adam's first wife according to extrabiblical sources) as well as *Phantasies: A Faerie Romance*, *The Princess and the Goblin* and *At the Back of the North Wind*.
I've been watching you since before you left for college and I wish for you would be kinder to yourself. Doing anything complex early on will produce immature work. But thankful for The Dragon's Tear and hear the love from your community. Every stepping stone along a changing path to true love and joy in creativity. Humility is a virtue, but not appreciating early works because it is flawed is just beating yourself up. I want to buy your fantasy book, sounds like what I would like to read. 😉👍💖
i wrote a whole final essay in my MFA on how the terrible fantasy series i wrote as a teen MADE me a writer, and still means so much to me! it’s such a special genre. i also write litfic now, but dream of an multigenre career where i dabble in literary fiction, YA fantasy, and romance :)
it's more of a vaguely urban fantasy, but i would say that house in the cerulean sea is 1) Whimsical 2) Standalone 3) Gay and 4) Cozy ! I definitely LIKED it, I prefer other world fantasy with a little more spice and drama but it does check a lot of your boxes!
OH and Nettle and Bone you might like. It has some dark themes but it's very whimsical and has a cozy vibe to me. And, while it's not explicit in the text, there are two old lady characters who in my head absolutely are in lesbians with each other
Your plan for all the short fantasy books reminds me of what Seanan McGuire is doing (was doing?) with her Wayward Children series. I've only read Every Heart a Doorway and didn't care for it, so I didn't continue, but people seem to really like her series. All the books are stand alones but also connected (I think).
My two current favorite fantasy books are The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (sapphic main characters, Indian/South Asian inspired world, heartbreaking in the best way) and Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat (gay, fun twist on classic fantasy, will rip out your heart).
it was genuinely SO encouraging to hear you describe your perfect fantasy book because 1) those are the exact things i look for in fantasy and i've had the exact same problem scratching the itch and 2) my current project focuses on capturing those exact qualities. Cozy fantasy is the perfect term. thank you for making me feel so seen as a reader and for solidifying my confidence that there absolutely IS an audience for the weird, niche flavor of my own book. Always delighted by your stuff 💪❤️ EDIT: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones also ticks a lot of these boxes for me (not all of them, but it's a start). I've heard great things about House on the Cerulean Sea, too, but I haven't started it yet.
I recently discovered Cozy Fantasy after looking for it literally my entire life. 😂 I've always wanted something with the vibe of low-stakes romances but with fantasy. Even Fantasy Romances seemed to be either too high-stakes or too High Fantasy for my liking. I wanted something more casual, like "magic exists, but it's normalized and can only do minor, specific things." Ghibli vibes. For anyone else looking for something like that, the Cozyfantasy subreddit is very good for recommendations! My only problem is there's still not much out with Black leads, so I'm hoping to write some myself! 💛
You are describing EXACTLY what I have been looking for -- low stakes romance in a fantasy world but not Fantasy Romance™ with a Ghilbli-vibe. What I've learned from the comments of this video is that everyone seems to want this type of fantasy but there's so little out there haha which makes it hard to find specific titles that appeal to you, so I guess we've all collectively decided to write it and make it a thing
OH MY GOD. You have literally DESCRIBED ME. Cosy Fantasy is SUCH a perfect way to put it!!! This is EXACTLY the kind of fantasy book I have wanted to read and write and why I've also gone off the genre and stopped reading- though for me, I've left fiction altogether as a result and been mostly reading non-fiction for years. I've been trying to get back into it but it's so hard. I work as a teacher now so I really love children's picture books and I'm trying to dip my toe into short stories and graphic novels. I can't believe how exactly you've encapsulated what I've struggled with in terms of writing fantasy. I find it so hard when I get stuck for ideas with things because it's hard to find other examples of what I want to write! And I also get the whole feeling of 'why am I so awkward?? Why don't I just like the normal fantasy stuff like everyone else?' It's so validating to hear someone else wants something different, and that the genre did change from how it used to be. It's made me feel like such a fraud because I grew up reading fantasy, I love fantasy stories and the creativity fantasy affords you in general.
I still really enjoy middle grade fantasy a lot and especially Momo, The Neverending Story and The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende and the books by Brazilian author Lygia Bojunga Nunes. A more modern series I like is Nevermoor.
This is such a nice arc for you! Also encouraging, you're correct if you do not find something you like just write it! Can't wait to read your fantasy book. Also was that alternative universe ShaelinWrites @ 18:29 🤭 ?
I was here for the DT era/downfall and that was the thing that gave me the courage to le go of my own shitty fantasy I had been writing for years! Can't thank you enough ❤
I would guess all creative people have not just one, but a ton of creative projects they've abandoned somewhere down the line. I sometimes feel bad and cringe at the thought of how much time and money I've wasted on some of mine and for that reasons I have developed a certain mental exercise. I recall various creators, usually more successful, or at least more visible than me - a lot of them youtubers because of how public they are - and recall various projects that they have abandoned. It may sound ugly, but thinking that "hey, even that super popular youtuber who is so knowledgeable and organized, and to whom I've looked up to, also gave up one of their big projects, so it's not a big deal, happens to all of us" makes me feel better and I stop being bothered by those regrets. (and yes, I've sometimes thought that about you and your fantasy novel, so in a sense your novel has brought me peace of mind)
I relate SO HARD to this exact intersection! Wow! Following along but some stories you may enjoy jump to mind: “Good Girls” by Isabel Yap - first story in her collection Never Have I Ever. Perhaps darker than cozy would imply, but the yearning and monstrosity and even sweetness here really resonates with me, and I think you might dig The collection Maria, Maria by Marytza K Rubio is not queer but plays in a literary space I think you’d dig. Another opener short story rec: “Brujería for Beginners” Have you read Light from Uncommon Stars?? Really wonderful genre mashup and has Elder Gays falling in love and ahhh Also, the work that reaaaaally convinced me of the magic of slice of life fantastical queerness was the graphic short collection Girl Town by Casey Novak (has a former first name this was published under). Oh my god I would love to hear your thoughts on “Radishes” and “Diana’s Electric Tongue” and really all of it. Definitely cozy and whimsical. Oh man I should have started with this lol. Will be following along for more recs! Sincerely, fellow queer lover of fantastical queer tales of focused emotive cozinesses ~
This is exactly how I feel when people ask me if I like anime.. Like, yes? But.. Anime is not a genre. Anime is a form of storytelling, and I am just a fan of good storytelling. Unfortunately, however, it is SOOO easy for comics industries to get oversaturated with recycled tropes that absolutely kill my love for certain forms of art. The same applies to fantasy. We can do so much more with certain genres, yet we choose to reinvent the wheel or succumb to certain ideas that are just.. bland.
Shaelin, you're the best! I love your videos... They help me so so so so so much. Keep being you .. I don't think there's a greater gift you could possibly give us. You might dip a toe into Dave Duncan's gilded chain. It's not queer, and it is medieval Europe culturally, but small scope, standalone low fantasy. But it might not be for you... It's my brother's favorite book.
Thought process going thru this: 1) thank you for this video. On more levels than one, it is extremely important for me. 2) a wild (rare!) F word appeared! Lol. I respect the candidness of it. Thank you for being real, and incredible, always. 3) “bitch then just write it” is THE FUCKIN WAY 4) ARE YOU ABOUT TO DO WHAT I THINK 5) you are! You’re about to pull a Rachel! 6) this is the best thing I’ve EVER HEARD
We shouldn't forget that plenty of works of genre "rise" to become embraced as literary: - The Lord of the Rings - Watership Down - the Earthsea Trilogy - The Handmaid's Tale - The Road (and really most of McCarthy's works) - etc etc.
