The Apocalypse Appeal

So, I've been searching for a while for what I call "apocalyptic fantasy." What it is and how to define it. I've been researching for a while, and I felt I should at least bring it up as I am really excited about this subject. It's a discussion that I've not read much about in many of my own circles. I felt it'd be fun to chat with fantasy writers about it and on my own blog. Design is not only just for pretty UI's or games, but writing as well. That is why I believe it is important to mention that fantasy and stories in general are built on top of one another.

This knowledge acquisition is often through a painful process of trial and error. One author feeds into another until they've worked enough to make something of their own. My own experience with world building has taught me that it is a time-consuming process of building a world, only to destroy it. For fantasy, I find that fascinatingly fun.

It's been a while, but Talkor's world was once vibrant.

Example from a Dabbling Author

In my narrative, the world ended, and all my characters know this by osmosis from oral tradition and some written accounts that somehow survived ten thousand years of history. Everyone now believes it could have been longer in the universe but we don't know.

Everyone is aware that they aren't on borrowed time; there is no countdown; they can't fix the world; it's too far gone; all they can do is live their lives. I've only heard of one other film and media piece from memory that kind of fits that theme: Love and Monsters. And, of course, Dark Souls.

In my world, the event was known as "the ruination," or the end of empires. where every major power in the world fell to plagues, horrible monsters, and Lovecraftian events that literally caused entire populations to disappear.

Thousands of years of progress were erased, returning us to square one.to be replaced with rampaging hordes of monstrosities. I haven't found many narratives like that, and I am trying to study up on them to communicate the right tone and feeling of the world. To encapsulate the concept of "The world may have ended, but people can still live in it,"

What is the author's appeal?

I don't know what is so fascinating about apocalypses—maybe because they are more closely aligned with our own. Or the impossibility of constructing a fantasy world that was once real and complete...then taking a giant hammer and smashing it apart with wild abandon. then laughing manically as the setting tries to fix itself. Who knows.

Maybe it is destruction... There is something so cathartic about seeing worlds burn down. Perhaps our brains are just that: "Oh, look, there's fire on the tree, pretty." It's like how people will sit outside burning buildings and just watch. Whatever the consequences are be damned, we enjoy destruction instinctually. It is a very human want and need, to watch something be destroyed, and then question how it was destroyed. People don't care about an ancient civilization most times, they care about how they fell.

I don't know—maybe that's the appeal for an author. You worked for nearly a decade to set the world on fire by seeing everything around you. Smile as you sit in the center like the Pope during the Black Plague as the audience frantically tries to put it all back together. while you watch in amusement. I don't know; maybe I am just projecting. But it's a fascinating subject in fantasy writing. That, I feel, isn't really talked about at length.

I'm not sure about what the audience's perspective is on apocalyptic fantasy as well. It's kind of interesting from my perspective. I've not talked to many people who could vocalize or interpret their own thoughts on the setting and what they liked about it. It's always "it's cool" or some umming and awing. I am looking for a bit more introspection here.

Uncertainty? Uncertain.

So why make this thread? For one, I feel that something I find deeply interesting in my journey as a writer of fantasy is that in general, it needs to have stories about uncertainty. I've read dozens of stories; where is the mystery of how something happened?

only for it to turn out that the hidden thing was just not what I imagined. I feel cheated every single time. I believe that the audience is missing a key component of that world, and the prospect of having to learn about it is both intriguing and appealing. like putting puzzle pieces together. I've always advocated in my writers group, guilds, and general writing advice that it's sometimes better to leave it unanswered than to have it answered. Sometimes the most important questions in your life do not need to be answered.

I know when I went to the ruins of IRL cities, I went through ghost towns and visited dilapidated villages overgrown by vines and trees. My hometown, Chicago, was built on the ruins of itself; it was burned to the ground, and much of its foundations still stand.

It is a thriving city built on old ruins. I was so taken back by the sheer volume of knowledge we still don't have. How many lives have been lived and died without our knowledge? It's strangely gripping as a narrative. How many times have I wanted to know the history of a single town but never understood why it was like that?

Creotia is a kingdom itself built on the ruins of the old, a nation built from several fractured cultures that came together to something new II remember walking through an empty village somewhere in Arizona. Going house to house, accidentally knocking down a door, falling flat on my ass and thinking, "What happened to the people that lived there?"

While I iced my back and tried to figure out the layout of the town, this idea sprouted that not all questions would be answered, and my mind came to the conclusion that maybe that's the appeal? The allure of an apocalyptic fantasy is that you never really know, and your imagination fills in the blanks.

Opportunity. Your mind races with possibilities—what could've been, what could've been. Maybe that's the appeal? Does the prospect of exploring ancient city ruins evoke images of dragon roosts and monsters hidden beneath the surface? It's a child's delight. Anyway hope you enjoyed the read and can help contribute to the conversation.

My questions are as follows: What defines an apocalypse fantasy it the ending of the world or the end of the world, how so? Do you know of any apocalyptic fantasies? What are your thoughts on it? What is the prevalent tone in it that strikes a chord with so many audiences? Audience perception? What do you think Apocalypse Fantasy's appeal is?