 Fantasy: July 19, 2017 Issue [#8400] |
  Fantasy
This week: Methods of Travel in Fantasy Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
Looking at different methods of travel in fantasy from the ancient all the way to the future of flying cars and beyond. |
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Fantasy, and speculative fiction in general, is known for covering a wide range of eras from the historic to the futuristic. We create worlds as crazy as our imaginations can fathom and sometimes even beyond. Characters don't often stay in a single place for an entire story, so one thing we have to consider if how they will travel from one setting/place to the next. Since it's not realistic to always have the characters walking thousands or hundreds of miles, thankfully there are many options to pick from in travel.
Animal Assistance
This is going to be a common method of travel, in particular traditional fantasy as we often have characters riding animals or having animal-drawn carts/carriages/etc. Horses are the more common options but they aren't the only ones available. It can be any animal or creature that you have in the world capable of carrying the duty of transportation. The type of animal will vary depending on the world, setting and how they travel. This works for land, sky and even in the ocean. Many options here though some might be a little overused at times.
Air Travel
A few options exist in the sky too. Maybe some of the traditional stories don't have airplanes but other worlds that can be an option. Birds, dragons, airplanes, hindenburgs or steampunk airships can all be options for helping the characters get from one place to the next. Maybe the POV character can fly or they might need help. Maybe the ships are run by magic or some type of chemical used in the world. Whatever you can image to get them a distance by going across the sky.
By Boat
Across a wide span of water can be a difficult set of travel. There are ships and even submarines, depending on the world and situation. Time can be a little bit of a concern but there are also conflict options that come up when taking the sea route for travel. It can be necessary to get characters from one place to another involving water, maybe even to an island, so this is an option as well. Maybe much of the world is made of water and the characters are used to travel on rocky seas. Never know until you get the scenes written
Future?
Fantasy isn't the only place for travel. Sci-fi has been a prominent source for travel writing. Because of certain stories we think of particular modes of transportation like flying cars or DeLorean's that can travel through time. And those fiction travel stories can be seen in our own world too. I once helped a guy print out photos of a DeLorean that was for sale. Cars, trains, buses, weird tubes... the list goes on and on for the options of futuristic travel that are available.
With speculative fiction, we often find the familiar within the fantastical. Might be part of what we like about the stories and can showcase how the world around us influences our creations. While some are more common than others, there is room for growth and imagination. Maybe the elves have cars? What if the unicorn had to take a train? Or could that big boat fly across the sky between two worlds? If you write it, then sure. Let's see how you use travel in a fantasy or sci-fi store. 
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What methods of travel is dominant in your speculative fiction world?
Last time, I wrote about gender identity in speculative fiction.
Comment by Mumsy 
Thank you for this!! Gender is a HUGE part of my writing, and smashing stereotypes is what I love to do. The idea that gender is fluid - even in cisgender individuals, is something that is not explored nearly often enough. 
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