The Spell of Female Fantasists: Pamela Freeman's The Castings

The common wisdom in books is that genres were created by publishers for marketing purposes, to decide what part of the bookstore a book should be placed following publication. I like the simplicity of the theory in that it helps aspiring writers to decide what genre to categorize their story into. As a reader, however, I love books that don't fall definitively into any genre. In "The Dos and Don'ts of Combining Genres" by Joanna Volpe (Writer's Digest Yearbook: Novel Writing 2013), it is recommended for writers to choose a dominant genre, but to feel free to experiment with one or two others. Today I had the realization that this is exactly what my favorite lady fantasy writers do, much to the strength of their stories. Although I love "straight" genre pieces, the stories of the lady fantasy writers have stuck with me longer for their genre blending and balancing.

The stories of these writers combine fantasy, young adult fiction, mystery, and romance. It sounds like an overseasoned dish. However, through skilled writing and good editing, the stories are an excellent and savory meal. The queen of these writers for me is Tamora Pierce. I'm a fan of the Alanna (The Song of the Lioness) series, where the high adventure and adult themes appealed to me as a kid, and the Circle universe books. In the Circle universe in particular, each novel is centered around solving a mystery, and the series follows the protagonists as they grow into adults. The trials and tribulations of the characters gives grounding the wonderful flavors of Pierce's Circle world, where magic, mystery, and friendship are the ingredients to a great young adult story. Even as an adult, the Circle world still lingers in my imagination and I have enjoyed the rereads.

The second female fantasist who "genre blends" like a master is Diana Wynne Jones. Most of my exposure to her is through young adult fantasy short stories, Howl's Moving Castle, and more distantly, Witch Week. Jones was, quite happily for me, all over the shelves of my public library as a kid. Unexpected Magic was the first time I had run into what I can only call an ode to the English countryside. Jones's stories were sweet but bizarre, and I was hooked after that. It's one of the few times I have found a story that was fantastical and yet set in the bucolic country. Howl's Moving Castle preceded Jones in popularity for the Miyazaki movie, and the original novel is a great testament to a mixture of steampunk before it was cool, fantasy, and a fun coming of age story. Jones remains a "brick" in the wall of my personal fantasy literature education, and one for transcending the boundaries of genre.

The third woman fantasy writer is a recent addition for me, another gem discovered Half Price Books. The book is a sizable compilation, The Castings by Pamela Freeman. I found it in the "adult" fantasy section of the store, but like Kristin Cashore's books, could easily be in young adult. My basis for that reasoning is the level of detail Freeman included in her writing. Most young adult books keep a clipped pace and spare the details, where in adult fiction and fantasy, some writers will spend many pages lovingly describing the scenery, a character's description, and especially inner monologue. Freeman strikes a balance and adds just the right amount of flavor to appeal to both teens and adults.

I'm currently in the middle of of Blood Ties, the first book, and I feel myself enthralled in another fantasy world that blends fairy tale, medieval history, and magic. The land of the Eleven Domains reminds me of the England described in medieval manuscripts, plagued by invaders much like the Vikings. I have translated a few Old English manuscripts, and appreciate the level of detail in Freeman's writing that adds a touch of fantasy to the "boring" details. (My threshold for "boring" medieval history is very high--at the moment, I'm also reading The Hound and the Hawk: The Art of Medieval Hunting, and knowing every kind of hunting hound available at the time.)

The Castings is truly a gem among stories. Freeman makes the best use of multiple POVs, deftly intersecting the story lines and trying to discern who is the main character. The genre blending is not as present as in Pierce's story, and the magic is a bit more mature than what I read in Jones. Freeman's genre mixing is less evident than in those two, but there is a strong undercurrent of the action story, mystery noir, and historical fiction. The story resonates easily beyond genre. The main characters are presented with challenging, realistic situations, and with the tweaked historical details, it's a wonderful and engrossing read. The enthusiasm it inspires reminds me every bit of the joy I got from reading Pierce and Jones.

George R.R. Martin once stated to the effect that writing "straight" genre stories undesirable and even boring, and that his background was in gobbling Westerns, mysteries, and other genres in the dime store of his youth. The works of Tamora Pierce, Diana Wynne Jones, and Pamela Freeman show that when genre blending is done well, the stories remain in the imagination for a long while.

On a personal note, I know I haven't written a post in a while. Let's chalk it up to personal upheaval. I'm also aware that my posts have been a little one-note recently--I promise to get back to geekery soon.