The literary genre of "The Legend of Sinardia"

(Si hablas español o prefieres leerlo en este idioma, el original en español lo puedes encontrar aquí).

I haven't had much time lately, but I do think it's necessary to talk about the genre and subgenres to which this story belongs. I've been putting it off, but I think it's time to write about this issue: and it's about time because A Thousand and One Stories has more than 500 entries. To be more precise, I've written 518 entries before this one, starting on April 13, 2024. Or, to put it another way, I've written more than one entry per day during this time. The first was the opening chapter of The Legend of Sinardia, Sliding Through the Basements...

To clarify, so that no one's blood pressure rises, as it's too hot and easily you can have problems if you get angry or anxious with that I have written (I know most of my readers won’t; I don’t know all of them, though), I'm leaving you with a video with definitions that can help us understand the concepts I'm going to cover (video is in Spanish but you can translate it automatically to English in Properties):

Well, if we consider these concepts, we would have to say that Sinardia is:

a) According to the worlds in which the stories take place → High Fantasy: It takes place in a completely imaginary world, which is so important that it ends up acting as another character. Sinardia is a Kingdom, then an Empire that exists in a specific world that we will get to know as the story progresses. But this world is not located on Planet Earth, nor has it ever been at any point in its history.

As for the magic practiced by the characters, we are dealing with soft magic, without inflexible rules. Different individuals will have greater magical capacity than others, but, exactly as when Usain Bolt runs, no rules apply to him to know the energy he spends in each race (but we can't estimate that if he uses 20 KJ, he has already reached the Moon but if he only uses 1.5 KJ, he has eaten a toast). In Sinardia, the same thing happens: if someone gets bald or have the hair curled, it doesn't mean he would have moved a and in some direction or other. Obviously, the best magician will be Malaban, although he will not be the only one, as we will see. Let's say that Magic means a modification of the energy that surrounds the magician, differing according to his capacity.

Nor will the Magicians be in conflict per se with the Monks, since magic in this world doesn't have a transcendental dimension: that is, channeling magic is an individual capacity. So, the same way intelligent people solve problems sooner that idiiot ones, if you are a capable magician, your spells are going to be more effective than people who actually can't use Magic. Therefore, the monks, who can also practice it, won't persecute anyone for using it, except for the issue of black magic (which will be developed in Synardia III and IV), which will not only challenge the monks but also the white magicians.

b) According to the tone and structure of the story → High Fantasy: It includes heroes, epic challenges, and values ​​such as courage, honor, and self-improvement. It also includes clear conflicts between good and evil, which doesn't exclude the possibility of surprises. By this I mean that there may be characters who surprise us throughout the story (“good guys” who were “bad” and vice versa).

Personally, I've loved heroes for as long as I can remember. In Spain, we have many and varied ones: from El Cid or María Pita, to Ximena Blázquez or the Marquis of Santa Cruz, and including also Manuela Malasaña, Jorge Juan, or Blas de Lezo. The time in which Sinardia is set, is very appropriate to the existence of that type of hero: those who risk their lives to save others in a context of imminent danger. In fact, anyone who knows history will detect there's a character in Sinardia II inspired by a Spanish hero... but ahhh, I'm not going to tell you which one. Let's see if anyone can guess. 😁

c) According to the thematic focus → Epic, heroic, or high fantasy: it develops epic conflicts or universal struggles, according to the characteristics I've mentioned.

As for others, it's not romance, because the romantic relationships between the protagonists aren't a central focus of the plot, as people will see as the story unfolds. It has nothing to do with the quality of the work in question (although some I've read have been weepy), but rather that I don't like romance novels/romance novels, even though the sales assistants at a certain Spanish mall always try to sell me that type of genre...

I do have to say that, within Sinardia, there are figures from Spanish mythology, adapted to the context, some more obscure than others:

a) “duendes”, named duenxies in the story, which are, with their own characteristics, special to Spanish folk tales, although with influences from neighbouring countries for centuries. We can include here (in Spanish): martinicos, trasgos, diaños, gnomos, hadas, elfos, encantadas, anjanas, ventorrillos, etc.. They appear in both Sinardia I (example - not translated to English -except in the manuscript- but the blog has a Google translator) and Sinardia II (example) with characteristics of several of them, although most are taken from domestic duendes such as trasgos and trastolillos, and others from the forests such as trentis.

b) the vampire Count Estruch: as a young man, he was a medieval knight of the Crown of Aragon who fought in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). But when he returned to his home in Catalonia, legend says that he ended up transforming into a vampire and inspires the character of Intelligence Chief Strugar, the first life-stealer we know, the most dangerous of all, but also incapable of standing against Malaban and completely enslaved by Klandorg. Literally, lifestealers are not vampires, but rather feed on the life essence of the beings they attack.

c) Lantarón, a figure from Northern Spain mythology (from Cantabria, to be more precise), inspires Lan-Ya-Tom, the king of the deep sea, who faces the evil Warken in Sinardia II and III (not yet written).

And more will be added in the following parts: Spain has a very important mythological wealth, dating back to time immemorial, and it's a shame that it's not known and could be lost. There will also be characters inspired by different stories, such as Bécquer's Legends, which I believe are a pinnacle of Spanish fantasy literature, to which I will dedicate some episodes of the podcast.

But everything in its right time... we'll get to know them, God willing. Now we have to finish the correction of the Spanish part and put the finishing touches on both versions so it can be published... and have both versions of Book II ready by September so they can be corrected.

Originally published in Wordpress.