I'd probably call it Historical Fantasy or pseudo-Historical Fantasy, but I think generally the sub-genre of Historical Fantasy includes books set in real-world history with fantastic elements, books set in mythic "historical" settings (Arthur, etc.), and created worlds that can have close cognates with real world history. (So, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, and Guy Gavriel Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan as well as Brust and Bull's Freedom and Necessity.
I also tend to call it Theological Fantasy sometimes, because I love well-built universes that take religions into account seriously and books that explore serious philosophical, ethical, and theological questions in a non "real-world" perspective.
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Date: 12/4/09 05:14 pm (UTC)I also tend to call it Theological Fantasy sometimes, because I love well-built universes that take religions into account seriously and books that explore serious philosophical, ethical, and theological questions in a non "real-world" perspective.