Amen. It's not wrong for your tastes to change ... and even on an objective level, the greatest novels of the 20th century will need to be re-assessed in this one.
Oooh!!! What about Cemetery Boys? (It's YA though in case that's not your thing) Queer romance! (And written by a trans man!) Contemporary Fantasy based on Latino culture/traditions! Kind of a cozy read where character development through communication drives the plot forward. I'm bad at describing but it's a very cute story and I really liked the characters and enjoyed the world
I'd be interested to watch the dragon tear video mostly because I remember that two part all about my novel and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it now. If people are rude they will be rude, probably on any video idea
While I don't have any specific recommendations because I'm (unfortunately) not a big reader these days, I do know that East Asia has had a lot more of a market for cozy fantasy stories -- especially with their light novel industry. For example, "Campfire Cooking in Another World" or "Ascendance of a Bookworm" about a girl who runs a business or "Somali and the Forest Spirit" are all pretty standard entries into Japan's cozy fantasy canon, and I understand Chinese books have their own subcategory dedicated entirely to this pastoral fantasy wanderings with low stakes. Some authors definitely have some questionable views on queerness though, so it's definitely a space to be cautious. But, it might be worth looking into light novels and danmei and other works in translations because there's just a much higher saturation of cozy fantasy in Asian media!
I actually have a work in progress that I think is a cozy fantasy that does fit everything you were looking for. It is a total hybrid of cultures and features a gender-fluid protagonist fairy (named Tipsy). The main influences for the culture are greek oracles and witches across history. The antagonist is based loosely on Aristotle (hubris, but bright). The three main oracles are sapphic. There's a cozy magic system, a surprise world inside the world, and while there is some fear of impending war, there is no actual war. Nothing medieval, it is suspended in time. Midjourney helped me make a gorgeous 3D map of the world as well, which it comes more and more to life with all the imagery I have made with Midjourney. Good luck on your fantasy! I'm having so much fun with this, it's a joy to get lost in and I've had some 2000 word writing days it's taking off so much. I WANT THIS TO BE A NEW GENRE/SUB-GENRE. It is so fun, comforting, and fresh! LET'S BE THE CHANGE. :) I'm with you!!! Can't wait to hear where you go with this. I think this IS my favorite genre now, even though I will always love some gritty lit fic.
@@ShaelinWrites OMG, I doubted you'd ever see this, much less respond. Thank you so much, this made my DAY/WEEK! I'm having a blast writing it. :) I can't wait to see where yours takes you and I do think there's a huge untapped market for this right now. Good luck!
I would be definitely interested in your Dragon Tear problem breakdown video! But also don't feel obligated to post it if you don't want to lol. Also, I think you might enjoy Spinning Silver! It's not queer, unfortunately, but it's very fairy-tale esque in a way that means that it's not overwhelming and easy to just slip into. It's also based on Jewish culture which is something I don't see a lot in fantasy. Most of the main characters are women, and there's very little discussion of war or fighting.
I have the absolute PERFECT recommendation for you if what you are looking for is queer, whimsical, cozy fantasy. It's called The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang. I see a lot of recommendations for Legends and Lattes in the comments already, and this is much in the same vein as that. I've seen/read a couple reviews for it that say that if you like Legends of Lattes, you will also like The Bookshop and the Barbarian, because it is similar in a lot of respects, although it still has its own feel to it. The author also has a really great fantasy series called Bartram's Maw that imo is well worth checking out, although I guess it hasn't quite taken off like The Bookshop and the Barbarian has. It also prominently features queer romances, though not very cozy or whimsical, so it might not be up your alley.
Ten Thousand Doors of January. This felt like a literary book because it was so lyrical, but it is fantasy. Not queer, but not really about a romantic relationship much at all. It’s a strange awesome book. 5 stars for sure.
Fantasy rec: Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy. So, it's not exactly cozy; it's actually pretty dark. But, it's a single POV, basically takes place inside a single really unique magic school, and it's not a fantasyland war/politics kind of book. Imagine a high school that's like a prison, but there are no teachers and there are no guards. Just a monster-infested school stuck in a pocket dimension where you graduate by managing to survive for four years, and the only way to survive is to do well enough in your classes to learn how to survive. It's solidly on my top ten all-time fantasy series, and I don't even particularly like that subgenre, if that gives you an idea of its quality.
I really recommend Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm books! The first one has a more basic medieval-ish setting but she manages to expand that world with every book. They're a mix between a series and standalones because it's always a new story with a new main character even if some characters from the other books pop up again. Only one has a sapphic storyline but all of them have queer representation and I've always enjoyed the love stories (especially in Bitterblue and Seasparrow). There are political conflits, but it's not super complicated and they're still very character-driven books with a magic system that's simple to get into. Even with the larger conflicts going on, each of them is also its own standalone coming-of-age narrative, which I love.
Ooh that's so exciting! After years & years of reading fantasy, I've definitely had enough of medieval European settings & am always looking for something different. Even medieval Asia (which I think would be the next most popular thing?) is so underrepresented & lacks real depth in many cases. Anyway, one of my recent favorites is none of the things you mentioned - except the magic system & storyline are so Weird, unlike anything I've ever seen in fantasy before. It's "Vita Nostra" by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko.
"Red sister" by Mark Lawrence puts the protagonist, Nona Grey - after a nicely shocking and gruesome beginning, what a great intro, and some rough backstory - into a "boarding school run by battle nuns" environment, that to me would qualify as cozy. (Just this first volume of the trilogy, with the two next volumes, the stakes get too high, and there is a war going on.) I read it at the same time I read Emily Temple's "The Lightness" (which I picked up following a recommendation by you) - and had a little "all girls boarding school" summerly heatwave reading binge, with strong "cozy but human abysses" vibes. Nona is into girls (only), two of her teachers "nuns" are in a relationship. The scope is ok small. There is martial arts training, and there are some 1 on 1 fights, but I didn't mind those, because they felt like a natural part of the curriculum, if you want to train your pupils to become assassins, you probably want to teach them some martial arts. I think of all the Fantasy books I read, this might come closest to your specification.
You might give reading Barkbelly by Cat Weatherill a try! It’s a very refreshing fantasy story that feels like an old school fairy tale, really unique world building and concepts. Definitely a cozy fantasy in my opinion!
My favourite fantasy book is Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. It's queer (gay romance arc), a quick read since the chapters are short and there is a lot of (very well written) dialogue, unique world building (set in today's world coupled with a magic system that's pure genius) and definitely more focused on the characters than any battles or the like. There are multiple POVs, which I normally don't like either, but in this book it works for me, maybe because the chapters are so short and not all POVs are equally important or represented. (You have probably heard of it since it's a popular book, but I thought I'd throw it out there.)
I love a great story-a story that has some depth-no matter the genre. The challenge with fantasy is that the signal to noise ratio is a bit low in comparison to, for example, literary fiction. Additionally, to further narrow the field, there is an awful lot of fantasy that spends far more time in worldbuilding than I care for. And finally, a ton of fantasy that claims to be aimed at an adult audience, is actually YA. There's the occasional YA novel that I enjoy, but that's rare. I'm an adult. I want adult stories. Also. Stand-alones > Series.
