There really is no conflict between
these two sub-genres. There is a difference, even if we’re splitting
hairs. Charles De Lint first described urban fantasy with his story
Dreams Underfoot in the early 90s, making it a relatively new genre, in
retrospect to the times. In short, urban fantasy brings the fantastical
into the mundane world or into the contemporary setting. It’s another
dimension, another time and place, a different universe with it’s own
rules. The magical invades our world, not the other way around. That’s
the more precise definition. Examples might be well associated with the
book,The Mortal Instruments. Writers like Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim
Butcher, Neil Gaimen, Deborah Harkness and Anita Blake’s Vampire Hunter
are prime examples of this sub-genre of fantasy. I think the important
thing to remember is that in an urban fantasy setting, their world
invades ours. Something crosses over and materializes. Sometimes this
transformation happens with our knowledge, but many times it
materializes unbeknownst to us.
They say (who’s they anyway?) that
urban fantasy is a Mixxmaster, mashup of science fiction, horror, dark
fantasy, paranormal and magic realism where they all come together in a
melting pot. Fair enough. What a mongrel, wot?
Portal fantasy. It’s also been termed
“low” fantasy. But who in the heck uses those terms to describe their
work to publishers, editors or the reading public? You don’t see it do
you? My agent had no idea what I was talking about when referencing my
works as such. She agreed that it might be a unique way to describe a
fantasy sub-genre to a potential purchaser. My publisher blinked upon
hearing the term, but did admit that she’d heard before. She confessed
that it was doubtful that using the term might sway any reader
decisions, or for that matter, having Amazon recognize it as a mainstay
genre. Amazon is lazy–they fall back on urban.
So what’s a portal fantasy? It is our
intrusion into another world, be it deliberately or accidentally. We’ll
split hairs latter, but for now, think about Neil’s Stardust. Where is
the gateway or the portal? Why, it’s across the stone fence, isn’t it?
Things become fantastic, abnormal, magical on the other side. Our world
has not changed, it is still a contemporary setting. The magical land
did not come from Them over to our side–we explored or blundered into
it–we trespassed, so to speak
Some classic examples of true portal
fantasies: Harry Potter: now what is platform 9 3/4 if it is not a
portal, opening or gateway into another land and realm? There are even
portals within portals in Harry Potter. Some will disagree with me on
that. Alice in Wonderland: don’t we have a mirror or rabbit hole?
There’s your gateway. The Bridge to Terabithia: step across that bridge
and you’re in a world of make believe. Hook: Isn’t it the second start
on the right that opens up into a sf-ish type planet/land? The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe: step through a closet and we’re in Narnia. I
can actually remember a Twilight Zone episode where a character marks
off a section of wall to define a mysterious entrance into another world
(De Lint, you might have been a little late in discovering
it).Coraline: doesn’t Coraline step through a secret door to enter
another dimensional frontier?
How can Harry Potter split hairs on
these two? Well, Harry travels back and forth from his world to
Hogwarts, doesn’t he? He’s not a muggle, nor was he ever a muggle. He’s a
wizard in training. So when he comes back into his contemporary
setting, he brings with him some special talents that are defined as
magic. Therefore, to some degree, he impacts his real world, changing it
every so slightly as his years in school progress. The Matrix could be
consider a double whammy–we go in and pull things back with us. Stephen
King’s The Mist, is an example of our military opening up a forbidden
gate (portal), and then suffering the consequences when the beast of
that other world come barging in on our modern day setting.
Weird Science: We opened a dimension,
and she steps through. Opposite affect here–we opened up the portal,
but something came through it.
Tron: We trespassed. Portal.
Screamcatcher: The kids sleep under a
decrepit, malicious dream catcher, and it implodes, pulling them into
IT’s world. It appears at first that their real world has turned into
something strange and dangerous. However, it’s not really their
world–it’s a separate entity upon itself. The rules of the world are
governed by the Web and what it contains within it.
Kind of fun exploring these things. No
harm done. No segregation. But I’m going to describe my trilogy as
portal fantasies. Just you wait for the last book in the series called
The Shimmering Eye. It was based on the true life scientific
investigations of the Skinwalker Ranch, as reported by George Knapp,
investigative reporter out of Las Vegas. I’ll need a new genre for it!
Red-shifting.
