Western Fantasy – Mismatch, or Perfect Match?

In January of this year, I began to write a new book, Bloodrush. I was stepping away from my dark, epic, medieval roots and seeking something new in what I believe to be a relatively unexplored sub-genre – Western Fantasy, also called Weird West. I’m not the first to do venture into such a realm, by any means – Stephen King’s Dark Tower is the most notable example, along with Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. Starting out, I wondered whether I was taking a step too far in regards to mixing up genres.

A friend of mine once told me, quite pointedly, that “there are no new stories any more, just new ways of telling them.” It’s a bold statement, I’ll agree, and as an author it rattled me a little. But the thing is, while there may not be any new stories, down at the bare heart of the plot, it’s what surrounds them and wraps them up that makes the difference, and keeps it exciting. That’s why we’re always on the hunt for the next clever thing, mixing things up, why authors can be so experimental and usually get away with it. And I would argue that there’s no better genre at doing this than fantasy.

Now we all love the classic fantasy tropes. The stable-boy discovering he’s the heir to the empire’s throne. The unassailable emperor, evil to the core. The grand, wise old wizard pulling the strings behind the scenes. But as fantasy has developed over the years, we’ve continuously invented new ways to tell these stories in our search to stay original, and in doing so we’ve blurred lines. Heroes have become morally grey. The stable-boys aren’t as noble as they thought they were, the old wizards aren’t so wise, and the evil emperors can actually win.

And this evolution isn’t just limited to the character or plot level, it extends to the style, world, and genre too. The stable boys now look after dinosaurs instead of dragons, such as in The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán, and magic is now an echo of old science, like in the quasi-dystopian future of Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire Trilogy.

We’re now blessed with dozens of sub and splinter genres. Experimentation has been rife in the search for new wrappings for the old tropes. This is why over the last few decades, categories have been slowly dividing and conquering. Sub-genres now abound in fantasy: Urban fantasy. Military fantasy. Historical fantasy. Science fantasy. Steampunk. Slipstream…the list goes on. But in this hunt for originality there’s always the possibility of going too far. Of smashing two alien genres together in the name of experimentation. There’s a thin line to be tread, and this is what got me pondering: is western fantasy a step too far? A mismatch, or a perfect match?

I certainly believed it at first, ploughing into the opening pages of Bloodrush. I did question what I was doing, but as I went on it soon became clear that westerns and your medieval fantasy are actually very closely linked. For a start, both genres have been highly stylised over the decades, and because of that their constituent elements have become powerful icons, very easily recognisable and defining. The good old train robbery for instance. The swinging doors of a saloon. Or the draughty, lofty castle. The suit of armour. The wizard’s staff. At first, they seem worlds apart, but funnily enough, they all seem to correlate with each other on some level, which I think makes them curiously interchangeable, and therefore a good match.

For instance, take the lone mercenary knight, brooding, dark, and skilled with a blade. The lone gunslinger is his cousin, quiet, dangerous, and a crack-shot with a six-shooter. Not so different after all, just a knight of another age. The fast draw is comparable with the classic duel. Rodeos a bit like bear baiting and jousting. Carriages meet wagons. On one side you have the war-hungry lord, on the other, the rich land baron. In comparison to mages, or wizards, you have shamans and witches.

Even the worlds are similar. Both are set in time-periods fraught with war, expansion, and political and religious fervour. In both medieval Europe and the Wild West, rules were few and hard to enforce. And yet both time-periods were also eras of discovery and technological advances, mixed in with tough lifestyles, either in the fields or the frontiers, whether you were a pauper or a brave trailblazer. There’s also plenty of mythology and folklore to muck around with and mix up. There’s even a parallel in the beverage department: The foaming tankard of mead, versus the fiery shot of whiskey or bourbon.

Every icon seems to have a comparable equal, and that is why I would argue that western fantasy is damn close to a perfect match. After finishing Bloodrush, I know how well they can suit each other, and I think this particular sub-genre is not a step too far at all. And not only do the two mix together nicely, there is plenty of opportunity for ingenuity too. For instance, maybe it’s just me, but I think there’s something rather interesting about having guns and magic in the same book.

I think we’re going to see a lot more of western fantasy, or weird west, in the next few years, and all sorts of other blends too, and that definitely sets my hands to rubbing together eagerly. So here’s to bending the rules, blurring the lines, and treading that clever line. That’s how you keep those old classics alive, and keep the bookshelves exciting. Thanks for reading.

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