This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me engages with the conventions of portal fantasy, a fantasy subgenre in which a protagonist is transported from their world to another. The novel specifically references the Japanese version of this genre, known as isekai (literally “different world”), which surged in popularity during the 2010s on web novel platforms like Shōsetsuka ni Narō. Isekai stories often feature protagonists who arrive in this new world new abilities or status, like the popular “light novels” (a Japanese designation for young adult fiction) Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, in which a boy and his classmates all wake up in a world where they are immediately treated like heroes, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, in which the protagonist arrives in the new world as a slime, which grants him outsized powers and influence. Well-known Western portal fantasy children’s literature that engages with this trope includes C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. This trope has also taken hold in adult portal fantasy literature through popular contemporary entries into the genre like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.

When Maggie first arrives in Rellas, she comments on how different her arrival was than those she’d read about. She muses on the subgenre’s common narrative scenarios, reflecting that she should’ve appeared as a “woman of prophecy with magic holy powers” or a prominent noble (6). Her knowledge of the genre shapes her initial expectations, creating a contrast when she reports that she arrived in Rellas “naked” and powerless in a “muddy ditch.” The novel uses this subversion to deconstruct the romanticized elements of the genre. Unlike protagonists who are immediately central to the plot, Maggie is a marginalized figure struggling for survival whose initial goals are not to defeat a dark lord but to find food and shelter. By stripping away the typical power fantasy elements, the narrative explores the grim realities of being an outsider in a harsh, unfamiliar world. Maggie’s struggle highlights the disparity between the escapism offered by fantasy novels and the brutal pragmatism required to survive within their settings, forcing both the protagonist and the reader to confront the unglamorous side of adventure.