Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are the characteristics of the genre called “dark fantasy”? List examples of this genre. How does this genre overlap with the horror genre and with “grimdark” fantasy?

Teaching Suggestion: From Blood and Ash is a dark fantasy with elements of grimdark fantasy. This prompt offers an opportunity to establish how much students know about the dark fantasy genre and related genres. Readers might briefly share in small groups the novels in these genres with which they are familiar, recommending titles if they enjoyed the text and noting others’ recommendations if interested. If students could benefit from more information on the topic, these and similar resources can be used to fill in gaps in their understanding.

• This article establishes the characteristics of dark fantasy and helps explain the differences between dark fantasy and horror.
• This article explains the characteristics of grimdark fantasy and speculates about why it is currently so popular.

2. What is a coming-of-age story? How might this kind of story be presented in a dark fantasy novel? What advantages might this genre have for presenting this particular plot type?