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Christine's "Original Ideas" thread made me wonder. I have been, for a while, churning over a novel idea in my head for a Fantasy Thriller. Basically, it's a mystery/suspense novel (leaning more towards thriller/adventure than mystery), but has sword and sorcery elements in it.
Is there an existing market for this? Breaking into a new genre is a daunting task, thus I'd appreciate it if you could give me a couple examples of where an author has done something similar to this already.
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One caution that occurs to me: a mystery should play fair, and a lot of fantasy doesn't by that standard. If the characters know the laws of physics/magic, the reader should too, and quickly -- you can't just tweak the powers of magic according to the needs of the plot like most fantasy can.
Other than that, go for it!
P.S. it's been my experience that working cross-genre like that doubles the work -- you have to get both sides right, not half right, even though there are two of them.
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I am not so sure this is an unexplored genre. Many mysteries are set in a fantasy world. Some of the Disc World series are focused on the workings of the intrepid Vimes and his famous Watch. Dirk Gently stories were a cross between mystery and fantasy. I am surre I could come up with more if I had more coffee, but it is still early.
As far as bending the rules in a fantasy world, I believe that most readers will abandon a work if you 'tweak' the rules too much. Once you have established the rules that govern your world you need to stick to them and not bend them to suit your plot elements. Even if something 'thrilling' happens you had better be able to explain it.
I also do not believe that a fantasy work has to have elves, dragons and magic in it. There is a discussion going on right now that discusses the difference between Sci Fi and fantasy and some of the essential elements.
One of the seemingly up and coming 'new' genres is the Alternate History novels, which I think publishers consider as fantasy works. I have read a couple recently and really enjoy them. I think there is always room for a good story and you should not worry about what genre you fall into and just tell your story. Don't limit yourself. See where the story takes you. If you need to bend the rules, then change them...after all...it's your world.
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I'm sure I just read something recently, about how "courtroom intrigue" fantasy (think: political thrillers) are very much "in" at the moment. Sorry, no source.
I think the idea of the article was a reference to fantasy that changes emphasis from fighting ultimate evil to fighting human intrigues. I believe Martin's "Fire and Ice" was referred to in this group.
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