Characteristics
A typical fantasy of manners tale will involve a romantic adventure that turns on some point of social punctilio or intrigue. Magic, fantastic races, and legendary creatures are downplayed within the genre, or dismissed entirely. Indeed, but for the fact that the settings are usually entirely fictional, some of the books considered "fantasy of manners" could be also considered historical fiction. Ellen Kushner is perhaps the definitive writer of fantasy of manners tales; almost all of her novels have some of the traits of the genre, and her Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) is considered the epitome of the genre. An earlier example, and possibly the first true fantasy of manners, is the Gormenghast series (specifically the first two books) by Mervyn Peake.
Other writers who have written books considered to fall into the subgenre include:
- Kage Baker
- Steven Brust
- Emma Bull
- Susanna Clarke
- Pamela Dean
- E.R. Eddison
- Teresa Edgerton
- John M. Ford
- Barbara Hambly
- Alexei Panshin
- Sherwood Smith
- Caroline Stevermer
- Charles Stross (The Merchant Princes series)
- Paula Volsky
- Jo Walton (Tooth and Claw)
- Patricia C. Wrede
A class of fantasies set in contemporary times and blending some characteristics of fantasies of manners with the subgenre urban fantasy has been dubbed, tongue-even-further-in-cheek, elfpunk.
A postmodern style of fantasy fiction that has emerged in the first decade of the 21st century has been dubbed mythpunk by its practitioners, though the term "myth-punk" dates back to the "elf-punk" discussions of the late eighties.
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