The Journey in Fantasy
by brandonsanderson on Jun.14, 2009, under Brandon Sanderson
I think it’s easy to understand why the concept of the journey is so intriguing in fantasy novels. There are few things which separate our modern world from previous eras more than that of distance and travel. To us, all things are close. The other side of the world is less than a single day’s plane trip away, and the other side of the country can be reached in a handful of hours. The oceans are no longer an ominous, month-long barrier to us, but instead a minor inconvenience. Telephones, the internet, and video conferencing have served to ’shrink’ the world even more.
But in an era without machines, electricity, and powered flight, travel is far more daunting. It is dangerous and filled with mystery. An arduous journey makes for a visceral reminder that the world the characters live in is a very different place. It also allows for a lot of that world to be shown off, as different exotic locations are revealed. Plot wise, the journey is an excellent device because–assuming the reader is told the destination–one can follow along with the characters and feel a sense of completion and excitement as the destination approaches. (This is one reason why maps in fantasy novels are so useful.)
In the early days of the genre, the journey/quest was such parts of the story that it was assumed that every good fantasy book would have one. The works of David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, and many more (going back to Grandpa Tolkien himself) relied on the journey as a major device for their stories. One commenter in a previous post mentioned that they thought it difficult, perhaps impossible, to imagine a fantasy story without a journey.
Well, I’ve actually written four of them without a journey (Mistborn Three had a small one at the start.) Oddly, when I first tried to write fantasy books, during my unpublished days, I found myself bored by the concept of yet another book that took place mostly in the wilderness or on a roadway visiting little towns along the way toward a destination. I wanted to write stories that took place AT the destination. That was what excited me. Some of my favorite books (like many of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books) involve no real ‘journey’ in the classical sense.
I think it’s very possible to have a fantasy novel without a journey or quest. However, I must acknowledge the power of that storytelling mechanism. The early Robert Jordan books were essentially journey/quest stories. I know we touched on this a little bit during my first post, but I wanted to do one more specifically focused on this concept. (And I apologize for the lack of a post yesterday; I was asked to do one post during the weekends, and intended to do them Saturdays to give the whole weekend for discussion, but release week signings for Warbreaker kept me away longer than I expected.)
Related posts:
- The Fantasy Series I’m in the middle of an experiment. My newest book, Warbreaker, is a stand-alone epic fantasy, much as my first book Elantris was. Obviously, I’m not the only one to release stand-alones in this genre. There’s a grand tradition of it, and some of my personal favorite books are stand-alones. ...
- Letting Magic be Magical Some who have followed my website probably know how the concept of using magic in fantasy novels intrigues me. It’s probably my favorite aspect of writing in this genre, and is what keeps me firmly fixed here. I’m not likely to wander to other types of books because I find...
- Steampunk/Gearpunk Talking about people taking chances with fantasy and pushing the genre in interesting places has me thinking about one of my favorite spec-fic subgenres: Steampunk. I’ve been fascinated by the Steampunk (and its younger cousin gearpunk/springpunk/whatever you want to call it) since my early days enjoying the anime movies my...
- Magic Systems (and an excerpt from Warbreaker) I like magic with wonder and mystery. I don’t necessarily want to know why or how it works, but I absolutely want to know what characters are capable of doing with it. Tell me early in a story, so I’m not surprised whenever a wizard pulls a new trick out...
- Guns and Words I can still remember the first fantasy novel I read that used gunpowder. It was one of the Robin McKinley books, the Blue Sword or The Hero and the Crown. I’ve mentioned before in one of these posts just how wrong that felt to me. And then, the fact that...
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Thinking about going on a trip? « Writer’s Block
June 16th, 2009 on 8:45 am[...] 2009 Filed under: writing | Tags: Brandon Sanderson, Journey, writing | I greatly enjoyed this blogpost by Brandon Sanderson about the function of a journey in fantasy [...]
June 14th, 2009 on 9:43 pm
I got tired of the journey after years of reading fantasy books. I really like the books that focus on what the characters can do.
June 15th, 2009 on 2:09 am
I think the journey story falls under the Milieu part of Card’s MICE quotient. (Milieu Idea Character Event.) It’s an easy way of showing off world building at any level–be it superficial or more in depth. And for many people, it acts as a substitute for plot. The travelogue has many appeals, but I find that character trumps place for me.
June 15th, 2009 on 2:13 am
One of the joys of fantasy books is discovering a strange new world. The journey plot device is probably the best way to show the reader that world while also advancing the plot at the same time. Tolkien said that he only created his world so that he’d have a place for his invented languages. His world itself was in many ways more important than the plot. Do we really care why Frodo goes to Lothlorien and Rivendale? The fact is that the setting is so strong that it becomes a character in itself.
