I recently read an article asking the question what is the difference between a fairy story and a fantasy? My first thought was, is there a difference and my second was does it matter?
However having read the article it got me thinking about the Prudence trilogy. I have always thought of this as a fantasy story and marketed it as such, but have I got this all wrong? Am I barking up the wrong marketing tree?
According to the article - and they quote the great Tolkein in this no less - a fairy story must contain at least one fairy in its narrative. Aimed at children they are generally shorter stories with strong moral lessons to them. The conflicts within them are generally smaller and more personal to the main character of the story and his or her immediate surroundings. They are not your sweeping saga's associated with fantasy novels where the conflict usually endangers whole nations or worlds.
So, before we decide where to put Prudence let's look at some of the more traditional fairy stories and compare these to the fantasy formula. The most obvious fairy stories that spring to mind are Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These two have all your boxes nicely ticked; fairies, a strong moral core, and the story is short and localised. But, there are others that we tend to think of as fairy stories that don't fit so nicely into the definition. Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, all of these seem to be missing - if I remember rightly - one vital ingredient, not a single fairy in any of them! Lots of magic, wicked witches and strong morals, but no actual fairies. So, perhaps the word 'fairy' has just become a by-word for all the other requirements of a fairy story and fairies are not actually necessary?
Fantasy novels are a different kettle of fish. usually much longer and often stretched over at least two or three separate books. If we look at a typical and well loved children's fantasy like 'The Chronicles of Narnia' for example, we can perhaps see a little more easily the differences between the fantasy and the fairy. The title in itself gives away the fact that this is more than just a short story; this is a chronicle and you need to be prepared to be in it for the long haul! Even if we take each of the books in the series on their own they are all longer than your traditional fairy story. They have that epic saga feel of a fantasy story.
On the other hand the magic of the fairy story is still there; we have the iconic wicked witch and a strong moral too. So are the differences between the two really so clear cut?
This is where I struggle with Prudence. For those of you who haven't read the stories let me give you a little background.
Prudence is a fairy, but she is also the descendant of a union between one of King Arthur's grandsons and a fairy princess. She lives in a land we know as Avalon and at the time of her story this land is under threat from a dark wizard called Mareck. This wizard has allied himself with the king of the fairies to find the lost sword of King Arthur, Excalibur. It is his intention to use its power to break through the portal between the human and faery worlds and wage war upon a totally unsuspecting and unprepared human world. According to prophecy Prudence, as a descendant of King Arthur - the man for whom the sword was made - is the only one who can protect the sword from Mareck's evil plans. She allies herself with, among others, Arien, King of the Elves, a somewhat eccentric wizard called Emrys, a human man who is the 'Gatekeeper' - guardian of the portal between the two worlds and a cantankerous old dragon called Bob. Of course her strongest allies are her friends, Maggie, Sam, and the elf prince Rupert, who become just as entangled in her adventures.
So, fairy story or fantasy?
Well, we certainly have the fairy box ticked! As well as Prudence we have Maggie, Lady Alaia, the explorers Walter and Elspeth Flowerdew and the rebel leader, Gil, all of them fairies. Not to mention of course, the fairy king, Gideon and his son Tristan, so we have good fairies and bad.
But, the story is long; stretching over three books and this is where the fantasy element takes over I believe. Prudence's struggle is not localised. She is not simply battling a wicked stepmother and if she fails in her quest it will be two worlds that will suffer; not just hers, but that of the human world she knows little of, but is just as determined to protect.
So, yes I think I am still erring on the side of the fantasy rather than fairy story. I think it fills the formula of a fantasy much more, but I do have one more reason for steering away from the fairy story angle.
Often when I tell people I have written a book about a fairy called Prudence I am met with the response, "Oh I must look at that for my daughter/grandaughter/niece," etc and I then go on to discover that said child is 3 or 4 or 5 - not really the age that the Prudence trilogy is aimed at at all!
It does seem though that 'fairy stories' are usually associated with a younger age and the last thing I want with my marketing is to target the wrong age group.
In conclusion, at the beginning of this post I asked is there a difference between the fairy and fantasy story and if there is, does it matter? I think we can conclude that the answer to both of these questions is yes. Although they can seem similar in many ways there is definitely a defining difference between the two, one of the main ones being the type of audience the story will attract. And, therefore because of this it is important to get this right. For Prudence I believe I made the right choice in marketing her story as a fantasy - unless of course we want to come up with a whole new genre - fairy fantasy perhaps?!
What do you think?
Kim
