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Keys to Fantasy Book Festivals: Subjective & Irreverent Opinions | Mythic Mirror Ep 28
16 Plays2 days ago
Join a quick look at what makes fantasy festivals powerful. If you could jump into a book, what festival would you attend? From the real world World Cup to fantasy feast, join us for an Independence Day weekend celebration of festival! Check out Mary's upcoming book launch Here!
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Buy the Narnia Code by Michael Ward and support independent bookstores (and the show) at bookshop.org/shop/mary-c-kehoe
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Transcript
Introduction to Mythic Mirror Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
What is your favorite festival of a fantasy book in a fantasy book? I've heard it both ways.
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to Mythic Mirror, the podcast for lovers of myth and fantasy who want to live magical and fulfilling lives. I'm your host, Mary C. Kehoe. And I'm your co-host Carolina Carter.
Celebrating Festivals in Fantasy Books
00:00:33
Speaker
And today in honor of the Independence Day of America, which is the weekend that this is coming out, we are talking about festivals in fantasy books.
00:00:45
Speaker
Carolina, do you have three examples of festivals in fantasy books? Three examples. I don't know. You could have more or less. You can just have one.
00:00:56
Speaker
I have. ah Okay. The ones i think that really stick in my brain are the ones that they base on Celtic traditions because they're they're the ones I like the most.
00:01:08
Speaker
I feel that any festival feasting in the Red Wall series is my favorite. I am not usually someone who can get into like the long descriptions. Elizabeth Gouge, I'm looking at you. That was five pages describing a boot. But when we're reading Redwall, I can really get in when they describe the honey and the scones and the soup and the cakes. I would read about that for chapters. um So any Redwall festival.
00:01:39
Speaker
um And then i um in Sarah J. Moss's Court of Thorns and Roses series, And also her Throne of Glass series, they talk about about both Samhain, and she spells it differently. Am I saying that right, Mary? Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:02:02
Speaker
And Calamai, which is based on the Celtic tradition of Beltane. Which, that one, when I was in Ireland, I learned how to pronounce it.
00:02:14
Speaker
Oh, please don't They say Bealtanah. Bealtanah. Yeah. No, you we never would have guessed. Nope. Nope. I wouldn't have, obviously.
00:02:25
Speaker
Which is funny because in, I think it's in the Wheel of Time series, they have Beltine, which is spelled Beltine, based off of Bieltena. So it's like they brought you know the mispronunciation into a real life world.
00:02:43
Speaker
I mean, you know, the fantasy real life word. Exactly what I was going to say.
Personal Experiences with Festivals
00:02:49
Speaker
Yeah, that came out smooth. Being that it is such a big weekend here in um in the States, ah Mary and I have had a real run of it this week and are a little worse for wear if we're going to be totally honest, but we are here. and We are fighting for our lives and we're going talk to you about festivals because we love talking to you about festivals and fantasy and all things magic.
00:03:13
Speaker
That's true. Yes, Carolina at hosted a parade party because the parade is huge in her town and it is um wonderful and a lot to deal with for an introvert like our little carolina yes it is a compulsory party it goes right by my house i have to throw it it really throws itself i shouldn't complain yeah um i feel like our beautiful little parade gets longer every year mm-hmm mm-hmm
00:03:45
Speaker
But I like your plan. See, this is, Carolina's a very smart introvert. She builds a buffer of the people she knows around her house. She invites everyone she knows to stand around her house so all the other people coming to watch the parade can't get on her lawn.
00:04:02
Speaker
One year it poured rain. It rains every year, but one year it just came down and like 200 people I didn't know just ran inside my house and um i was walking around like, oh, excuse me, sorry, pardon me. I'm like, wait a minute, this is my house.
00:04:21
Speaker
Can I get you anything? Please don't let the cats out. Yeah, that's the that's really my biggest thing. I've got a little orange one on my lap right now.
00:04:32
Speaker
attitude. Mary.
Exploring Favorite Festival Settings in Literature
00:04:34
Speaker
Yes. Do you have favorite festivals in fantasy? Yes. So the first book I thought of is The Night Circus and it's not it's not really one festival but the whole book is kind of a festival.
00:04:48
Speaker
I know people who have had a hard time getting into and I think it's because you learn more and get closer to the circus itself before you get close to the main characters.
00:05:02
Speaker
Like I felt like I knew so much more and that you kind of just have to accept that we're just reveling in the circus of in the nighttime. yeah This mysterious, beautiful circus. And then the story will come to fruition.
00:05:17
Speaker
It will unfold itself when it's ready. Exactly. ah So that one i love for the atmosphere. um One that I just read, so it's on my mind, is Tempests in Teapots.
00:05:32
Speaker
I think I got that right. Yeah, that's I got to read that one. Yeah, it's great. And that one has two festivals in it based off of... Yeah, the spring equinox in the summer solstice.
00:05:44
Speaker
And that one's fun. It's like if the Fae were Regency England feeling. um So it's it it's kind of an homage to Pride and Prejudice with some Fae stuff in there.
00:05:57
Speaker
So it's fun. Oh, I love it. Yeah. And so the spring equinox is when the young Fae um show their magical talent.