I loved your Mistborn books, and I was glad that we got to see more of your world by the Hero of Ages. However, in the first two books there was a sense of claustrophobia being stuck in the one city. In some ways, that was appropriate to the books because the characters themselves were for the most part confined, so we should also feel it as readers. But the fantasy world enthusiast in me very much wanted to know what was outside those walls. Luckily you gave that to us in the third book, but what if you hadn’t? Would it have detracted from the first two? In some ways, yes I think it would have. Only the promise of seeing more made that claustrophobia tolerable.
And the characters battle against the limitations of geography can be one of the main conflicts. Many, if not most, fantasy novels take place in a medieval type time. One of the defining characteristics of that time was that people were born, raised, and died within a very limited area. The journey element gives the author yet another way to demonstrate how his/her characters are above, or freer, than the typical denizens of that world.
Also, many fantasy books are romantic in style. And I think the adventurer type character is an archetype which has been romanticized. In the vein of show don’t tell, it’s better to show a character as an adventurer by portraying some of their actual journeys than it is to simple mention in exposition that this character has had many travels and adventures.
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop now. Don’t worry about missing a blog post. I enjoyed meeting you at your signing yesterday. Much preferable to having a blog entry a day early.
June 15th, 2009 on 2:23 am
“Where you come from, is gone. Where you thought you were goin’ to, weren’t never there. And where you are ain’t no good unless you can get way from it.”
-Wise Blood by Flannery O’Conner
The journey isn’t only a fantasy trope. It’s in all of literature. The fictional journey is a reflection of your desire.
June 15th, 2009 on 2:42 am
Most fiction is a journey of some type.. I love traveling as well as contained fantasy, for me it is, am I there in the story, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells, seeing what is around me, flinching when about to get hit and hurting for that moment when one is hurt, crying at funerals and feeling bloodlust in battle, and releasing the magic when it is needed, when this happens it is good.. Reading is truly an escape from where I am right now, as one who lives in their own head much of the time it helps.. Smile…
PS and I love a good Map…. Cartographers are the one’s who rarely get top billing but as we should all know.. America, North South and Central is named after the man who made the maps..
June 15th, 2009 on 4:21 am
You mentioned there wasn’t a journey in the first mistborn books, but I would have to disagree. Vin definitely went on a physical journey as she came from the slums, up through the various ranks and places of society until she finally ended at the keep of the Lord Ruler himself. The fact that these homes and class types were in the same area doesn’t really matter, it is a classic journey nonetheless. And that is what is great about fantasy and sci fi, you can turn the classical archetypes on their head and create something new, yet instantly familiar.
Personally, I love the classic journey/quest, as long as it is for a purpose. I’ve read too many books where the entire series seems like it is just one quest from here to there with only taking a few steps to stop and smell the flowers. Ideally, I like the books, like the Wheel of Time, that have journey’s, but that go back and forth from familiar place to familiar place. It adds a sort of realism and makes the places themselves actual characters, because you can see them progress and change with the seasons.
June 15th, 2009 on 4:46 am
I think the journey is important in stories - particularly fantasy stories. As said above, the journey helps to show the world, which is an important element in the genre, however, more importantly, the quest gives teh characters a place to grow. It forces them to move, to experience new things and it is through thier reactions and experiences that we get to know them and see them grow and develop. Besides, all plots are essentially a quest, from point a to point where-ever. Whether the journey is through space (physically moving about the world) or through time (as events follow one another) a journey of sorts is going on.
That said, there are really good fantasy boks out there where the quest does take a sideline to other elements, but the classics are the stories of great adventures.
June 15th, 2009 on 9:53 am
I think epic fantasys need the journey if the reader is to believe the hero or heroine are involved in a battle to save the world. If the entire novel or series takes place in one city or village, the importance of the characters action is marginalized by the scope of their influence. I compare it to the story of a small town football hero. Soon forgotten because how really important is that?
June 15th, 2009 on 10:19 am
as others mentioned above, as long as the character has an internal journey …
as yes, I think it’s a bit tiresome (but amusing) if the author has a mental check list of “fantasy” journey spots: ie. “Rural backwards town, check. Shady outpost where they meet another key character, check. Mysterious magical forest, check.” and so on. Aahaa.
June 15th, 2009 on 7:32 pm
Personally, if the purpose of the journey is to show off the world, it just makes me bored. However, fantasy is not the only genre that uses the trick. Lots of historical fiction does the same. The author wants to show off all the research that he or she has done. So they take you on a journey of some kind. It can feel so much like a cheap trick that I get bored.
When the journey is used correctly, it has more purpose in the story or plot than just showing off. It can then be much more satisfying. For example, the journey might be an integral part of the character development. If the character doesn’t want to travel, but goes on the journey to help someone else, it helps define a character’s motivations and personality.