What world?

gambit924 said:

So questions: I would like to ask, would this work better in a traditional fantasy setting, or could it possibly be urban fantasy? If it is possible to do an urban fantasy story, I have no idea where something like this would be set, or in fact the logistics of urban fantasy. I do not usually write urban fantasy and would be dabbling into places unknown, just like with erotica. Making it an urban fantasy and the two MCs a couple of some sort would be interesting (not erotic relationship, sex maybe, erotic or graphic, no). So thoughts on this. What do you think, where could it work? I am open to trying urban, it would be interesting.

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How about your own world?

Also, in general, is this a good idea/concept?

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i am groot

First off, you could pull off urban fantasy here if you're going for the "magic exists in a hidden community/world within our own" thing... but it would have to be more covert. (Unless you're doing an alt-modern world where the general population knows all about magic.) People have done dragons, especially hybrid human or shifter dragons, in modern settings.

Secondly, though, I had a hard time figuring out the in-world logic behind the backstory of the boy. Why would these people wait until the boy is 15 to execute the mother? Why would they just let him go after this - why not keep him imprisoned, or kill him at the start? (Innocent or not, his mother is obviously considered a serious threat to society - he's fruit of the poisoned tree, so to speak. It would be too easy to arrange for a baby to "die" in its sleep with a pillow over its face, to remove even the threat that woman's offspring might someday bring. And letting the boy live also assumes an ethical restraint on the part of the prison-keepers which may not exist, depending on who is in charge...) If his mother's considered dangerous because of what she is, why is the boy a nonentity... and, again, why essentially board and raise this nonentity for 15 years, then open the prison door with a goodbye, good luck, and don't slip in Mommy's lifeblood? Have these people never read a story in their lives - how often children come back to avenge murdered parents? An escape would make more sense; she could be a long-term prisoner or hostage, too important to execute outright, which would make killing her kid a tricky proposition they don't want to fool with (yet). If the boy escapes, awkward questions could be asked... so someone panics and Mom gets killed. (It would add a nice little hunk of guilt to the boy, too; his freedom cost his mother her life.)

That may not work with your world, but I'd expect some rationalization for him still being alive, and for a 15-year delay in the execution of a dangerous criminal... and for him living with her the whole time. If he's considered an innocent, why wasn't he simply removed to a foster home as a baby? Why raise the kid in prison, bonding with his mother and possibly learning Forbidden Things from the dangerous dragon-spawn, then execute her and expect him to just walk out the door, go on his merry little way, and be a good boy and not wreak any vengeance on the people who killed his only family?

JMHO...

It's generally not advised to try writing in genres that you don't read and aren't familiar with their standards and tropes. So urban fantasy doesn't sound like a good bet for you. If you're more comfortable with second world, just go with that.

If that's the time period you're drawn to, do a little research and give it a shot. The advantage to a turn-of-the-century world over a modern one is that Earth was still very large back then - you had telegraphs and railroads, and the first inklings of cars, but you didn't have satellites and cell phones and cameras on nearly every street corner running 24/7 to catch strange activities. Someone could disappear and re-invent themselves without needing plastic surgery or a hacker to alter public records; handy, if you have any unusually long-lived magic people. So you could have some touches of modern civilization (someone in Chicago could fire off a telegram to someone in New York City or Santa Fe for relatively quick correspondence, for instance), yet with the conveniences/inconveniences of longer transportation times, more difficulty doing research (you'd have to mail-order books or physically travel to a library or collector, for instance) and such.

Or just come up with a secondary world, if you want. Though that would require research, too...

As for the other issue... perhaps the mother isn't imprisoned per se, but in exile? She fled to a remote place, perhaps an island, and there gave birth to and raised her son. But her enemies have finally tracked her down. (Perhaps she was betrayed - she may have had allies bringing her food and other necessities.) So the baddies show up, there's a fight, and Mother dies ensuring Junior's escape. In this scenario, your boy's first impression of The Outside World (barring books, perhaps) would be violence and fear, possibly shaping later reactions. And it's also possible that the boy's very existence isn't known until someone goes over the dead woman's hideout and realizes she had a child... giving Junior some lead time to get away and figure out life before anyone picks up his trail.

Just some thoughts...

gambit924 said:

What do you think, where could it work? I am open to trying urban, it would be interesting. Also, in general, is this a good idea/concept? Anyway, let me know! You have my thanks!!

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I think you should make up your own world. This society sounds like it has some interesting pinch points that you could develop to the story's benefit, thus wind up with a much richer world than if it were confined to some pre-established worldpattern (such as urban).

Osulagh said:

i am groot

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Really, that answers most questions, doesn't it? It's nearly a Zen koan.