I’m a big lover of both the fantasy genre and the contemporary. I love stories of the mysterious and of the extraordinary, whether the author chooses to do this with real world scenarios or fantasy and science fiction elements.
There are many ways in which you could take a fantasy story and make it contemporary, or visa versa. You could take Star Wars and easily turn it into a story about a young musician leaving home to become a master. The Godfather could have just as easily been about a swordsman’s return from the war and his family of dark wizards.
At the same time, there are people in this world that are so talented they could be magical creatures for all the difference it makes.
I could never do in a thousand years what chess masters or world record runners do.
I could never bench press five hundred pounds or do a slam dunk.
I’ll never win an MMA fight, much less a competition.
Listed here are three selections of stories that blur the line between the speculative and the contemporary, showing us characters with wondrous abilities and talent beyond imagination so as to seem magical.
#1 The Queen’s Gambit
This is a story about the coming of age of a young woman within the professional chess world. From early childhood in a girl’s home, Beth Harmon showed remarkable, magical skill as a chess player, being taught by the school’s custodian. She would play multiple people at a time, winning each match.
Here’s how The Queen’s Gambit stacks up to to fantasy:
- She had mentors, and role models, and a nemesis. She had power and a lifelong journey toward victory.
- She had a talent that most people don’t understand.
- She came from humble beginnings.
- She battled a powerful foe that she didn’t completely understand.
- She conquered her own inner struggles and in the process defeated her enemies.
#2 Whiplash
This is another story of great talent, this time of college student Andrew as he pushes himself to be the best drummer in the world. He struggles to live up to the brutal expectations of the conductor and pushes away those he loves.
Here are some comparisons of Whiplash to the fantasy genre.
- He starts out with modest skill and a dream.
- He has an evil mentor that pushes him unreasonably hard and bullies him.
- He lives in a school that most people don’t understand, a place that teaches wondrous abilities.
- He single mindedly perfects his craft until he is a master
- He clashes with his former mentor in a epic struggle of power
- In the end not even the antagonist and former mentor can stand up to his awesome power.
#3 The Black List
This one is less a story of people with great talent and more about characters that are larger than life. Elizabeth Keen is a fresh FBI profiler just out of the academy when super criminal Raymond Reddington turns himself in and proclaims he will only work with her.
Here some similarities The Black List shares with fantasy tropes:
- A secret underworld
- Fantastical villains with interesting back stories
- Secret Histories
- Secret Organizations
- Characters with strange abilities and motivations
That caps the lists. There are a lot of ways in which the contemporary and speculative genres can intermix and learn from each other. In fact, sometimes all it takes is a small tweak to transform one into the other. As a writer, it is important to read from both, even if you have no plans to write them both.
