One Monarch to Rule Them All: Government in Fantasyland, Part I
As Diana Wynne Jones observed in her book A Tough Guide to Fantasyland, high fantasy as a genre has a fixation with all things medieval and western European. Obviously, there are a number of exceptions, many incredibly well executed, but there remains a pervasive idea that fantasy setting equals pre-industrial, pre-Englightenment pan-European culture.
One of the prominent markers of this in many high fantasy stories is the hereditary monarchy. Often the struggles for the crown drive the main plot, whether it's a fantasy-flavored political epic (Game of Thrones series) or another royal heir raised as a peasant who's off to overthrow the usurper. And it's not a figurehead or a constitutional monarch backed up by another governing institution. It's usually full-on divine-right-to-rule hereditary absolute monarchy.
Now, if you're writing historical fantasy or alien-space-bat flavoured alternate history, you may be constrained by what was going on in the time period you're writing about, and should probably ignore this. However, if you're writing a fantasy setting from scratch, it's worth giving a lot of thought to how a monarchy would fit into your world-- if at all. The medieval European monarchies that seem to have inspired the generic fantasyland leaders required special social, economic and cultural circumstances to come into being and survive as political and social institutions. If those circumstances don't exist in your fictional world, it is unlikely that a European-style absolute monarchy would have arisen.
Even if your fictional society had such a system of government, it's worth remembering the myriad of ways the system can collapse without a single usurping uncle. A sex-linked genetic disease can effectively wipe out a line that relies on male heirs within a few generations, particularly if the society in question lacks the tools to treat it. Much more common throughout history have been overthrow by revolution, since a powerful monarch is a focal point for public discontent. Or your line of rulers could simply fail to reproduce, or get wiped out by a plague.
Given all this, I'd suggest that unless you're constrained by a historical setting, it would be more productive-- and a lot less cliche-- to think about some other possible forms of government for your slice of Fantasyland.
One of the prominent markers of this in many high fantasy stories is the hereditary monarchy. Often the struggles for the crown drive the main plot, whether it's a fantasy-flavored political epic (Game of Thrones series) or another royal heir raised as a peasant who's off to overthrow the usurper. And it's not a figurehead or a constitutional monarch backed up by another governing institution. It's usually full-on divine-right-to-rule hereditary absolute monarchy.
Now, if you're writing historical fantasy or alien-space-bat flavoured alternate history, you may be constrained by what was going on in the time period you're writing about, and should probably ignore this. However, if you're writing a fantasy setting from scratch, it's worth giving a lot of thought to how a monarchy would fit into your world-- if at all. The medieval European monarchies that seem to have inspired the generic fantasyland leaders required special social, economic and cultural circumstances to come into being and survive as political and social institutions. If those circumstances don't exist in your fictional world, it is unlikely that a European-style absolute monarchy would have arisen.
Even if your fictional society had such a system of government, it's worth remembering the myriad of ways the system can collapse without a single usurping uncle. A sex-linked genetic disease can effectively wipe out a line that relies on male heirs within a few generations, particularly if the society in question lacks the tools to treat it. Much more common throughout history have been overthrow by revolution, since a powerful monarch is a focal point for public discontent. Or your line of rulers could simply fail to reproduce, or get wiped out by a plague.
Given all this, I'd suggest that unless you're constrained by a historical setting, it would be more productive-- and a lot less cliche-- to think about some other possible forms of government for your slice of Fantasyland.
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