I feel like you need to read “Spear” by Nicola Griffith (sapphic, stand-alone, mythical) and “The Raven Tower” by Anne Leckie (unique magic system and setting, stand-alone, trans protagonist, interesting use of second person POV)
Spear, especially, felt like a special secret of a book when I picked it up and I wish I could have the experience of reading it for the first time again.
I have never related to anything more - I stopped reading fantasy in my teens and you just clarified why, its cause the popular tropes are not my jam! Theres one author I can return to every time - Diana Wynne Jones. In particular her Chrestomanci series. While it is called a series its more acurate to say its a series of standalones set in the same universe. Shes also the author of Howls Moving Castle, to give you an idea of the vibe. Not queer unfortunately, but still very fun and light hearted. Also its what im doing! A series of standalones set in one world!
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman is my favorite not-epic-magic-war kind of fantasy writer. I don't know if he's the best in general but he's definitely the best at speaking to my soul. His fantasy is soft, sometimes the 'magic' he writes easily could be just some odd phenomenon from our reality. I find that beautiful. Also he is the greatest at writing lovely odd people. American Gods is a standalone, it has one point of view character, there's very little action (also action is not there for the sake of action). I'm not that well-read so my judgement maybe isn't the most accurate but I think the worldbuilding is quite unique, it definitely was when he wrote it. Central queer story line is the only thing that's missing. There's a minor side story line only. Anyways, I think it's a pretty good option, until you write your own one. (:
I used to read only fantasy, and tried only writing fantasy, and it ended up shittily. Then i started reading classics, fell in love with them, which kind of has become my favourite genre. SO now I write historical fantasy. witches and wizards in Victorian England? Right here.
When I first started writing (at 15) I wrote a lot of mystery/crime dramas. At the time that's what I was watching and reading a lot and so that's what I thought I HAD to write. Needless to say that didn't work out. I still love that genre but it's not where my heart lies and that's okay. As writers, we shouldn't have to write what doesn't interest us or bow to others will. Write what you want as long as you're happy. That's all that matters.
I don't have a recommendation of published books but I'm writing a found family urban fantasy about magical cteatures banding together. I also know a friend who's working on a mythical soft story about grief, parenting and love. Her prose is beautiful😊
It absolutely doesn’t meet the length/pov criteria but “Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon and its recently released standalone prequel hits a lot of your other fantasy interests I think. There is some action but for sure not the focus. Very much slowburn sapphic
I happen to listen to your brother's videos quite a bit, I love his reviews, of all the fantasy booktubers I have listened to, he's the one I resonate most with. Two of his all time favorite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay and Robin Hobbs, strike me as examples who come closest (of the ones I have read) to combine the best of both worlds, Literary Fiction and Fantasy. If I could change one little thing about Guy Gavriel Kay's writing, it would be that I sometimes wish he had a little bit more of a penchant for characters with "human abysses", so: a little more Shaelin?
@@ShaelinWrites So you know Kennit? What did you think of him, and his relationships with Etta and Wintrow? I was really impressed with what she did with this character. How she took this completely psychopathic character, and sent him on this hilarious "force that wills evil and accidentally ends up creating good..." journey (well, with sufficient amounts of evil into the bargain to keep things interesting). But mostly how she handled him narratively, to make him work for us. Make his relationships with Etta and Wintrow plausible to us. The way she made use of the freedom Fantasy provides, not by introducing characters with magical abilities, like the majority of fantasy books (to the extent where it has almost become part of the definition of Fantasy, with Kay and Hobbs as the looming exceptions), but, in Kennit's case, by using it as a narrative device by introducing the carved head as the only one who knows Kennit's true (psychpathic) nature, and calls him out on this, while also being forced into a kind of servitude towards him. (Not as the first person to do something like this, but to great effect.) Plus ultimately, and this time without relying on magic, by revealing Kennit's back story, and his history with the rogue ship, to deliver the ultimate reveal and emotional punch. For me, a one of kind and hard to forget way of narratively handling a psychopathic character.
I get so pissed when younger published authors nowadays assume that you are snobby or even readers of those authors think you’re elitist just for saying “I wrote some thing when i was in my teens and it was shit and can’t imagine having to pressure to continue writing it.” And think you’re applying a level of ageism to young writers but it’s true that many young writers stumble and write things they won’t be proud of as much when they’re older. It’s about being proud of yourself and enjoying what you’re doing as well as trying your best to honor the craft of writing. Some people do well when younger but most people don’t and that’s OKAY *cries* i loved you fantasy ideas but i also loved your lit fic writing and i think it’s because i loved your thrill for what you were writing
Ok a bit out of the ballpark, but a detective story that FEELS like fantasy is The Likeness by Tana French. Idk how to escrow it, but you get sucked in. It’s not psychological thriller, it’s not focused on violence, it’s really focused on the main character getting absolutely sucked into the victim’s world. The premise: a young, female detective is investigating the fresh murder of a girl/young woman who looks exactly like her. Instead of reporting the woman dead, she goes undercover as the victim, pretending to have survived and lost her memory of the attack.
I’ve noticed that the few novels I had planned and wanted to write as a teenager, I couldn’t until I was older and grown up. I needed to live life and experience first before I could translate anything. I’ve found now I hit my 30s, I’m returning to some old stories and seeing them a more mature light 🥰
as a fellow lit fic lover, I totally relate to the whole 'oh you think you're so much better than us because you write liTeRarY' 🙄
literally why is it so hard to believe we just...like it lmaoo
I love fantasy/speculative fiction because it's such a great tool for prose. Instead of needing to extraneously dig for pleasing nouns you can make them up and it's liberating af
I haven’t read it yet, but I feel like Legends and Lattes has the vibes you’re looking for. It’s cozy fantasy with low stakes. I’m trying to think of others, but it’s hard with the criteria you describe. I also read a lot of YA fantasy (and Adult as well) and I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for.
I really appreciate this conversation, especially when you acknowledged ableism and antisemitism in your writing (how you recognized it). As a disabled, queer Jewish person (with other identities as well), I do love teaching others about how to write disabled characters and recognize ableism/ableist language, but it’s always nice when people tell me that they’ve changed how they think about disability and ableism. My PhD is literally in Disability Studies, so 😂😭
Best of luck with your fantasy projects! That’s so exciting! I’m happy for you! I guess several of my recent flash fic publications would be considered lit fic, but I mostly write YA and Adult fantasy or something more genre based (just wrote a horror pilot that I’d love to adapt as a novel). I think you should write whatever makes you happy! The great thing about shorter projects (short stories, novellas) is that you can explore the genre without the huge commitment of a novel-length work. Enjoy!
That video about all the things wrong with your old fantasy novel sounds incredibly interesting/educational, but I do understand that it would be very vulnerable! I do find the concept of ideas for fiction being bad in some fundamental way very interesting. Especially as a teenager I had a lot of ideas for stories that, looking back, were so fundamentally flawed that they never would've worked. It's kinda good to hear I wasn't the only one :)
I think it's a right of passage to write something fundamentally terrible honestly
@@ShaelinWrites I think I might be writing mine right now. :P It's all good; everyone has to be allowed to screw up the scales for a while before they can hope to play Chopin.
Your reedsy video on literary fiction was the moment that finally gave me the freedom to admit what I really want to write.
I also wrote mostly fantasy when I was younger, and even now my ideas are heavily cross pollinated with spec fic elements. So for years I just told people I was writing science fiction… even though I made use of almost NO sci fi genre conventions and a TON of literary genre conventions.
