Fantasy books, stories, ＆c

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QUESTION What defines dark fantasy? (sffa.community)

submitted 1 year ago by Subtlysubtle@sffa.community to c/fantasy@lemmy.ml

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What defines dark fantasy?

Is it just elves that wear black or is there more to it? Maybe a mood or setting? Maybe it's an antihero thing? Im curious as to what it means and what some of the defining/seminal works of dark fantasy might be.

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[–] BadAdvice@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tough to define really. I think it's a combination of tone, setting, and outcome. Not much separates walt disney and the grimm fairytales. My go to dark fantasy is the Embers of Illeniel series, which is a prequel to the Mageborn series. Mageborn is a solid fantasy series with a focus on exploring the magic of the setting. Embers is far more brutal. It still has the magic exploration aspect, but it's dominated by a bleak situation for humanity and explores exceptionally dark ideas in respect to genocide, oppression, sexual assault, and the willingness to use power.

[–] CallumWells@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Even the main Mageborn series has parts that seem a bit dark fantasy to me.

Mageborn plot

For example the part where he becomes the soulsucking creature type, or Penny killing the priest and just thinking she'll do the most before she's dead. Oh, and suffocating the first bad guy...