Recently, I was asked to conduct a workshop on exploring new perspectives in fantasy writing. As usual, I started by asking students what they'd read. All the usual names cropped up - Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Dog Man ... We went on to discuss Indian fantasy, and the fact that publishers so often tell us that Indian fantasy doesn't sell. What a blanket term that is - Indian fantasy! What is "Indian fantasy"? Can stories inspired by Hindu mythology be compared with those inspired by Greek or Roman mythology? These conversations lead to other important ones - about all the crossovers between myth and fantasy, science fiction and fantasy ... and, in the context of The Vaidyar's School of Medicine and Magic, history and fantasy. Kathir, the narrator and protagonist, believes that the Siddhars belong to folklore--until he is apprenticed to the Hill Vaidyar. What follows is an … [Read more...]