Thank you for telling me (you’re literally the only one who ever did) that I don’t have to attain some elitist echelon before I get to call my work what it actually is: literary fiction ❤
"Cozy Fantasy" has such a nice ring to it :), add +1 to the readers of this tiny niche...
"Legends and Lattes" by Travis Baldree was my first cozy fantasy read and it checks all those boxes. I adored it so much. Queer romance, no war & military, very focused setting and worldbuilding, standalone, I believe there's one POV. Maybe two? It's not at all grimdark, but kind of fluffy. It was just pleasant to read and didn't feel like I had to do homework on it. Cozy fantasy is such a niche genre, but very refreshing when you finally come across it.
I recently re-read The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle (1968 I believe). The setting is probably medieval Europe, but through the eyes of the unicorn it's beautiful and alien. I think Beagle was about 29 when it was published. Don't let that depress you. :)
This is so exciting, Shaelin! Your sapphic stand-alone short fantasy is what I want for the genre too! Everything you said about the type of fantasy that is out there right now is basically the reason I was turned off by fantasy too (which is also why I have no recommendations for you…) Also, your moral of the story reminded me of the reason I decided to start writing queer erotica/romance…. My motto is “Write the smut you want to see in the world.”
If I could “like” this a thousand times, I would. Thank you for this insight into your journey. I think most of us here are not only a fan of your content, but also a fan of you. You’ve come to great conclusions here, and your new fantasy book ideas sound interesting and I’d certainly look forward to reading them. As a reader and amateur writer myself, I’ve noticed that good stories involve the character first and the setting or milieu is the fun background you enjoy along with it. I love my own fantasy trilogy and enjoy writing it (it is basically medieval-ish, about war, and on an epic scale) but that’s because that’s what I enjoy. I am careful to also make it about the people struggling through it, not only the “heroes” and the villain(s), but also the people caught in the middle of it all. Thank you, again, for posting this and I look forward to seeing what happens, and if your muse takes you somewhere else, that’s fine too.
Watch Sahelin's perfect book be Legends & Lattes.
i NEED to read this
Saw this after I commented more or less the same thing 😅
I totally get it, I stopped reading fantasy for the same reason. It started to feel heavy and unenjoyable and repetitive, but I felt like I had to keep reading because “I like History, right?”.
I read Howl’s Moving Castle last year, and it surprised me how fresh it feels, having been written so long ago. The worldbuilding is so soft and light and loose, the structure and plot are very different from mainstream fantasy, but it feels inherently familiar because it evokes children fantasy works from a couple decades ago. There isn’t a chosen one, a big war, world-shaping consequences, there is just relationships and magic. And it was so fun to read, I didn’t want it to end!
As a fantasy writer who found your channel in the Dr*g*n T**r era I'm so glad to hear that you've come back to the genre and realized what parts you like about it and want to contribute towards!
It sounds like you might want to read some solarpunk too. That's the sci-fi version of basically everything you're asking for, and it's more well-defined as a genre than cosy fantasy. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a good example (part of novella duology though, so not totally standalone).
Ohhhhhhh solarpunk👀 I need to look into this
Your fantasy taste is PRECISELY what I want to read (and write) and what I am always searching for within the genre! The best I've been able to find are Dreamsnake by Vonda N Mcintyre, and both The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu by Ursula K le Guin (who has many novels, novellas, and short stories within the Earthsea world, almost all of which are peaceful, slow, small-scope, and beautiful). You're right, there seems to be a hole in the market
Upvote for Ursula K LeGuin
I've never commented on a video before but it's crazy how your journey mirrors a lot of mine. I've been watching a lot of your videos on healing your writing process because I'd built myself up as only an SFF writer but struggled with confidence and feeling like I wasn't good enough at worldbuilding etc. Then I began exploring other genres and realized I love literary fiction, but I still love fantasy/sci-fi and now I'm kinda realizing I can just write what I want. That's a lot about me but genuinely, your videos have been so helpful in a) seeing someone else who's gone through something similar b) knowing it's okay to take your time and find your confidence and figure stuff out. Thank you!!
I relate to so much of what you said here. When I was younger I had a lot of very ambitious ideas for fantasy books I wanted to write, then I fell in love with classics in college and my tastes changed. Now I’m back to writing and getting ideas for ~light~ fantasy books and short stories. All part of the journey to finding our style 😊
This video was very relatable.
I’ve always gravitated towards you the most out of all of "Authortube" because I moved between fantasy and literary fiction around the same time you did (so yeah, I cared, and I loved following your litfic journey!). I wrote epic fantasy as a teenager, then as an adult I fell in love with litfic too and wrote a smaller-scope, intimate fantasy with not as much action, basically trying to write a literary novel in a traditional fantasy setting. That novel actually got picked up by a small press but it just didn't connect with people, and now I’m writing litfic with fantasy elements.
As for genre snobbery, it was pretty alienating being a more "literary" fantasy writer. When I was publishing fantasy, my peers and some readers/reviewers were pretty vocal about how fantasy is overlooked by those literary snobs even though fantasy is so much deeper and more thought-provoking than their dull, pretentious, navel-gazing novels. I felt pretty isolated. It's in the local litfic community that I feel people are open to anything, as long as you do it well.
I appreciate the raw nature of this post. Thank you for making my day!
First, as I *ALWAYS* say: *ONE MUST WRITE, WHAT ONE FEELS RIGHT.*
There's absolutely no reason whatsoever, to write what "other people expecting". Just write what comes *NATURALLY* - and, well, always remember that, for *ALL* Writers - Yes, even *the* Best and Greatest ones!! - there are, sometimes, badly-written stories, too... it happens, and the Greatness is simply to know, which Stories to go ahead and publish (be it as they are or after a period of editing) - and which ones to simply forget about and move on. And - well, as we're all just human beings, sometimes it can happen, that even *the* Best Writers, might accidentally publish something which isn't that good. That's humans and that's Life.
Personally, Fantasy has *always* been my most favourite genre - of course, not the formulaic one (of people simply copying from Tolkien and the like...), but the *truly Original* stuff.
The Greatest ones are:
"The Coincidence Makers", by the AMAZING *YO`AV BLUM* (and, well, *everything* he wrote and will write - he is simply *the Best EVER!!* I LOVE his stuff).
"Garden of Salt" ("Humility Garden" + "Delta City" - here's some LGBT-touching Fantasy for you... 🙂), by the Divine *FELICITY SAVAGE.*
"Deep Secret" (as well as "The Merlin Conspiracy" - but read "Deep Secret" first!), by Diana Wynne Jones; it is, in fact, my number one most favourite reread of all time.
"The Never Ending Story", by Michael Ende.
"Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll.
"The Borrowers" Series, by Mary Norton.
The "Amber" Series, by Roger Zelazny.
"Master and Margarita", by Mikhail Bulgakov.
The "Thursday Next" Series, by Jasper Fforde.
"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", by C.S. Lewis.
And more and more and more and more... 🙂
As a life long fantasy fan, I love seeing your journey with fantasy!
Not queer, but "Roadsouls" by Betsey James checks several of the boxes you mentioned. Small scale, diverse characters, no war and deep-character focused storytelling. Also beautifully written. Mrs. James' prose is off the charts. It's my fantasy bible, lol.
The Name of the Wind was amazing as well.
Oh boy what you are describing is exactly why i have been in a years long reading slump. I've always side-eyed lotr and all its successors and been on the hunt for the cozy, small scope fantasy with interesting concepts and characters. Heres a current list of my favourites:
- The Newford Series by Charles de Lint. These are mostly urban fantasy but can have some other genre aspects on top. Best start with Dreams Underfoot, a short story collection and see if you like the tone. I think they are unfortunately out of print but can be found in used book shops or online.
