Visioning Equality in Fantasy Fiction

Blue Petals by Tim McBurnie

In the wake of the issues re the cancellation of the RWA Awards - this will get you up to speed - I wanted to talk about the challenges of writing diversity, equality, inclusion and realism in Fantasy Fiction. It can be a double-edged blade.

Celebrating Diversity in Anime - Yatta Tachi

If I write a world where real-life marginalized people are 'normal', is it showing readers a better possibility for the future or is it whitewashing issues that shouldn't be ignored? There are books and academic papers that explore this in-depth, but for now, I'll just share the approach I take in Crown of Bones.

Yuri & Victor

In my new series, The Bone Throwers (Book #1 Crown of Bones out March 17th!), society sees gender, race and LGBTQ diversity as normal. No big thing.

But issues of marginalization of another kind occur. The theme is not ignored or sugarcoated.

Just revisioned.

Divyatattva Art

For example, in the world of Amassia (think Earth so far in the future that all the continents have returned to a single landmass) there are essentially two kinds of people: savant, those who can raise a phantom, and non-savant, those who can not.

The savants of this story world are privileged, though they are meant to serve the masses with their gifts. And yes, it is the masses, the majority of people on Amassia, who are non-savant.

Alan Lee | Merlin & Arthur

The story follows a girl named Ash, a lowly scribe who is, indeed, non-savant. How she deals with her degraded life becomes a powerful thread in the plotline.

Work-in-Progress Witch's Shop by Aiseph

In this way, The Bone Throwers explores prejudice of a kind not seen in our 'real' world but remains a metaphor of our everyday lives.

This is one of Fantasy Fiction's most vital roles, investigating contemporary issues from a new or alternative perspective.

Thoughts?

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If you're getting excited, you can pre-order Crown of Bones, hardcover or eBook, from any outlet near you, including multiple language translations. Just google it!

Hope you enjoy!

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Kim Falconer's New YA Fantasy Series is out March 17, 2020 - The Crown of Bones. (Writing under the pen name A.K. Wilder)

Also, check her urban fantasy  - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel and the SFF Quantum Enchantment Series. 

You can find Kim on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or pop over and throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.

Contact at kimfalconer.com or akwilder.com