00:06:10
Speaker
Oh, and I do have one more.
Festivals vs. Tournaments in Fantasy Worlds
00:06:14
Speaker
So this one, and this one will actually bring up a ah question because you asked me if the Hunger Games count as a festival.
00:06:26
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And I said, absolutely not. So in the blue sword, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. There are the lap run trials, which I was counting as a festival. And I realized after our conversation, why?
00:06:40
Speaker
Why does one count and not the other? And I have an answer for you. All right. So, ah the Hunger Games, A, ah kids are dying, so Only the Heartless are festivalizing that.
00:06:55
Speaker
And in the Lap Run Trials and the Blue Sword, it's a coming of age. People are fighting and it's a tournament kind of setting, but nobody kills each other.
00:07:06
Speaker
And it's based on you know their ancient practice as a people. Everyone in the mountains comes together and afterwards they all have campfires and they're going from fire to fire and having a great time. And all the people have a good time.
00:07:20
Speaker
Rather than, these people are killing each other and these people are eating too much. That sounds like festivals to me, Mary.
Core Elements of Fantasy Festivals
00:07:32
Speaker
and this well Well, okay, and then it's like, what's the difference between a tournament and a festival? Is it the feasting and fires?
00:07:42
Speaker
Because those are the two big Fs of my festival requirements. Yes, I like that. Feasting in fires. I would include live music. Folk music. Now we have the three F's of a festival.
00:07:58
Speaker
Flive music. Folk music, feasting, and fires. of Fantastic music. Yeah, there we go. That works too.
00:08:09
Speaker
Oh, fiddles. Speaking of. yeah You need a fiddle festival. We weren't speaking of it. I know. So, you know, Tamlin, of course, plays the fiddle at Kalamai.
00:08:21
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:08:24
Speaker
Did you read that one? Mm-hmm. Did his fiddle playing give you the ick? It's been a while. I can't remember. I didn't like it. what Why did it give you the ick? What happened?
00:08:36
Speaker
I just didn't care for it. I just, i liked this broody, mysterious person, and then was like, and then he was fiddling. I was like, he was not.
00:08:50
Speaker
No. It was my first like, hmm.
00:08:55
Speaker
Something wrong about you. Something wrong with this one. Send him back. Send him back and bring me someone taller, darker, and handsomer. Oh, look, there he is. Spoiler.
00:09:08
Speaker
Spoiler. Spoiler. Well, yeah, so you already answered my question of... What are your requirements for a good fantasy festival and real life festival? So we just did it. The three F's. Anything else? Yeah, there has to be something. Here's the thing that really taps in into festivals is that something must be either being born or dying.
00:09:32
Speaker
I really feel that festivals to be a true festival. I'm not talking about Burning Man, but we could if you wanted. let's go there. Since you've bitten so many times. We can. You could.
00:09:46
Speaker
Yes. Weird. I can't remember a single one. But in fantasy and in my heart, it really has to do with either the renewal of life and spring and fertility ah you know, oftentimes, well, like the Green Witch, you know, when they sacrifice the Green Witch to the scene, it sort of like renews the power for the year, unless I misread that and I'm thinking of something else.
00:10:13
Speaker
No, that's right. Like protection and abundance. Right. Or it's the harvest and the year is dying and we are grateful for what we have reaped, for what we have sown, and we are entering into the cozy season.
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah. or Some form of transformation. Yes. Transformation. is there a word that means transformation that begins with an F? Fire is, it just transforms everything.
00:10:44
Speaker
Isn't it true? Yes. So there you go. So there you go. Yeah. I like that. I was thinking, I hadn't put it into so many words, but something that brings everyone together that kind of gets people beyond themselves.
00:11:02
Speaker
So you you can also see that in a wedding, especially in fantasy when it's a ah village wedding where everyone's coming together, which is itself a transformation because they're going from, you know, this life to now being a life together. so you're kind of seeing them off on that adventure. Yeah.
Real-life Festivals and Cultural Significance
00:11:27
Speaker
That's both an ending and a beginning. Yeah. That's beautiful, Mary. I was trying to think of festivals i in real life.
00:11:39
Speaker
And the ones that I can think of are all in other countries. Like Diwali is, I mean, I know people celebrate Diwali here as well, but it's not like a whole city.
00:11:53
Speaker
Right. Celebrating together. Which I think, I wish we could have more in America. The FIFA World Cup has been the closest we've come to like a citywide festival. Yeah, that's yeah that's fun.
00:12:08
Speaker
I've missed every single one of them. We should have gone to Boston. Oh, that would have been fun. The Scots drank Boston Dry. That's impressive.
00:12:20
Speaker
Isn't it? Yeah. It's pretty awesome. Maybe it was good we weren't in Boston. I don't think it was, personally. I'm going to regret it. I'm going to rue it for the rest of my life.
00:12:33
Speaker
Probably the rest of my life. Okay, here are the guesses. Unseen Academicals, appropriate for this year, too.
00:12:44
Speaker
I have no memory of this character, so my guess is Shepard's Crown because I'm still holding off reading it. I know, I know. AWK, Auk.