- Radiance and Deathless by Catherynne M Valente. Radiance is a bit scifi related and Deathless is a sort of retelling of a russian myth. Language is gorgeous. And the Fairyland series of hers is also a favourite, but that is of course middle grade.
- Howls Moving Castle, Castle in the Air and The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. She's mostly known for children's lit but has very fun worlds and characters. If you don't mind children's lit give the Chrestomanci Series a go.
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Very viby, very good structure. I've got to give The Starless Sea another chance but i didn’t love that one as i love The Night Circus.
- I personally like The Invisible Library series Genevieve Cogman, although the characterisations can be a bit inconsistent and the plots get a little convoluted. It's a good time though.
- The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee is a weird book, and that's the only way i can describe it. I love it.
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. A dude discovers a hidden london. It's fun and has interesting characters, although some of Gaimans writing can have a very, how shall i put this, male gazy kind of vibe.
I think the fantasy books you seek are out there, but very few and far between and usually older. I blame the og lotr movies for that bc that seems all that has been published the last 20 years.
Also theory time: i think the reason why children's and middle grade fantasy books are more colourful and vibrant and less lotr esque is bc for a long time, even a little today, these were the only acceptable books for women authors to publish. Diana Wynne Jones talks a bit about that in her On the Magic of Writing book. Like children's fiction was looked down upon but at least you didnt waste your precious time trying to write actual literature as a woman instead of caring for your children and home. There's def a through line of misogyny that leads from women being confided to children's lit to the state of fantasy lit today.
As a long, long, longtime watcher, I don’t think you ever expressed snobbery. You seemed more like someone who was very familiar with a genre (fantasy) from their childhood who then spent a lot of time exploring something new and different (lit fic) and eventually went back to that genre with fresh eyes and new tools.
Personally, I think genre snobbery just makes both genres less interesting, and your experiences in both camps makes me all the more interested in the writing to come.
I love your guidelines for fantasy stories, I want to see more of that too! I’d also recommend the EarthSea series (including Tales of Earthsea) and the Goblin Emperor. Doesn’t tick all the boxes you mentioned but does most of them.
That sounds so cool and I'm so happy you're rekindling your enjoyment for that little spark in you!! Hope you have fun exploring those uncharted lands for as long as it's fun!
With every single video you put out you solve another one of my constant writing crises. Nice
@Shaelin The fantasy book you've been searching for is Gideon the Ninth. Check it out, and if you like it you'll love the sequel Harrow the Ninth, because it's very literary fiction style.
seconded!! doesn’t really hit the cozy/standalone/small-world parts but the level of evil and tender and feral lesbianism and pure Gender… can’t recommend it enough
If you're looking for cozy, whimsical, queer fantasy, I'd suggest The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern!
Yes, that's my suggestion as well!
I'm at a point in my life where I can feel that my taste is changing from mostly reading fantasy and classics, and writing fantasy, to reading and writing a lot of literary fiction. The change is making me feel unsettled, it's like my identity as a writer is changing. I try to tell myself that it doesn't have to be one or the other, and maybe in time I'll come back to mainly fantasy sagas. This video and your journey are really reassuring to me. I should explore what I feel pulled to explore, it doesn't matter what I've always thought and told people I'd write.
Shaelin asking for book recommendations at the end, "especially if you feel like it's one I will enjoy" was so funny to me because a lot of my favorite fantasy novels involve people getting murdered left and right and quite possibly making the world worse as a whole 😂
Whether or not I'm invested in a main character makes up about 90% of whether or not I like a book, and I find myself drawn to fantasy specifically because you can explore character traits/backstory that can't really exist in human beings. My current favorite series is the Market of Monsters trilogy (starting with Not Even Bones) partially because the main character is unhinged and partially because it has my favorite fantasy setting (a version of our world in which monsters are real and interact with human society in a way that demonstrates how monstrous humans can be).
The 'exploring character traits/backstories' you can't explore in our world is also what I find so appealing about fantasy!!
Perhaps try the Monk and Robot duology by Becky Chambers? Its sci-fi but I think fits your criteria. Not standalone, but they are novellas and can easily read them both in a setting or two. If you’re ever in the mood for epic fantasy in a non-western setting, I highly recommend the dandelion dynasty. It has military action, but I’m not a military fantasy person and the author writes it in a way that’s extremely engaging to read. Second book also introduces a sapphic relationship, though that isn’t a main focus of the plot.
P. Djèli Clark's works may be right up your alley: they are very queer, deeply rooted in Egypt or New Orleans, and make some wonderful departures from tropes. They are more on the adventure side, and mostly novellas.
Yessss it's on my TBR!
The House in the Cerulean Sea is queer (mlm), a relatively short standalone, not a medieval European setting and I'd say on the whimsical side. I think that checks most of your boxes. It was quite popular last year so you may have read it already. It's about a guy with a boring desk job in the world's magical orphanage organisation going to check that everything is in order in the more unique houses.
The rest only hit some of your requirements:
Ursula K. Le Guin's the Left Hand of Darkness is about a world where everyone's "ambisexual, with no fixed sex" (from wikepedia, basically they're asexual except for a few days per month) might fit you but it is technically sci-fi. It's old but I think it holds up. Her books of Earthsea are a series, though they're pretty self-contained and on the shorter side. You watch her grow as a writer as you go along. Not queer though.
Neil Gaiman writes along the mythical side and his books are usually very short standalones. I don't think he has very queer stories though. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the only one I've read of his so far. Good Omens is also very good and on my TBR.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is gay, but it is a medieval retelling (though not just medieval england) of St. George vs the dragon and it is quite long.
You might like Naomi Novik's work in Uprooted or Spinning Silver. They're very fairy-tale standalones like in a Slavic setting. Again not queer though. :(
Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky straddles the line between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (imo), and has a few queer main characters, modern setting but also long.
Guy Gavriel Kay writes Historical Fantasy with a Literary bent to them which might suit your fancy, not sure if he has any short and queer work though as I've only just started reading his stuff.
A recommendation that's not exactly cozy, and it is a series but each book is pretty short: The Flowers of Prophecy series by Natalia Hernandez, it's a sapphic fantasy story set in a world inspired by Latin America.
(I haven't gotten very far into the first book so I can't personally speak on its quality but I am confident in saying that I will almost certainly be biased in its favor as a Latina fantasy lover who is also tired of the oversaturation of medieval Europe inspired fantasy)
I relate to the "searching for the perfect fantasy book" conundrum, so I don't think it's just us! I also grew up loving fantasy but don't read it nowadays bc adult fantasy doesn't interest me. The fact that "cozy fantasy" has become a term has me hoping for a shift in the fantasy landscape in the future
Good news about the fantasy novel!
Fantasy arouses strong emotions. Already there are one hundred and nine comments on this post !
Andrew Lang (1844 -1912) wrote The Red Fairy Book and The Blue Fairy Book and was one of the most famous authors of his day, a classical
scholar from the Scottish Borders who published works on every subject under the sun.
Now he is almost forgotten - *Andrew Lang: The Life and Times of a Prolific Talent* by Stuart Kelly. The Scotsman online.
George MacDonald (1824-1905) was much admired by C.S. Lewis and is still widely read.
