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 Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:20 pm
Katherine Kurtz uses a lot of Christian theology in her books about the Deryni. It's pretty neat stuff though her more recent books reflect the fact that she's been distracted with moving and so on. She used to live in Ireland now she lives in the US again.
It's standard Christian theology with a side-bar of anti-magic fanaticism; some of the deryni are good and decent, others are vile. The storyline is OK though I prefer a lot more active fantasy myself.
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:46 pm
I think that the reason religion in fantasy often is polytheistic is not only because the author has a great love for mythology but also because it is mythology. Mythology has this fantastical feel about it and is generally associated with magic, spiritual wonders, and the mysterious, which naturally appeals to any fantasy writer and reader. Of course, monotheistic religions and Buddhism may have a sense of wonder and mystery as well, yet the feel is somehow... different, when it comes to polytheism and paganism. Here the historical element probably comes into play.
Back to uses of religion of fantasy, it's often used as reason for conflict. It might be religious wars, quarrels between followers of individual gods or even pantheon, or the classic Good vs. Evil.
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:03 pm
I actually prefer polytheism in fiction because it is a good metric for personality, cultural oddities, and the ever-popular deus-ex-machina, which can move along an otherwise bogged plot.
I'm working on some fiction right now that has a pretty spiritual quality to it. I guess I've been reading too much theology lately, it colours everything I do. smile
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:49 pm
I agree with Jasta on that. Having many religions in a story is pretty good and makes for a more interesting story. 3nodding
However, I never focus on the religion part of a story. I suppose I should, huh?
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:21 pm
I've noticed, in some animes and such that they use london and the Vatacan (sp?) as their vocal point.
In....fantasy, I would say the greeks are the best way to describe it, they have a lot of gods/goddesses and they do worship that way.
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:28 pm
Typical Atheist religion bashing aside, I much prefer the polytheism to monotheism. It adds more potential characters, plot lines and possible branches of story or lore.
As for why most prefer this approach for incorporating theology into fantasy writing, I believe it can be a combination of things that have already been mentioned( fantasy authors enjoying mythology etc.)
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:35 am
Some animes Mandy? Some meaning the one, Trinity Blood.
And you mean "focal" point. Vocal is about the voice, whereas focal returns to a "focus".
Trinity Blood's setting is between vampires and the Vatican rather than London and the Vatican anyway. Even though I'm a Christian myself, I don't like the Roman Catholic ways, though its history is still intriguing.
However, the truth aside, any religion can be good for inspiration in writing fantasy.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 4:50 pm
drizzt-catstyle Typical Atheist religion bashing aside, I much prefer the polytheism to monotheism. It adds more potential characters, plot lines and possible branches of story or lore.
As for why most prefer this approach for incorporating theology into fantasy writing, I believe it can be a combination of things that have already been mentioned( fantasy authors enjoying mythology etc.) Much agreed! In most of my stories, I added many Gods and Goddesses to them cuz they can have so many different characteristics that can make certain plots more interesting. There are some stories however where some people have only one God, while other people in the same story have many. That can only be good, right? I wonder if Mandy has seen the anime called "Montecristo". It seems to me that it might have something to do with what she was talking about (Vatican/London) but I'm not sure as I have never seen it. mrgreen
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:33 am
She was referring to Trinity Blood though....
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 2:28 pm
Yeah, I know. That's why I was wondering if she had seen "Montecristo" yet. The two of them are not so similar but they do seem to have some things in common like religion and stuff like that. I haven't seen it myself but I have caught a thing or two about it. mrgreen
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:53 am
Shall we move along seeing as it's been a month?
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:25 am
Sure, let's move on to discussing how certain religions can work better in a specific setting.
For example, do you think a medieval setting could have a the Jewish religion as a religion for most of the people in it? Or does it always have to be Catholicism the one that reigns supreme?
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:57 pm
.........It's what you want it to be in a fantasy setting, isn't it? rolleyes
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:27 pm
I don't know. After all, I've always thought of Jewism as a modern kind of religion. Besides, I don't know much about it so that's why I asked, he-he. sweatdrop
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:00 am
Well first of all its called Judiasm, and second its one of the oldest monotheistic religions, it infact influenced Christianity. So I'm pretty sure it could be accepted in any setting really, as could most religions.
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