Spoilers for Azura Ghost, specifically chapters 36–37.

Azura Ghost isn’t fantasy

Azura Ghost by Essa Hansen is pretty solidly a science fiction novel. That’s what it’s being marketed as (space opera to be more precise), and that’s what I as as reader got out of it. However, could there be elements of fantasy—specifically of fairy and folk tales? I believe the answer is yes. While I can’t say if the author intended to make such connections, I do think it’s still an interesting path to explore. There are no witches, magic, fairies, or fairy worlds in the book. Yes, there are people that can do incredible things and also multiple universes. However, such things are explained through the lens of science, not fantasy. What do I mean by elements of fantasy? How can Azura Ghost, a space opera with no explicit reference (meaning not directly referred to as such in the text) to fantasy or fairy tales have these elements?

Nature’s role in fairy tales

There’s something about the woods that feels like fantasy. To be even broader, nature itself evokes a fantastical atmosphere. Many stories subvert that trope of course (e.g., an urban fantasy set in a big city), but fantasy itself evokes a sense of nature—in my eyes at least and certainly so in fairy tales. Now for simplicity’s sake, (the) woods will be synonymous with nature here; fairy tale(s) will also inherently contain and folk tale(s) in its meaning. The woods features heavily in fairy tales. Usually, they come with a dichotomy: They are evil places where evil people live, or they are good places where good people live. The woods either attack you or protect you.

Nature is in Azura Ghost; it’s in a lot of science fiction, even space operas. What makes the instances here different is how they interact with the story. For example, there’s a scene where Caiden observes a forest as part of a lightseep projection that includes different biomes that shouldn’t be interacting with each other. It’s interesting to note that what he’s seeing is ultimately just an image. Nonetheless, even images have power. Earlier I mentioned how the woods are essentially either good or evil in fairy tales. This largely depends on who has the power. In Little Red Riding Hood, the woods are a good place initially because the grandma is presented as good. However, they turn into a bad place once the wolf (the antagonist) holds the power.

Fairy in Azura

Likewise, Abriss holds the power in Azura Ghost; Caiden believes her to be an antagonist. Therefore, the forest on this place where Caiden believes Abriss to be is portrayed as bad. He is on enemy ground, and she is the enemy. To clarify, I don’t mean that Abriss is living in the woods. Although she is only partially connected to the woods, Threi (another antagonist to Caiden) is fully connected.

(And now we enter the part of the essay that I could’ve just summed up in a few sentences, but oh well!) There’s a scene in the latter half of the book wherein Caiden opens a door and finds himself in a bizarre garden. There seems to be organic life and inorganic things interconnecting. Inside he meets a figure called Feran. This is their domain, and it has an otherworldly beauty to this place. The name Feran is interesting here. Why? Fe is the chemical symbol of iron. It’s short for ferrum in Latin. In terms of sound, Feran is one sound short of ferrum and one short of fairy. In the most traditional of fairy tales, iron hurts fairies. So immediately there’s an interesting question: Is Feran friend or foe? Are they the metaphorical witch? They claim to be a person of science, not one of Threi’s lackeys.

Well soon after Caiden and Feran have met, who should show up but Threi. Almost immediately, he and Caiden start battling each other. Threi has the upper hand, though. This is Feran’s domain, but it is also Threi’s. To try and tip the balance to his favor, Caiden threatens to drink an enhancer. Food (and drink) is also a common trope in fairy tales. Eat the food; stay forever. Caiden wouldn’t be literally trapped in the garden if he drank the enhancer. He would become stronger. Nevertheless, he could possibly lose himself in the process.

A Surprise Hansel and Gretel

To make a brief detour, Hansel and Gretel is a tale of a brother and a sister lost in the woods. They find a beautiful house made of sweets with a witch who lives inside. The witch tricks the children and tries to fatten them up to eat them. Gretel manages to outsmart the witch, throwing her into the oven and rescuing her brother from imminent death. We’ve just seen some of these elements in Azura Ghost. The garden isn’t a house of sweets, but it’s unlike any garden Caiden has ever seen. Feran themself gives the story a more traditional fairy tale element: the iron of the tale. And finally, Threi acts as the witch, attempting to sweet talk Caiden into joining his cause. If Caiden drinks from the vial, the contents will fill him with the Dominant. He is essentially at death’s door as far as he’s aware.

But wait a second. If Caiden is Hansel, who’s Gretel? It’s can’t be Threi. It can’t be Feran either. The only person left isn’t there. Anyway, Caiden smashes the vial, which ends up resulting in cataclysmic events. (Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.)

So far Feran has been the odd one out. They’ve been more of a fun coincidence. I noted before how iron hurts fairies. But it also helps non-fairies. Caiden ends up drowning in the pool, taking in the water. And it is Feran who convinces Threi to save him—to expel the water from Caiden. And he really does try, but he’s too late. Caiden basically dies. Threi leaves, but Feran stays. But then who should wander in but Caiden’s sister, Gretel. Sorry, I mean Leta. And not sister in the strict biological sense but in their culture’s sense. Leta ends up bringing her brother back, thus saving him.

So it’s not exactly a 1:1 comparison

Azura Ghost by Essan Hansen certainly has elements of fairy tales, especially Hansel and Gretel. Heck, to further the analogy, Threi and Abriss subvert the story. Instead of rescuing her brother, Abriss traps him. However, this space opera is not a retelling of the fairy tale. Could this all be a fun coincidence? Am I reaching? Yes. Clearly. Nevertheless, it’s still an idea that’s fun to ponder.