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This year, I've been honing in on the importance of "bands of brothers" and Scooby Gangs in the Fantasy genre and storytelling, along with their natural subsets, the bromance and sister acts.
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| The archetypal "band of brothers" |
Today, though, my focus is when bands go bad and found "brother-or-sister-hoods" can't survive the pressures of time or subsequent events. (By way of shorthand, I'm refering to "brotherhood" and "bromances", as the most well-known terms, but I'm including all bonds of intense friendship and loyalty, including "sisters" and "sisterhoods", within their use.)
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| Quintessential "scooby-gangs" |
The whole notion, and magic, of the "band of brothers" is founded on diverse people in extreme or extraordinary circumstances, forging unbreakable bonds. We want to believe in that dream, but real life has habit of testing friendship, loyalty, and good faith -- and what can't be broken outright, may be eroded over time and by competing imperatives.
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| Then there's the bromance... |
Competing and corrosive forces can stem from political, cultural, or religious loyalties, which were not at the forefront when the brotherhood was formed, but which reassert themselves afterward. Obligations of family and community, especially where these must be protected from adverse circumstance, may also undermine bromances and brotherhood loyalties. In other cases, money and advancement may be enough to undermine bonds that once felt strong enough to endure forever.
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| ...and "sister acts" |
"Needless to say", perhaps (since in fantasy we're largely having fun with the heroic and the magical) bands and "bros" that go bad are comparatively few in fantasy storytelling -- but still there to be found!
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In an earlier post, I discussed the bromance between Rodrigo Belmonte and Ammar ibn Khairan in Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan. Their story is a classic example of how a brotherhood-in-arms that makes the heart beat faster, cannot withstand the pressures of subsequent political events, underpinned by national and religious loyalties that not only place them in opposing camps, but eventually, in direct conflict with each other. To uphold their brotherhood, Rodrigo and Ammar would have to abandon families, land and position, and go into exile -- a collective and cumulative cost that proves too high.
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Bromance and the band-of-brothers lies at the heart of David Gemmell's heroic fantasy. It's what Julia Cameron would term his "vein of gold" -- but in the Knights of Dark Renown he explores what happens when a band goes bad. The core of the story is that the loyalty and comradeship we laud in the band and bromance ideal can fuel evil when it overrides or trumps the values of good, e.g. justice, truth, compassion, and moral integrity.
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Similarly, in The Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang, the bonds Rin forms with her fellow students, particularly Kitay and Nezha, and with the band of disparate characters that later follows her, cannot withstand the forces of self-interest and personal ambition, class and political conflict, juxtaposed with the lust for power. In The Poppy War, every band that forms dies in infancy, if not stillborn, and the twin deathblows are always treachery and betrayal.
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Another take on bands and friendships that fall (far) short of the ideal, can be found in Joe Abercrombie's Half A King (The Shattered Sea #1.) Adverse circumstances see the protagonist, Yarvi, become one of a band of disparate (motley) refugees and escaped slaves fleeing across country in deep winter. Survival dictates they work together, and adversity forms bonds -- but the reader holds few illusions they will survive ambition, self-interest, and the gift of Yarvi (and others) for deception once the band rejoins civilization. And so indeed, by and large, it plays out...
Reality overcoming or eroding bonds of friendship, failed brotherhoods, and broken dreams: there is -- and has to be, imho -- a place in contemporary fantasy for the flipside of the "band of brothers" ideal.
But next month, I promise you, we shall return to happier themes. :-)
~*~
About the Author
Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.
Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.
Previous Posts:
February: Honing in on 2021—Celebrating the "Band of Brothers"March: Celebrating the "Band of Brothers" in Fantasy #2
April: Celebrating the "Scooby Gang" #3
May: Celebrating the "Band of Sisters"
June: From Band of Brothers To Bromance!
July: Sister Acts: from the "Band of Sisters" to True Sisterhood
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