MacDonald wrote *Lilith: A Romance* (Lilith was Adam's first wife according to extrabiblical sources) as well as *Phantasies: A Faerie Romance*,
*The Princess and the Goblin* and *At the Back of the North Wind*.
I've been watching you since before you left for college and I wish for you would be kinder to yourself. Doing anything complex early on will produce immature work. But thankful for The Dragon's Tear and hear the love from your community. Every stepping stone along a changing path to true love and joy in creativity. Humility is a virtue, but not appreciating early works because it is flawed is just beating yourself up. I want to buy your fantasy book, sounds like what I would like to read. 😉👍💖
i wrote a whole final essay in my MFA on how the terrible fantasy series i wrote as a teen MADE me a writer, and still means so much to me! it’s such a special genre. i also write litfic now, but dream of an multigenre career where i dabble in literary fiction, YA fantasy, and romance :)
it's more of a vaguely urban fantasy, but i would say that house in the cerulean sea is 1) Whimsical 2) Standalone 3) Gay and 4) Cozy ! I definitely LIKED it, I prefer other world fantasy with a little more spice and drama but it does check a lot of your boxes!
OH and Nettle and Bone you might like. It has some dark themes but it's very whimsical and has a cozy vibe to me. And, while it's not explicit in the text, there are two old lady characters who in my head absolutely are in lesbians with each other
Your plan for all the short fantasy books reminds me of what Seanan McGuire is doing (was doing?) with her Wayward Children series. I've only read Every Heart a Doorway and didn't care for it, so I didn't continue, but people seem to really like her series. All the books are stand alones but also connected (I think).
Cosy [check]
Compact [check]
Whimsical [check]
Low action [check]
Good world building [check]
The novela: The emperor's soul
My two current favorite fantasy books are The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (sapphic main characters, Indian/South Asian inspired world, heartbreaking in the best way) and Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat (gay, fun twist on classic fantasy, will rip out your heart).
it was genuinely SO encouraging to hear you describe your perfect fantasy book because 1) those are the exact things i look for in fantasy and i've had the exact same problem scratching the itch and 2) my current project focuses on capturing those exact qualities. Cozy fantasy is the perfect term. thank you for making me feel so seen as a reader and for solidifying my confidence that there absolutely IS an audience for the weird, niche flavor of my own book. Always delighted by your stuff 💪❤️
EDIT: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones also ticks a lot of these boxes for me (not all of them, but it's a start). I've heard great things about House on the Cerulean Sea, too, but I haven't started it yet.
i definitely need this video, as an aspiring fantasy writer 😅 (that also kinda has a love/hate relationship with the genre lol)
I recently discovered Cozy Fantasy after looking for it literally my entire life. 😂 I've always wanted something with the vibe of low-stakes romances but with fantasy. Even Fantasy Romances seemed to be either too high-stakes or too High Fantasy for my liking. I wanted something more casual, like "magic exists, but it's normalized and can only do minor, specific things." Ghibli vibes. For anyone else looking for something like that, the Cozyfantasy subreddit is very good for recommendations!
My only problem is there's still not much out with Black leads, so I'm hoping to write some myself! 💛
You are describing EXACTLY what I have been looking for -- low stakes romance in a fantasy world but not Fantasy Romance™ with a Ghilbli-vibe. What I've learned from the comments of this video is that everyone seems to want this type of fantasy but there's so little out there haha which makes it hard to find specific titles that appeal to you, so I guess we've all collectively decided to write it and make it a thing
OH MY GOD. You have literally DESCRIBED ME. Cosy Fantasy is SUCH a perfect way to put it!!! This is EXACTLY the kind of fantasy book I have wanted to read and write and why I've also gone off the genre and stopped reading- though for me, I've left fiction altogether as a result and been mostly reading non-fiction for years. I've been trying to get back into it but it's so hard. I work as a teacher now so I really love children's picture books and I'm trying to dip my toe into short stories and graphic novels. I can't believe how exactly you've encapsulated what I've struggled with in terms of writing fantasy. I find it so hard when I get stuck for ideas with things because it's hard to find other examples of what I want to write! And I also get the whole feeling of 'why am I so awkward?? Why don't I just like the normal fantasy stuff like everyone else?' It's so validating to hear someone else wants something different, and that the genre did change from how it used to be. It's made me feel like such a fraud because I grew up reading fantasy, I love fantasy stories and the creativity fantasy affords you in general.
I still really enjoy middle grade fantasy a lot and especially Momo, The Neverending Story and The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende and the books by Brazilian author Lygia Bojunga Nunes. A more modern series I like is Nevermoor.
I love Michael Ende! If you can read his works in German, I highly recommend! It really adds another dimension :)
This is such a nice arc for you! Also encouraging, you're correct if you do not find something you like just write it! Can't wait to read your fantasy book. Also was that alternative universe ShaelinWrites @ 18:29 🤭 ?
Saw Fantasy and immediately clicked
I was here for the DT era/downfall and that was the thing that gave me the courage to le go of my own shitty fantasy I had been writing for years! Can't thank you enough ❤
oohhh i loved this dragon tear backstory! thank you for your honesty and your help
Your perfect fantasy books sound like my perfect fantasy books too tbh
I would guess all creative people have not just one, but a ton of creative projects they've abandoned somewhere down the line. I sometimes feel bad and cringe at the thought of how much time and money I've wasted on some of mine and for that reasons I have developed a certain mental exercise. I recall various creators, usually more successful, or at least more visible than me - a lot of them youtubers because of how public they are - and recall various projects that they have abandoned. It may sound ugly, but thinking that "hey, even that super popular youtuber who is so knowledgeable and organized, and to whom I've looked up to, also gave up one of their big projects, so it's not a big deal, happens to all of us" makes me feel better and I stop being bothered by those regrets.
(and yes, I've sometimes thought that about you and your fantasy novel, so in a sense your novel has brought me peace of mind)
I relate SO HARD to this exact intersection! Wow! Following along but some stories you may enjoy jump to mind:
“Good Girls” by Isabel Yap - first story in her collection Never Have I Ever. Perhaps darker than cozy would imply, but the yearning and monstrosity and even sweetness here really resonates with me, and I think you might dig
The collection Maria, Maria by Marytza K Rubio is not queer but plays in a literary space I think you’d dig. Another opener short story rec: “Brujería for Beginners”
Have you read Light from Uncommon Stars?? Really wonderful genre mashup and has Elder Gays falling in love and ahhh
Also, the work that reaaaaally convinced me of the magic of slice of life fantastical queerness was the graphic short collection Girl Town by Casey Novak (has a former first name this was published under). Oh my god I would love to hear your thoughts on “Radishes” and “Diana’s Electric Tongue” and really all of it. Definitely cozy and whimsical. Oh man I should have started with this lol.
Will be following along for more recs! Sincerely, fellow queer lover of fantastical queer tales of focused emotive cozinesses ~
This is exactly how I feel when people ask me if I like anime.. Like, yes? But.. Anime is not a genre. Anime is a form of storytelling, and I am just a fan of good storytelling. Unfortunately, however, it is SOOO easy for comics industries to get oversaturated with recycled tropes that absolutely kill my love for certain forms of art. The same applies to fantasy. We can do so much more with certain genres, yet we choose to reinvent the wheel or succumb to certain ideas that are just.. bland.
Shaelin, you're the best! I love your videos... They help me so so so so so much. Keep being you .. I don't think there's a greater gift you could possibly give us.
You might dip a toe into Dave Duncan's gilded chain. It's not queer, and it is medieval Europe culturally, but small scope, standalone low fantasy. But it might not be for you... It's my brother's favorite book.
