THE PLOT
A gripping tale of madness in a post-apocalyptic world.
The Voice of the Enemy is a graphic novel that mixes fantasy and psychological elements. The story is set in a dystopian neo-medieval world, where the characters act in a dark and decadent city, travel on horseback, and duel with swords.
The protagonist, Arthur, is a “guardian”, a kind of vigilante/policeman. During a ceremony the lord of the district, Vitrano, is murdered and a researcher, Sarah, is kidnapped in front of him. Madly in love with the woman, Arthur immediately tries to save her.
The case is apparently easy to solve: Sarah had in fact been commissioned by Vitrano to find a “generator” (a not very well explained source of energy), which had also aroused the interest of Lutha, the lord of another city district.
As the days go by, however, the trail goes cold and Arthur finds himself wandering around the metropolis looking for answers. Soon he will have to face both enemies and his own demons...
WHY PSYCHOLOGICAL FANTASY?
Stories in the fantasy genre typically take place in a fictional universe. Nowadays, the word fantasy is generally used as a synonym for high fantasy, a category defined by epic action sequences set in a magical medieval world with warriors, wizards, elves, and dragons. However, that is just one subgenre of fantasy, as there are endless possible fictional universes. Fantasy fiction has the unique power to take readers away from their homes and everyday lives.
Any story can have fantasy elements, and any other genre, such as romance, drama, and horror, can be mixed with it. Supernatural creatures often populate frightening stories and novels, charming us instead of repulsing us.
There are several explanations for why we like gothic settings. One of them is that they fuel our fascination with going beyond what is visible. Through horror, we can explore the dark sides of the human condition - at least as long as we believe that evil is physically distant from us.
When in a safe frame, we are prone to get in contact with our most unpleasant feelings; for the same reason, we like reading dramatic stories. Tragic books and movies are perceived as more realistic and facilitate the pondering of big questions, such as “Who are we?”, “What do we value?” or “What makes life worthwhile?”.
Fantasy is a powerful frame that allows us to fly and look at what lies beneath and beyond ourselves.
