Does KJ Parker count as a fantasy writer?

[Arry]

That's an interesting theory. Basso's luck would fit with the magical system that's described in the Fencer trilogy. Nice point!

That is what I kept expecting the magic to be, but then there was no confirmation of it, and so many others were saying there was not magic in the book, I thought maybe I was just looking too hard.

That said, it still comes back to my point above - I find it really interesting that whether or not this is a fantasy in our eyes is 'defined' by other books, and not the text itself.

heh .... I think ultimately, accepting a secondary world, any secondary world is a pretty standard definition of 'fantasy'. But that doesn't mean it's what I expect when I pick up a book marketed as such (for reasons mentioned above). But, yeah, the wormhole of defining one books genre based on other books contents is certainly cluster-fiesta of possibility. Makes so much sense, and yet no sense at all.

[pornokitsch]

I hate to guess at the author's intent, but I'm pretty sure there's no magic. At least, within The Folding Knife, there's no magic, nor system thereof. Basso's luck is just luck (or is it "fate"?).

That said, I think it could kind of click with the magical system that's in the Fencer trilogy. I kind of like that theory for its... I dunno... neatness, as it makes a nice RPG-style "rules" for things. But that would also undermine a lot of what Basso says about fate, luck, and belief towards the end, which I think is really important. And I don't like it because, again, that would be a fairly major part of the setting that has nothing to do with the content of this text, and I don't think we can judge what happens here by the rules of a setting (that may or not even be the same setting) introduced in other books.

(If Fencer and TFK are set in the same world - which is possible! - there'd presumably be a hearty time difference between them. Magic is an established, ancient, known 'thing' in Fencer, but goes completely unmentioned in TFK. So TFK would need to be much, much earlier or much, much later than Fencer. AAAH!)

[AJDalton]

So TFK would need to be much, much earlier or much, much later than Fencer. AAAH!)

Heh, heh. See, we shouldn't underestimate the genius and magic of KJP! It would be foolish.

[Victoria Hooper]

I would personally consider this fantasy, even without Basso's luck, simply because the story takes place in another world. But the points about Basso's luck are really interesting. I don't think it's magic, exactly, but it does sometimes seem a little too good to be true. I wonder if it's a comment on what luck as a character stat might look like in a character's story. You know how some games let you increase your luck just like you increase your strength and dex, etc?

It also reminds me of another book that isn't generally considered fantasy, but I actually think it kinda is. Holes, by Louis Sachar. The co-incidences are so astounding in that, and everything weaves together so neatly, that it has a very folklorish, magical feel for me.

Also I think some of the language used is very non-fantasy.

Just wanted to pick up on this point because it's something I really noticed too. Things like 'that'd cramp anybody's style' and 'sniffed round anything in a skirt'. I wondered if phrases like this were used to relate the world to us, to make the parallels with modern war and politics stand out more, and to give it a kind of universal feel - people in power have always and will always behave like this? What do you think?

[eclipse]

@Lanko might you be interested here?

[Lanko]

My answer is yes.

In Blue and Gold, there's a whole amount of alchemy with purely made up elements and effects.

In The Devil You Know you can't get more magical than making a pact with the devil, getting your own pet devil that can conjure whatever you wish and even stop you from dying no matter what.

In The Last Witness magic is also fundamental and powerful.

The Folding Knife doesn't have magic - his luck is pure chance, that kind of person who is in the right place at the right time with the right abilities, Napoleon, Caesar, etc wouldn't be who they were if they had tried earlier or later - but it does have its own made up world, made up battles made up cultures, made up consequences.

Maybe Basso's republic is very much inspired by Italian merchant republics and the Empire he fights with is an allusion to either the Byzantine Empire or the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, but since they are from the East, I'm thinking more of the first.
But then there are countries that appear to still be in the Antiquity, like the nomad horsemen he hires at some point and the country he tries to conquer in dark forests seem to resemble Gaul a little.

What if we removed dragons or ice walkers from Game of Thrones? Would it stop being Fantasy? Or if the Falconer never appeared at the Gentlemen Bastards?

So for me it's Fantasy because it's fiction without any ties to any kind of historical accuracy/reference, which would make it historical fiction.

[eclipse]

@Lady Ty , @Sgtwolf01 , @cupiscent

This might interest you.

[Sgtwolf01]

@Nighteyes

Now I have to say that I'm not familiar with K.J Parker or his works, but I should still be able to answer.
Now were asking if Parker counts as a fantasy writer or not, but before we answer that we have to ask this first. Are the books of K.J Parker set in our world, a.k.a Earth or not? If they are set on Earth proper then Parker's books would be either historical fiction, historical fantasy, alternative history or something of the sorts.

If not then Parker would be a fiction writer, because even if his stories don't include fantastical elements, thus making his story a fantasy. They'd still be fictional since they don't exist, even if they are based of things from our world. SO the question becomes, which camp does K.J Parker fall into?