I'm wanting to read a genre that I'm not even sure actually exists, what I call modern military fantasy. Whenever I talk about this, people usually end up suggesting I mean cyberpunk or urban fantasy, but neither is what I'm looking for. Cyberpunk is inherently dystopian, and usually about street criminals. Urban fantasy usually takes place nearly entirely in urban centers, and all fantastical elements are usually secret, and the average person doesn't know they exist.
What I am picturing is a typical high fantasy setting, but with a few hundred years of technological progress to modern (or possibly near future) tech. Picture your typical band of plucky adventurers, fresh from dispatching a group of goblins that have been harassing the village. They spend the evening relaxing in the pub, and preparing to continue their grand quest to kill the dragon. The only difference is these adventurers don't have longswords and chainmail, but instead have assault rifles and ballistic plate carriers. The setting isn't dark and dystopian, and the fantastical elements aren't kept secret from the general public. They journey through the wilderness and carry their weapons in town as openly as Aragorn or Drizzt do. This isn't the real world where weapons and people who use them are looked upon with suspicion and socially ostracized, this is a fantastical world where adventurers are celebrated, it just so happens the weapons they use are fully automatic.
Can anyone reccomend anything even close to what I'm looking for? Does this exist? What's the closest I can find?
by screenaholic
1 Comment
I’ve never run across what you’re looking for. Flintlock fantasy might scratch the itch, but it’s definitely not the same thing.
I’m curious to see what gets recommended.