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Apr. 25th, 2019 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsIs there a specific name for the subgenre of fantasy that's focused on craft or artisanship? Like, it's second world and there's magic but the protagonist is mostly interested in leveling up their art/music/blacksmithing/beekeeping? I'm thinking things like much of Robin McKinley's oeuvre, The Golden Key, The Stars Dispose, the Pern trilogy that's focused on Menolly ...
Anyway, if you have a name for this let me know, and if you have other examples also let me know because it's a genre I really enjoy, as I have been reminded by reading Caroline Stevermer's When The King Comes Home, whichkate_nepveu was extremely correct to recommend to me an age and a day ago.
The protagonist: artist's apprentice Hail Rosamer, who has recently become obsessed with the work of Famous Historical Artist Maspero, who lived about two centuries prior and did a lot of work around the profile of Historically Good King Julian.
This means that when Hail stumbles over a distressed-looking hobo under a bridge with Good King Julian's exact profile, she knows exactly what to do.
HAIL: omg you're Good King Julian returned, just like in the stories! I recognized you from Maspero's art!
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: well, it's complicated, and there's an evil necromancer that -
HAIL: TELL ME ALL ABOUT MASPERO. 😍 WAS HE AMAZING. 😍 WHAT COLOR PALLETTES DID HE USE
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: ... you mean the Maspero who occasionally moonlighted as an artist?
HAIL: YES 😍
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: ..... I mean I can tell you he drank a lot and owed me money?
HAIL: OKAY BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS LINEWORK 😍
Obviously, the fact that a dead king has been brought back from the dead by an evil necromancer does in fact turn out to have sociopolitical implications in which Hail becomes inextricably involved ... mostly by trailing around on various efforts to stop the necromancer, attempting to engage anyone and everyone in conversation about Maspero and his artwork until they're all thoroughly sick of it. I love her? I love her. 3/4 of the way through the book she participates in some important art magic and also is forced to grudgingly admit that Maspero's color work may not have always been up to the highest standards.
I mean, don't get me wrong, the tone of the book is as much wistful melancholy as anything else -- the underlying themes are about death and the inevitability of loss and the myths we tell ourselves about the past -- but also, it is truly an enormous amount of fun to watch the entire plot unfold through the lens of a hyper-focused art student.
Other favorite scenes:
- the beautifully awkward moment when it turns out that the original Man With Good King Julian's Exact Profile is in fact not Good King Julian, but instead Good King Julian's personal Lancelot, because the evil necromancer assumed the romantic ring that Good King Julian's queen was buried with belonged to Good King Julian and it ... did not ....... and now everyone in the room knows some historical gossip that they all have to politely pretend they didn't register because a very stressed-out undead Lancelot is standing right there!
- the adorable moment when Good King Julian and his Lancelot are having a cute fake fight over symbolic flowers, and Hail attempts to Resolve Their Dispute by purchasing all the symbolic flowers and they get annoyed at her and poor Hail is just like "I don't get it?" ... basically this book is doing the best possible job it can to channel the best possible version of Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere, and the only complaint I have is that the Guinevere arm of the OT3 is very underrepresented on the page
- the moment when the witty guard captain who's been low-key radiating faint love interest energy in the background comes up to Hail the night before the Dramatic Final Battle and is like "so ... DO you think you could care about anything besides art?" and Hail is just like "nope!" AND THEN THAT'S IT ON ROMANCE, BYE. I mean I liked Love Interest Energy Guy perfectly well as a character but also I laughed so hard.
Anyway, if you have a name for this let me know, and if you have other examples also let me know because it's a genre I really enjoy, as I have been reminded by reading Caroline Stevermer's When The King Comes Home, which
kate_nepveu was extremely correct to recommend to me an age and a day ago. The protagonist: artist's apprentice Hail Rosamer, who has recently become obsessed with the work of Famous Historical Artist Maspero, who lived about two centuries prior and did a lot of work around the profile of Historically Good King Julian.
This means that when Hail stumbles over a distressed-looking hobo under a bridge with Good King Julian's exact profile, she knows exactly what to do.
HAIL: omg you're Good King Julian returned, just like in the stories! I recognized you from Maspero's art!
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: well, it's complicated, and there's an evil necromancer that -
HAIL: TELL ME ALL ABOUT MASPERO. 😍 WAS HE AMAZING. 😍 WHAT COLOR PALLETTES DID HE USE
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: ... you mean the Maspero who occasionally moonlighted as an artist?
HAIL: YES 😍
A MAN WITH GOOD KING JULIAN'S EXACT PROFILE: ..... I mean I can tell you he drank a lot and owed me money?
HAIL: OKAY BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS LINEWORK 😍
Obviously, the fact that a dead king has been brought back from the dead by an evil necromancer does in fact turn out to have sociopolitical implications in which Hail becomes inextricably involved ... mostly by trailing around on various efforts to stop the necromancer, attempting to engage anyone and everyone in conversation about Maspero and his artwork until they're all thoroughly sick of it. I love her? I love her. 3/4 of the way through the book she participates in some important art magic and also is forced to grudgingly admit that Maspero's color work may not have always been up to the highest standards.
I mean, don't get me wrong, the tone of the book is as much wistful melancholy as anything else -- the underlying themes are about death and the inevitability of loss and the myths we tell ourselves about the past -- but also, it is truly an enormous amount of fun to watch the entire plot unfold through the lens of a hyper-focused art student.
Other favorite scenes:
- the beautifully awkward moment when it turns out that the original Man With Good King Julian's Exact Profile is in fact not Good King Julian, but instead Good King Julian's personal Lancelot, because the evil necromancer assumed the romantic ring that Good King Julian's queen was buried with belonged to Good King Julian and it ... did not ....... and now everyone in the room knows some historical gossip that they all have to politely pretend they didn't register because a very stressed-out undead Lancelot is standing right there!
- the adorable moment when Good King Julian and his Lancelot are having a cute fake fight over symbolic flowers, and Hail attempts to Resolve Their Dispute by purchasing all the symbolic flowers and they get annoyed at her and poor Hail is just like "I don't get it?" ... basically this book is doing the best possible job it can to channel the best possible version of Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere, and the only complaint I have is that the Guinevere arm of the OT3 is very underrepresented on the page
- the moment when the witty guard captain who's been low-key radiating faint love interest energy in the background comes up to Hail the night before the Dramatic Final Battle and is like "so ... DO you think you could care about anything besides art?" and Hail is just like "nope!" AND THEN THAT'S IT ON ROMANCE, BYE. I mean I liked Love Interest Energy Guy perfectly well as a character but also I laughed so hard.
