The world just can’t stop trying to end! A great example of this is in the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At this point, I don’t think I need a spoiler alert to say that Buffy stopped the Master, Angel, the Mayor, Adam, Glory, Willow, and finally the First. In the meantime, she had to keep her little sister safe (at least after season 4 started).
And no, I’m not here to talk about those kind of stakes (the vampire poke-y kind) or tent stakes, but rather the kinds of stakes you find in your story. Because let’s be honest, not only does it get exhausting having to save the world all the time, it also gets a little *yawn* old. I mean, at some point, much like the death of many characters in science fiction shows, the world just never ends (and let’s be honest, at this point, we also wonder if these characters are really dead given how many times they come back.).
I’m talking about the stakes in your novels. What’s at stake? The biggest difference between the genre of “cozy fantasy” and other types of fantasy is the stakes tend to be lower. They’re not world-ending or life-shattering. It’s why I call my serial, Through A Portal Storm, as cozy-adjacent. Tye is working to cure an illness in the unicorns, one that affects unicorn and human alike, and that could be considered pretty world ending. Certainly it’s life ending and not in a Marvel sort of way. But, the feel is cozy, the found family very close, and the way he finds his answers isn’t through big battles or magical duels, but rather through self-discovery and with the support of good friends. And it’s still going to take three books to resolve. *evil author grin*
The reason why this came up is because I was discussing the genre with my spouse after loaning him Legends and Lattes. He really enjoyed the book and the relationships in it, but was taken aback by the low stakes. He’s used to reading epic fantasy. The kind of books that if you drop them they’ll injure your foot. He grew up on Tolkien and other tomes. He thought it was interesting to have stories centered around much lower stakes.
He’s thinking about it. I’m trying to convince him to write a story with me. (He’s an author too.) I was informed he has a setting, so we’ll see.
But think about the stakes in your story the next time you’re writing. I’m not saying don’t have the world end. I’m just saying, you have options.