Thought process going thru this:
1) thank you for this video. On more levels than one, it is extremely important for me.
2) a wild (rare!) F word appeared! Lol. I respect the candidness of it. Thank you for being real, and incredible, always.
3) “bitch then just write it” is THE FUCKIN WAY
4) ARE YOU ABOUT TO DO WHAT I THINK
5) you are! You’re about to pull a Rachel!
6) this is the best thing I’ve EVER HEARD
I haven’t read it for a while now, but Séraphins has always stuck out to me. I think you’d like it
We shouldn't forget that plenty of works of genre "rise" to become embraced as literary:
- The Lord of the Rings
- Watership Down
- the Earthsea Trilogy
- The Handmaid's Tale
- The Road (and really most of McCarthy's works)
- etc etc.
Amen. It's not wrong for your tastes to change ... and even on an objective level, the greatest novels of the 20th century will need to be re-assessed in this one.
Oooh!!! What about Cemetery Boys? (It's YA though in case that's not your thing)
Queer romance! (And written by a trans man!)
Contemporary Fantasy based on Latino culture/traditions!
Kind of a cozy read where character development through communication drives the plot forward.
I'm bad at describing but it's a very cute story and I really liked the characters and enjoyed the world
I'd be interested to watch the dragon tear video mostly because I remember that two part all about my novel and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it now. If people are rude they will be rude, probably on any video idea
While I don't have any specific recommendations because I'm (unfortunately) not a big reader these days, I do know that East Asia has had a lot more of a market for cozy fantasy stories -- especially with their light novel industry. For example, "Campfire Cooking in Another World" or "Ascendance of a Bookworm" about a girl who runs a business or "Somali and the Forest Spirit" are all pretty standard entries into Japan's cozy fantasy canon, and I understand Chinese books have their own subcategory dedicated entirely to this pastoral fantasy wanderings with low stakes. Some authors definitely have some questionable views on queerness though, so it's definitely a space to be cautious. But, it might be worth looking into light novels and danmei and other works in translations because there's just a much higher saturation of cozy fantasy in Asian media!
Ohh I have to check out all of these, I LOVE translated literature but I haven't read much translated fantasy
I actually have a work in progress that I think is a cozy fantasy that does fit everything you were looking for. It is a total hybrid of cultures and features a gender-fluid protagonist fairy (named Tipsy). The main influences for the culture are greek oracles and witches across history. The antagonist is based loosely on Aristotle (hubris, but bright). The three main oracles are sapphic. There's a cozy magic system, a surprise world inside the world, and while there is some fear of impending war, there is no actual war. Nothing medieval, it is suspended in time. Midjourney helped me make a gorgeous 3D map of the world as well, which it comes more and more to life with all the imagery I have made with Midjourney. Good luck on your fantasy! I'm having so much fun with this, it's a joy to get lost in and I've had some 2000 word writing days it's taking off so much. I WANT THIS TO BE A NEW GENRE/SUB-GENRE. It is so fun, comforting, and fresh! LET'S BE THE CHANGE. :) I'm with you!!! Can't wait to hear where you go with this. I think this IS my favorite genre now, even though I will always love some gritty lit fic.
omg this sounds AMAZING
@@ShaelinWrites OMG, I doubted you'd ever see this, much less respond. Thank you so much, this made my DAY/WEEK! I'm having a blast writing it. :) I can't wait to see where yours takes you and I do think there's a huge untapped market for this right now. Good luck!
Larry Niven Not Long before the end - is a pretty good one
I read the Septimus heap books when I was younger but gosh they were so cool and interesting
I would be definitely interested in your Dragon Tear problem breakdown video! But also don't feel obligated to post it if you don't want to lol. Also, I think you might enjoy Spinning Silver! It's not queer, unfortunately, but it's very fairy-tale esque in a way that means that it's not overwhelming and easy to just slip into. It's also based on Jewish culture which is something I don't see a lot in fantasy. Most of the main characters are women, and there's very little discussion of war or fighting.
I have the absolute PERFECT recommendation for you if what you are looking for is queer, whimsical, cozy fantasy. It's called The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang. I see a lot of recommendations for Legends and Lattes in the comments already, and this is much in the same vein as that. I've seen/read a couple reviews for it that say that if you like Legends of Lattes, you will also like The Bookshop and the Barbarian, because it is similar in a lot of respects, although it still has its own feel to it.
The author also has a really great fantasy series called Bartram's Maw that imo is well worth checking out, although I guess it hasn't quite taken off like The Bookshop and the Barbarian has. It also prominently features queer romances, though not very cozy or whimsical, so it might not be up your alley.
omg this sounds so perfect
Ten Thousand Doors of January. This felt like a literary book because it was so lyrical, but it is fantasy. Not queer, but not really about a romantic relationship much at all. It’s a strange awesome book. 5 stars for sure.
Fantasy rec: Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy. So, it's not exactly cozy; it's actually pretty dark. But, it's a single POV, basically takes place inside a single really unique magic school, and it's not a fantasyland war/politics kind of book. Imagine a high school that's like a prison, but there are no teachers and there are no guards. Just a monster-infested school stuck in a pocket dimension where you graduate by managing to survive for four years, and the only way to survive is to do well enough in your classes to learn how to survive. It's solidly on my top ten all-time fantasy series, and I don't even particularly like that subgenre, if that gives you an idea of its quality.
Can’t find it, then write it! 🤝🔥😂 yup
I read legends and lattes and that book is literal gold dust to me
I really recommend Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm books!
The first one has a more basic medieval-ish setting but she manages to expand that world with every book. They're a mix between a series and standalones because it's always a new story with a new main character even if some characters from the other books pop up again. Only one has a sapphic storyline but all of them have queer representation and I've always enjoyed the love stories (especially in Bitterblue and Seasparrow). There are political conflits, but it's not super complicated and they're still very character-driven books with a magic system that's simple to get into. Even with the larger conflicts going on, each of them is also its own standalone coming-of-age narrative, which I love.
Ohh I read those when I was younger, I loved them!
Regarding Dragon Tier...I know that feeling. I deleted every copy of mine I did. Out of shame.
I loved The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger? Main character is indigenous asexual solving a mystery in an alternate mythic universe in the us.
omg this sounds perfect
@@ShaelinWrites a very unique experience for a ace like me. I hope you enjoy it. The audiobook is pretty good. 💙
@@ShaelinWrites I also wanted to say thank you so much for your videos. I'm learning so much from you and thank you...
Ooh that's so exciting! After years & years of reading fantasy, I've definitely had enough of medieval European settings & am always looking for something different. Even medieval Asia (which I think would be the next most popular thing?) is so underrepresented & lacks real depth in many cases. Anyway, one of my recent favorites is none of the things you mentioned - except the magic system & storyline are so Weird, unlike anything I've ever seen in fantasy before. It's "Vita Nostra" by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko.
"Red sister" by Mark Lawrence puts the protagonist, Nona Grey - after a nicely shocking and gruesome beginning, what a great intro, and some rough backstory - into a "boarding school run by battle nuns" environment, that to me would qualify as cozy. (Just this first volume of the trilogy, with the two next volumes, the stakes get too high, and there is a war going on.)
I read it at the same time I read Emily Temple's "The Lightness" (which I picked up following a recommendation by you) - and had a little "all girls boarding school" summerly heatwave reading binge, with strong "cozy but human abysses" vibes.
