Though a lot of fantasy stories take place in a fictional fantasy world, almost all of them borrow a lot from the real world. The setting needs to be somewhat relatable, so some elements take inspiration from history. Sometimes, instead of inventing a fictional reality, an author can craft a fictional era. Gaslamp Fantasy achieves this by combining Victorian-era society with Tolkien-era magic.
Fantasy is a big and broad genre. It crosses over with almost every other form of storytelling and hasvague borders between its subgenres. Gaslamp Fantasy exists as a next-door neighbor of steampunk, doing for sword and sorcery what they do for ray guns and robots.
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What is Gaslamp Fantasy?
Gaslamp Fantasy takes the historical revisionism of steampunk fiction and applies it to the realm of fantasy. The go-to setting is the late-19th century, either the Victorian or the Edwardian era. While steampunk evolved asa response to cyberpunk, Gaslamp Fantasy encompasses fantasy fiction that was contemporary in the aforementioned era. The subgenre can take place in a fairly grounded version of Victorian London with a hidden mystical element, an alternate time period that’s been changed by the influence of magic, or a wholly fictional world with some familiar elements. Since technology is key to the era, Gaslamp Fantasy is arguably a subgenre of the already unique subgenre of Science Fantasy. The key elements are the period-appropriate aesthetic and the use of classic fantasy traits like magic and heroism.
Gaslamp Fantasy is often seen as an update of Gothic fiction. Both Gothic romance and Gothic horror lend several character archetypes and storytelling concepts to the subgenre. Gothic literature is defined by its ability to elevate even older ghost stories into the tales of paranoia, vengeance, and torment that still informs horror today.From Gothic fiction, GaslampFantasy takes the unique blend of realistic and supernatural elements. It also often borrows a focus on social commentary through supernatural elements, which was often absent from more classical fantasy offerings. The genre is better defined by what it isn’t than by what it is, but its basic underpinning is a quaint period setting and a fantastical dash of magic.
What are some examples of Gaslamp Fantasy?
The subgenre’s name is actually shockingly recent. In 2005, Phil and Kaja Foglio began publishing their celebrated ongoing webcomicGirl Genius. The following year, Kaja found herself seeking a term to differentiate her work from the larger steampunk genre.Girl Geniusis inarguably packed with steam, but it’scompletely free from punk. Around the same time, another comic calledSteampunkwas getting traction, so with the combination of competition and mild inaccuracy, Kaja distanced herself from the subgenre. Studying an H. Rider Haggard book in which the author described the work of Jules Verne, Kaja came up with the term “Gaslamp Fantasy.” She was not aware at the time that she was coining the term. Gaslamp Fantasy was then retroactively applied to everything fromDishonoredtoDracula.
Since Gaslamp Fantasy was invented to differentiate work from steampunk, a lot of examples blur the line between the two.Arcane, for example, growsfrom a steampunk property into a Gaslamp Fantasy. Throughout the first season of this adaptation ofLeague of Legends, characters use technology, most of which is powered by steam, to discover magic. Most of Viktor and Jayce’s storyline focuses on the gradual escalation of the universe’s magic system. Massive airships float through the sky, clockwork creations make the world move, all the architecture looks perfectly preserved from 1889, and half of the characters dress like insufferable cosplayers. There are even a few punk elements, as the poor underclass struggles for freedom from the rich and powerful. Elements of high fantasy like alternate humanoid races, bizarre monsters, and magic drive the show into Gaslamp Fantasy.Magitek is the bridgethat can make them the same.
Hidetaka Miyazaki’s 2014 classicBloodborneis one of the best examples of Gaslamp Fantasy currently available. Yharnam is Victorian London with an additional Gothic coat of paint and a cool new name. Technology is never important inBloodborne. Medicine is a lost cause as a plague tears its way through the city and repopulates it with werewolves. Most people are either dead or forcefully trapped in their homes. Magic, on the other hand, is everywhere. An animated doll sits patiently, offering increases in magical power in exchange for the living souls of others. The story leads the player into cosmic horror, but it never really leaves the Gaslamp Fantasy subgenre.
Gaslamp Fantasy is too good a turn of phrase to let lie. It exists as a simple explanation for the interaction between two storytelling elements. A lot of fantasy stories take place now,or ages ago, or in the future, or in no time in particular. Gaslamp Fantasy gives the people of the 1890s the power of magic and imagines what could come of it. Read a spellbook by the light of a flickering lantern to experience this subgenre firsthand.
