Alternate Fantasy

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm looking for new types of Fantasy to look into. I am getting sick of all the repeat generic medieval era fantasy that pervades everything.

Can anyone offer some suggestions of fantasy that aren't restricted to the old formula? I want to know if there is any genre that takes place during musket era or world war 1 timelines.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

'Punk' stuff might be your thing, I think it technically counts more as Science Fiction, but fantasy elements such as magic will be incorporated a lot.

Things like Cyberpunk, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Clockpunk.

There are a few games that fall into such genres, but at the moment I can only really think of Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, an isometric RPG made by Troika, and technically Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood for Clockpunk, what with Da Vinci's creations and all.

Fable 2 and 3 might be something you'll want to look into as well for a 'light' RPG experience.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Uh, "Otherland" series by Tad Williams starts on a WW1 Battlefront...doesn't stay there long though. It's cyberpunk dealing heavily in virtual reality.

 

[nuqneh1]

Try Highlander, it's set across several timelines because the characters are immortal swordsmen. but only watch the first movie, all other media bearing the name doesn't exist. *wink*

 

[smearyllama]

'Punk' stuff might be your thing, I think it technically counts more as Science Fiction, but fantasy elements such as magic will be incorporated a lot.

Things like Cyberpunk, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Clockpunk.

There are a few games that fall into such genres, but at the moment I can only really think of Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, an isometric RPG made by Troika, and technically Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood for Clockpunk, what with Da Vinci's creations and all.

Fable 2 and 3 might be something you'll want to look into as well for a 'light' RPG experience.

Are you seriously recommending Arcanum to someone? Noone should ever have to suffer that game, no matter ho awesome the gameplay concepts and story are.

Though I have heard of some kind of amazing wonderpatch that fixed the game entirely....

OT: A "different" fantasy experience?
Try Journey to the West, it's a 400 year old Chinese novel, and it's famous enough to have several shows and at least one game based off of it.

 

[Lilani]

I recommend Artemis Fowl, a series of books by Eoin Colfer. Those books take the best parts of fantasy and mix it up with mystery, suspense, modern technology, and real-world settings. They're quite the rollercoaster. And if you don't mind a female lead, there is a quartet by Dawn Cook that starts with a book called "First Truth." I'm just finishing up this quartet, and it is a great departure from "medieval" settings but still being rich in mystery and lore. The ending is a big payoff, too.

 

[Nocturnal Gentleman]

As others have basically said you should probably look into various genres within science fiction. Science fiction can cover anything from a fantasy version of early industrial worlds to the super high tech future of world building and colonizing. Some examples could be a dystopian future like blade runner or johnny mnemonic. It could also be present like Inception. If your looking for solely gritty just stick to "anything+punk" genres.

I'm curious as to what your asking for a new genre in though? Is it for reading, games, or what? Some types of sci-fi don't show up much in games.

 

[Veylon]

You could take a shot at Turtledove's Darkness series. It's the magical equivalent of World War II. I don't think anyone actually uses a sword in the whole thing.