Nona is into girls (only), two of her teachers "nuns" are in a relationship. The scope is ok small. There is martial arts training, and there are some 1 on 1 fights, but I didn't mind those, because they felt like a natural part of the curriculum, if you want to train your pupils to become assassins, you probably want to teach them some martial arts.
I think of all the Fantasy books I read, this might come closest to your specification.
Ohhh I haven't heard of this but I must check it out!!
have you read legends & lattes? it literally sounds EXACTLY like what you're looking for
If you want cozy Sapphic fantasy, A Pirate's Life for Tea is perfect for you! 2nd standalone set in one world cma be read without the first!
This sounds very close to what I'm working on rn?? I'd be humoungously curious to read that not-a-series bunch of books if you publish them
You might give reading Barkbelly by Cat Weatherill a try! It’s a very refreshing fantasy story that feels like an old school fairy tale, really unique world building and concepts. Definitely a cozy fantasy in my opinion!
My favourite fantasy book is Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. It's queer (gay romance arc), a quick read since the chapters are short and there is a lot of (very well written) dialogue, unique world building (set in today's world coupled with a magic system that's pure genius) and definitely more focused on the characters than any battles or the like. There are multiple POVs, which I normally don't like either, but in this book it works for me, maybe because the chapters are so short and not all POVs are equally important or represented.
(You have probably heard of it since it's a popular book, but I thought I'd throw it out there.)
I love a great story-a story that has some depth-no matter the genre. The challenge with fantasy is that the signal to noise ratio is a bit low in comparison to, for example, literary fiction. Additionally, to further narrow the field, there is an awful lot of fantasy that spends far more time in worldbuilding than I care for. And finally, a ton of fantasy that claims to be aimed at an adult audience, is actually YA. There's the occasional YA novel that I enjoy, but that's rare. I'm an adult. I want adult stories.
Also. Stand-alones > Series.
Have you ever thought about writing your exact same type of literary fiction but including fantasy elements? Real life but with some magic.
I've written quite a few short stories like this!
I feel like you need to read “Spear” by Nicola Griffith (sapphic, stand-alone, mythical) and “The Raven Tower” by Anne Leckie (unique magic system and setting, stand-alone, trans protagonist, interesting use of second person POV)
Omg I hadn’t heard of either of these but they both sound amazing
Spear, especially, felt like a special secret of a book when I picked it up and I wish I could have the experience of reading it for the first time again.
I have never related to anything more - I stopped reading fantasy in my teens and you just clarified why, its cause the popular tropes are not my jam! Theres one author I can return to every time - Diana Wynne Jones. In particular her Chrestomanci series. While it is called a series its more acurate to say its a series of standalones set in the same universe. Shes also the author of Howls Moving Castle, to give you an idea of the vibe. Not queer unfortunately, but still very fun and light hearted. Also its what im doing! A series of standalones set in one world!
American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman is my favorite not-epic-magic-war kind of fantasy writer. I don't know if he's the best in general but he's definitely the best at speaking to my soul. His fantasy is soft, sometimes the 'magic' he writes easily could be just some odd phenomenon from our reality. I find that beautiful. Also he is the greatest at writing lovely odd people.
American Gods is a standalone, it has one point of view character, there's very little action (also action is not there for the sake of action). I'm not that well-read so my judgement maybe isn't the most accurate but I think the worldbuilding is quite unique, it definitely was when he wrote it. Central queer story line is the only thing that's missing. There's a minor side story line only.
Anyways, I think it's a pretty good option, until you write your own one. (:
I used to read only fantasy, and tried only writing fantasy, and it ended up shittily. Then i started reading classics, fell in love with them, which kind of has become my favourite genre. SO now I write historical fantasy. witches and wizards in Victorian England? Right here.
When I first started writing (at 15) I wrote a lot of mystery/crime dramas. At the time that's what I was watching and reading a lot and so that's what I thought I HAD to write.
Needless to say that didn't work out. I still love that genre but it's not where my heart lies and that's okay.
As writers, we shouldn't have to write what doesn't interest us or bow to others will.
Write what you want as long as you're happy.
That's all that matters.
I don't have a recommendation of published books but I'm writing a found family urban fantasy about magical cteatures banding together. I also know a friend who's working on a mythical soft story about grief, parenting and love. Her prose is beautiful😊
It absolutely doesn’t meet the length/pov criteria but “Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon and its recently released standalone prequel hits a lot of your other fantasy interests I think. There is some action but for sure not the focus. Very much slowburn sapphic
I've been debating reading this one bc it looks fantastic but it's so long haha
@@ShaelinWrites It really is haha the author even refers to them as "doorstops" lol
I happen to listen to your brother's videos quite a bit, I love his reviews, of all the fantasy booktubers I have listened to, he's the one I resonate most with.
Two of his all time favorite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay and Robin Hobbs, strike me as examples who come closest (of the ones I have read) to combine the best of both worlds, Literary Fiction and Fantasy.
If I could change one little thing about Guy Gavriel Kay's writing, it would be that I sometimes wish he had a little bit more of a penchant for characters with "human abysses", so: a little more Shaelin?
Could you give the name of her brother's channel? I can't find it and I'd love to hear his reviews! Thanks! :)
his channel is just jake bishop! He got me into Robin Hobb and I thank him for it haha
@@ShaelinWrites So you know Kennit? What did you think of him, and his relationships with Etta and Wintrow?
I was really impressed with what she did with this character.
How she took this completely psychopathic character, and sent him on this hilarious "force that wills evil and accidentally ends up creating good..." journey (well, with sufficient amounts of evil into the bargain to keep things interesting).
But mostly how she handled him narratively, to make him work for us. Make his relationships with Etta and Wintrow plausible to us.
The way she made use of the freedom Fantasy provides, not by introducing characters with magical abilities, like the majority of fantasy books (to the extent where it has almost become part of the definition of Fantasy, with Kay and Hobbs as the looming exceptions), but, in Kennit's case, by using it as a narrative device by introducing the carved head as the only one who knows Kennit's true (psychpathic) nature, and calls him out on this, while also being forced into a kind of servitude towards him.
(Not as the first person to do something like this, but to great effect.)
Plus ultimately, and this time without relying on magic, by revealing Kennit's back story, and his history with the rogue ship, to deliver the ultimate reveal and emotional punch.
For me, a one of kind and hard to forget way of narratively handling a psychopathic character.
I get so pissed when younger published authors nowadays assume that you are snobby or even readers of those authors think you’re elitist just for saying “I wrote some thing when i was in my teens and it was shit and can’t imagine having to pressure to continue writing it.” And think you’re applying a level of ageism to young writers but it’s true that many young writers stumble and write things they won’t be proud of as much when they’re older. It’s about being proud of yourself and enjoying what you’re doing as well as trying your best to honor the craft of writing. Some people do well when younger but most people don’t and that’s OKAY *cries* i loved you fantasy ideas but i also loved your lit fic writing and i think it’s because i loved your thrill for what you were writing
I assume you've read Sarah Gailey? Magic for Liars is a favorite and the first thing to come to mind.
Ok a bit out of the ballpark, but a detective story that FEELS like fantasy is The Likeness by Tana French. Idk how to escrow it, but you get sucked in. It’s not psychological thriller, it’s not focused on violence, it’s really focused on the main character getting absolutely sucked into the victim’s world. The premise: a young, female detective is investigating the fresh murder of a girl/young woman who looks exactly like her. Instead of reporting the woman dead, she goes undercover as the victim, pretending to have survived and lost her memory of the attack.