Historical Fantasy

When developing the Amanirenas series, we had a decision to make. Well in truth, several decisions but I am referring to choosing between setting the story in the real world (at least a good facsimile) or in a fantasy realm.

Historical fiction stories (such as HBO’s Rome and Hulu’s The Great) set made-up tales in past times. Oftentimes these stories involve real-life figures and are inspired by real events. Fantasy stories (Avatar: The Last Airbender for instance) incorporate supernatural and otherworldly elements. Many such stories take place in realms other than Earth.

After careful consideration of these factors, we settled on an underrepresent genre: historical fantasy. Amanirenas is inspired by the real-life Kushite queen and many of the events in the series represent occurrences from her life that have been preserved via the historical record. However, we have also included fantastical elements in her story. The gods of the Kush people are able to manifest in the physical space and their presence is capable of enhancing the abilities, proportions, and senses of mortals.

And, we’ve found, that rather than take us out of the story, the inclusion of these fantastical elements creates a more immersive story experience. The Kush people were deeply spiritual and their gods played important roles in their daily lives. Making these gods a physical reality better reinforces their vitalness and their vitality. The same thinking applies to Amanirenas, the eponymous character herself. She was by all regards a remarkable woman so why not manifest this remarkableness as crackling visual power?

There is no value judgment attached to the choice of genre. It is incumbent upon a storyteller to choose the means by which they can best communicate their themes and ideas. We are eager to play in the space of historical fantasy; it is rare and exciting. We can only hope the audience has half as much fun watching this as we did making it; we had a blast!

By Tobe Otuogbodor