epic fantasy n.
SF Criticism
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1961
Michael Moorcock
In the Epic Fantasy group the author more or less asks you to accept the background and so on as important because his characters consider it important, then take the story from there, repecting the laws and logic which are to be taken for what they are, and taken seriously.
Putting a Tag on It in Amra May 18 -
1969
Lin Carter
It is my theory that the so-called epic fantasy, or imaginary world fiction, basically employs either one of two basic plot-themes, or a combination of the two.
Azlon in Young Magicians 262 -
1977 Dragon Dec. 29/2
The pre-screening hype stated that they had faithfully followed J.R.R. Tolkien’s [sic] epic fantasy and had consulted with a committee of so-called Tolkein ‘experts’ to insure that the finished product we had beamed into our homes would be authentic.
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1986
Gary K. Wolfe
bibliography
Epic fantasy, fantasy that shares characteristics common to the epic, such as elevated style, grandly heroic figures, vast settings, and supernatural intervention—all involved in a struggle in which some central cultural value or values are at stake. Publishers have come to use the term somewhat more loosely to describe almost any multivolume fantasy work.
Critical Terms for Science Fiction & Fantasy 31 -
1997
And although he experimented in poetry, as well as a variety of pulp formulas and series characters, Howard will always be remembered as the father of Conan, and, thereby, one of the founders of the sub-genre that would be called, variously, epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, and sword and sorcery.
Films in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Aug. 93/1 -
1998 Science Fiction Age Sept. 7 (advt.)
Follow the fascinating evolution of the bestselling epic fantasy series The Belgariad and The Malloreon—including their companion volumes Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress—in this behind-the-scenes companion to the making of a classic saga.
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2000
I've been wondering lately when it was that the epic fantasy novel came to be pretty much solely equated with war.
Books to Look For in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Sept. 31/1 -
2003
Edward Bryant
bibliography
Then there’s Clive Barker, bringing a dramatist’s flair first to the utterly visceral horror of Books of Blood, then to a spectrum of the dark fantastic ranging from young adult fiction to massive epic fantasy.
Confessions of an Attic Apostate in Locus Apr. 66/1
Research requirements
antedating 1961
Earliest cite
M. Moorcock in Amra
Research History
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1986 cite from Gary Wolfe's "Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy".Enoch Forrester submitted a 1977 cite from a review by Timothy Kask in The Dragon.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2003 cite from Edward Bryant in Locus.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2000 cite from Charles de Lint's review column in F&SF.
Mark English submitted a 1971 cite from Lin Carter's 1969 "The Young Magicians".
Irene Grumman submitted a 1998 cite from an ad in Science Fiction Age.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1961 cite from "Mike" Moorcock in Amra.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1997 cite from Kathi Maio's review column in F&SF.
Last modified 2021-01-05 18:22:35
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