00:12:57
Speaker
Soccer ball, which I think is Unseen Academicals. um And then this is the one that was flagged by TikTok as maybe an inappropriate kind comment. Drunk Fentonari monologue is one of my top five Pratchett quotes of all time, but the truly magical part of this book is the insistence of the professor that the fans cheer his entire doctoral abbreviations list rather than just his name. which leads to two full paragraphs of initials making for a very obnoxious monologue from the poor audiobook narrator.
00:13:29
Speaker
And so inappropriate, I can't believe they'd say... There it is. You can tell how well-read this one has been. i have we have to get a new copy.
00:13:39
Speaker
Unseen Academicals is correct. Which, yes, everyone should be reading that while watching the World Cup. Absolutely. right me All right,
Unique Festival Tales from Literature
00:13:51
Speaker
we're back. So speaking weddings. No, we're not. What's our Discworld delight for this week? Oh, yeah. We're not back.
00:14:00
Speaker
You're like, anyway, on. Anyway, moving on. All right, so here we are. In honor of Independence Day. Here is one sentence.
00:14:16
Speaker
However, there were limits. Free thinkers were fine people, but they shouldn't go around thinking just anything. All right, now we're back. perfect
00:14:29
Speaker
Speaking of weddings, I have one more festival from a book, which is a wedding. And this is, help me out, listeners, comment, because I can't remember which Terry Pratchett, or what the name of this book is. But it's what it's the Discworld book where death goes on holiday.
00:14:48
Speaker
It's like, all right, fine, I'm done. And comes he's on the Discworld. As Bill Dorr. um And at the end there's a wedding.
00:15:00
Speaker
And he is like, s theke he goes with the old woman. I won't say too much, but it's beautiful. and she dances and it's like the, the, just the quintessential village wedding of happiness.
00:15:16
Speaker
And yeah. So go find that book, read about Bill Dorr and enjoy a village wedding. I will. Get back to me about it. Thank you.
Creating Festivals in Writing
00:15:27
Speaker
o Mary, in your book, do you have festivals? Do you have a system of festivals? Do you have like in your head what they honor, what they mean? you have any festivals?
00:15:39
Speaker
I do. Indeed. Say more. I have a harvest festival. See, knew I liked you. Yeah. Great. Yes.
00:15:49
Speaker
Because the first society that you meet is very agrarian. ah agrarian They're egregiously agrarian? Egregiously. Egregarian? No, agrarian.
00:16:01
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, anyway. They're egregores. They farm.
00:16:06
Speaker
ah see yes, there there's a harvest festival that you get to be a part of. There's also, you get to find out um how they grieve, what they do for in lieu of, or their version funeral.
00:16:22
Speaker
Funeral. Yeah. So both great stuff. Maybe one is more fun than the other. But I don't know. they're both ho They're both. Who can say? They're both very beautiful.
00:16:35
Speaker
Thank you. Yes. went Very well written. I laughed. I cried. Can't wait for people to read this book. Me too. I can't wait. It's coming.
00:16:47
Speaker
I'm planning... you get You heard it here first, folks. I'm planning that the Kickstarter starts in August. So you have a month left. Woo-hoo! Tell all of your fantasy reading friends to go follow my page.
00:17:02
Speaker
Because the more people we have there, that less stressed I am about launching. so Amen. For the good of my heart. Yes. Absolutely.
00:17:13
Speaker
And, you know, people get ah get more of a heads up, which is always nice. I love it, Mary. Very excited. Yay, me too. All right. Do you have any more?
00:17:25
Speaker
No, and I think we can tell our dear listeners that we love them so much.
Community Support and Reflections
00:17:31
Speaker
And yes, this was a bit of a shorter episode. This week was a bit of a punch in the face. Oh, Mary, what was your spark of the week? ah Speaking of, nobody got mad at us yet, but we did not do the spark of the week last week.
00:17:47
Speaker
That was my fault. Well. I was sparkless. There was two of us in the room. I didn't have coffee. yeah It's terrible. I know. My spark of the week is community today, this week.
00:18:02
Speaker
We've been doing a lot and it's been nice to see people and it's been tiring, but you know the my work has been crazy and then on top of that we have, so there's events going on and um just seeing people being kind to people.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah. Mine is very similar. um when everything, you know, busy festival celebration season, I really feel grateful for how many wonderful friends I have and what a lovely supportive family I have. I really think I'm one of the most lucky people in the world.
00:18:44
Speaker
No. Wait, I think that too, so. Well, your family's pretty good too. Oh, good. You're just slightly luckier. Yep.
Listener Engagement and Festival Ideas
00:18:56
Speaker
but Tell us your favorite festivals and your major must-haves for festivals. Please. Especially in fantasy. bees I said please oh but if you know a festival with bees in it I'm in let me know I'm in oh yeah Robin McKinley has the book Chalice which doesn't really have that's exactly what I thought about it I couldn't remember if there was anything festival-y no but there's very there's like ritual where she holds chalice yes which is just as good just as good as a festival any day
00:19:35
Speaker
All right, with that, we love you. And we are so grateful to be spiraling through this universe with all of you. It's not always easy, but no good story ever is.