Crossover Event: The Most EPIC Of Epic Fantasy
Fantasy fans have more choices on screen than they have in decades. This week the crew talks about their favorite epic fantasy franchises.
Upgrade your Sword and Sorcery to a level of truly epic fantasy. Because turns out they are very different. Today, we jump into our favorite tales of world-ended heroes’ journeys with a book-heavy episode. But don’t take our word for it. Join Chris, Martin, and Matt as they share their favorites!
My picks are a little less traditional than the guys this time around. Epic fantasy isn’t limited to European tradition with elves and trolls, and orcs. The genre is universal and comes from across the globe. Try something different.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Ok, it’s not a fantasy fiction book but it examines the foundation of the high/epic fantasy out stories there. The Hero’s Journey applies to ancient epics like Homer’s The Odyssey as well as things like Star Wars. Campbell was a professor of literature that focused on comparative mythology. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces he discusses the archetypical hero that is shared by mythologies across the globe, which he termed the monomyth. It’s a must for any fan of fantasy.
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakar
From India comes a complex tale of magic, warriors, and treachery. This retelling of an ancient epic is retold by Panchaali, the fire-born heroine of the Mahabharata. She is caught up in the ever-manipulating hands of fate. Panchaali aids her five royal husbands, during civil war and exile, in reclaiming their birthright that they’ve been cheated out of. While helping them she holds on to a complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna and an attraction to her husband’s most dangerous enemy.
The Dark Star Trilogy by Marlon James
This story is told by three characters – the Tracker, the Moon Witch, and the Boy. It takes place in a mythical African landscape and chronicles a slave trader’s search for a missing child. The books will unravel each character’s tale of what happened over the nine years it takes to find the child. James was inspired to write the trilogy after a conversation about the casting of The Hobbit trilogy.
“It made me realize that there was this huge universe of African history and mythology and crazy stories, these fantastic beasts and so on, that was just waiting there. And it made me start to think about the fantastic African epic traditions — some of the stories I grew up with, like Anansi the Spider. I just realized that there’s this huge pool of fantastic stories to draw from. It’s sort of like my being a scholar of African history and mythology, and my being a total sci-fi/fantasy geek who rereads things like The Mists of Avalon, they just sort of came together.”
The third book, The Boy and the Dark Star, is on the way – the previous two came out in 2019 and 2022.
