Kingdom Adventure with Tricia Mingerink
Kingdom Adventure - or Kingdom fiction, as I prefer to call it to be more inclusive of the romances and political intrigues - is a newly-named genre that I used to call "Historic" fantasy ... just for the mere fact that it felt historic, but took place in a radically different world.
I have Kingdom Adventure author Tricia Mingerink here to talk about this lovely genre that I actually got to be in on the naming of. (Even though Arielle didn't like my idea of "Pseudo-Historical" which is another of my names for it.) Tricia's Blades of Actorek was actually one of our defining models when we set its parameters.
I have Kingdom Adventure author Tricia Mingerink here to talk about this lovely genre that I actually got to be in on the naming of. (Even though Arielle didn't like my idea of "Pseudo-Historical" which is another of my names for it.) Tricia's Blades of Actorek was actually one of our defining models when we set its parameters.
Tricia Mingerink
Christian/Fantasy/Kingdom Fiction/Retellings
Author of Dare
Kingdom Adventure is a genre I hadn’t heard about until recently…and it turns out I’d written a whole series of books that were kingdom adventure.
Kingdom adventure is a relatively new term used to describe books that are set in a place, time, country, and culture that does not exist (in other words, a fantasy kingdom) but there isn’t any magic, magical creatures, or nonhuman types of people. In other words, these books have nothing that couldn’t happen on earth, but they aren’t historical fiction either.
As a genre, kingdom adventure is a subset of non-magical fantasy. While a non-magical fantasy book might have things such as dragons or unicorns but without any magic, kingdom adventure won’t. For example, the Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight is a non-magical fantasy, but not kingdom adventure.
As I was researching this topic, I stumbled across this blog post that explains Kingdom Adventure much better than I can and gives examples of books in the genre: https://intuitivewritingguide.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/genre-101-not-fantasy-part-3-we-have-a-name/
Why write Kingdom Adventure? What is the point of a fantasy book that doesn’t have magic, magical creatures, or nonhuman races of people? Why not just write historical fiction at that point?
1. Kingdom Adventure is especially popular in Christian circles
As far as I can tell, the term Kingdom Adventure is mostly used in the Christian indie and small press circles. In Christian circles were magic can be a touchy topic that can alienate a lot of readers, non-magical fantasy and kingdom adventure are popular since they give that sense of adventure and wonder without straying into controversial territory.
As a writer of kingdom adventure, I’ve found it is a good genre to introduce Christian readers to the world of Christian speculative fiction. Even if the readers aren’t leery of magic and they read a lot of secular fantasy, many of the Christian readers I’ve talked to either don’t know Christian speculative fiction exists or aren’t sure they will like it even if they already like secular speculative fiction because they don’t see how Christianity and speculative elements can merge. Kingdom adventure and the broader category of non-magical fantasy are a good way to introduce them to Christian speculative fiction.
2. Kingdom Adventure reaches a broader audience
While kingdom adventure is a small subset of non-magical fantasy, which is a small subset of light fantasy, kingdom adventure can reach an audience beyond a small niche. It is flexible. Since it doesn’t have magical elements, readers who enjoy historical fiction may also enjoy kingdom adventure. Yet since it has enough of a different world and wonder found in fantasy, fantasy readers also enjoy it.
3. Kingdom Adventure focuses on the adventure
In fantasy, especially high or epic fantasy, a great deal of the focus is on the fantasy world. Developing the culture, the magic system, the magical creatures, etc. takes a significant amount of the focus in a fantasy book.
In a kingdom adventure, there is another world and culture, but it is usually similar to something on earth and usually isn’t as developed as a world would be in a fantasy. Because the different world and culture isn’t the point of kingdom adventure the way it is in fantasy. The main point of kingdom adventure is, well, the adventure. The world simply has to be developed enough for the adventure to feel like an adventure. It is adventure that hasn’t or couldn’t happen within the confines of history, and that’s why it isn’t historical fiction.
Take the Ranger’s Apprentice series for example. The first two books have a few magical type creatures and mind control and wouldn’t count as kingdom adventure. But the author quickly dropped all magical type creatures after book 2 since the main point of the books was the Ranger training and the action, adventure, and danger the Rangers experience. Magical creatures and magic get in the way of that sort of adventure. From then on, both the Ranger’s Apprentice series and the Brotherband Chronicles remained firmly in the kingdom adventure genre.
When I wrote The Blades of Acktar, I actually asked my editor if I should try to make them more fantasy when I edited. At the time I wrote them, I didn’t know there were other books like them, and they felt like such an odd genre stuck somewhere between fantasy and historical fiction. I’m so thankful my editor told me to leave them as they are since they didn’t want to be full-on fantasy. The world of Acktar is only developed as much as was needed to support the action and adventure of deadly assassins.
4. Kingdom Adventure incorporates tropes from many genres so that it feels original
Since kingdom adventure is a bit of a hybrid genre, it is very flexible when it comes to what tropes or plot devices are expected by the readers. Yes, it often includes castles, kings, princesses, and things that are often found in fantasy. But it might also include elements that are standard in thrillers, such as a cast of characters you know will succeed and probably won’t die and the tension is derived from how they succeed rather than if they succeed. It also can include romance tropes or Western tropes or sea-faring tropes. Kingdom adventure often includes a trope that seems stale in a different genre and mixes it with fantasy to make the book feel fresh and original.
If you’re interested in reading more kingdom adventure books, I found this list on Goodreads that has both Christian and secular kingdom adventure books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/116627.Kingdom_Adventure_Books
Any thoughts about Kingdom Adventure? Questions?
Thanks for sharing! Kingdom adventure seems like a pretty cool subgenre, even if I haven't read much of it.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! Thanks for sharing! I was SO relieved when a name for this genre was found. XD I haven't read a terribly large amount of it, but I've read enough that the lack of a proper name for it was bugging me in a serious way. XD It's a fun genre and I look forward to reading your Blades of Acktar series for more Kingdom Adventure! :)
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