What do you like and dislike about Fantasy?

[shiningpath68]

I realise that I've come into this thread a little late, as many ideas have already been discussed.

What I dislike about fantasy is more to do with the (undeserved) reputation that it has, rather than fictional and dramatic elements used by its writers.

Fantasy lovers have always had to contend with being branded as nerds, no-mates and lacking in social skills, not having a life, etc. I have always been into fantasy and this doesn't stop me from having a life, career, friends, and other interests outside of fantasy. I'm sure that most fantasy lovers would agree with this.

I just dislike negative branding and stereotyping, I guess, so I would fight my corner anyday to prove that those into sci-fi and epic fantasy are "regular folks" just the same as those who dislike the genres.

As a writer of epic fantasy myself, it is often difficult to think of some concept that hasn't already been covered by others, whether successful best-selling authors or as yet undiscovered ones like myself. So I tell myself that although I'm not doing anything radical or new, I am doing it MY WAY!!! We all have our own little quirks of personality and writing style so let a few of those come into your writing. Not too many so as to annoy a potential reader, but just enough little hints to add your personal flavour to your creative writing.

My little quirk is to choose odd or ill-fitting names for places and characters. I also love to throw several characters together who just don't get on, or to have someone in a situation where they have to deal with an alien culture and civilisation, making loads of social or political faux pas, etc. I kinda enjoy in a bit of a sadistic way placing loads of challenges for my characters. They have to work for a place in my writings, if you know what I mean.

Good luck to all those writing fantasy and maybe when you know me better, we can share some of our ideas(share not plagiarise of course) particularly to do with dramatic styles, technical stuff, etc.

 

[Nienor]

well, I do agree that elves sometimes are overdone, but the fantasy Genre is like my favorite. In fantasy you of course get Dark Fantasy and that is my favorite! But I would maybe say sometimes the storylines are always the same, and that gets a little boring sometimes. Umm....hard to say......maybe if the good guys didn't always win, make it go a different way, and then expand on their lives. I don't know fantasy is my favorite so it is hard. Good luck!

Have you read The Coldfire Triogy by CS Friedman?

I don't like people following stereotypes and cliches in the books I read. I stop reading them, it's not worth it when the book is predictable. I love plot twists. I disagree with several people who have posted, I do not require my fantasy to be religious and I usually find "Christian Fantasy" to be dull and predictable.

 

[Solomon Kane]

well, I do agree that elves sometimes are overdone, but the fantasy Genre is like my favorite. In fantasy you of course get Dark Fantasy and that is my favorite! But I would maybe say sometimes the storylines are always the same, and that gets a little boring sometimes. Umm....hard to say......maybe if the good guys didn't always win, make it go a different way, and then expand on their lives. I don't know fantasy is my favorite so it is hard. Good luck!

You might want to look into reading Karl Edward Wagner's Kane stories. http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/kane.htm

 

[stonetoflesh]

You might want to look into reading Karl Edward Wagner's Kane stories. http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/kane.htm

Doesn't get much darker than Kane.

 

[NeoScribe]

I like to consider myself an author of fantasy although i have yet to publish anything. And frankly, you guys are scaring me. My book has elves, dwarves, dragons, all the mythbound creatures. It has an old wise wizard too. i am aware of the stereotype roles of characters and have attempted to change them. Halh my characters are women, my bad guys arent always bad. the love interest doesnt take the story away. My second main character is the main characters sister and tey spend half their time trying to keep their team from ripping into each other. the other travlers are a human, elf, dwarf, mermaid, and beings who are identified as an angel and a demon (not real ones! in the book real demons are called hell-spawn and angels are not really mentioned) they have some of the stadard characteristics but they are angry, angsty, hatefilled people most of the time. my ain magic user looks like shes 14 and is a punk. the other human is a pycho andry girl. the dwarf has a secret past and the elf is a walking ball of selfdoubt. my main characters are christians and know their mission and try not to falter. there are numerous cultures and wars with more political intrugue than... something else, i dunno. is there anything i can do to keep from being cliche or stereotypical?

 

[Nienor]

^^ Don't worry about. I think most people are just tired of the cliches and if you break out of them no one is going to hate you

 

[Yeshuarocks32783]

My only dislike is that of all the fantasy stuff I have read and seen is that a lot of times all the humans and most elves are british(not that I dont like the british, but how did they get into a fantasy world?)

 

[Solomon Kane]

For anyone who likes sword and sorcery, or, dark fantasy. Charles Saunders' Imaro series is finally getting republished.

Unlike other fantasy, which usually has a strong European base, Saunders' Imaro is based on the legends, myths, and, early cultures of Africa. Thus creating both a character and world that is unique to fantasy literature.

http://www.nightshadebooks.com/book.aspx?bookid=135

More information about the character and world can be found at;http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/imaro.htm

 

[Tariel]

My main character is a princess of...um....a cave right now. She got into a fight with her best-friend (who is a guy) and is sort-of working to save her kingdom from an evil sorcerer (who just happens to be her uncle) who killed her parents and probably her twin brother.

Sound cliche?

Nobody who has ever read it thought so. But I'm not sure. I'm terrified of being cliche...but when you break down the story and take out all the emotions that make it what it is (my writing is very emotional) you end up with a very cliche story.

But I do promise that there is not a single Elf in that story

 

[NeoScribe]

There are Elves in my story, Lehen of Serrani, Sennal of Jemecca, Tsun'e of Sagashitte, and Talon and Naxis of Unity. Elves have long lives, that basically whats alwys seperated them from humans so thats in my story. But there personalities are all very different.

Exept for Sennal and Talon, the others cant cant even read!

What should I do to keep them from being cliche or stereotypical?

 

[Mr_Hursh]

What annoys me the most is when people put apostrophes in their names. They are entirely superfluous and make it harder for the reader to understand. I see some of you have done this, and my question to you is "Why??"
And as for fantasy being British... well it's not. I assume you are meaning the way they speak by this, and if so, this can be easily explained. Whether you know it or not, everyone thinks the Brits are smarter than everyone else, because they are always the narrators on Nation Geographic and they always seem to know what they're talking about. ...No. Just kidding.
It's because the British speak with natural vowels and Americans have a ton of diphthongs. Plus, everything sounds cooler with natural vowels. Try it some time...

 

[NeoScribe]

I put the apostophe in Tsun'e's name to focus on the "e" at the end. His name is pronounced "Soon-ay" without the apostrophe it'd look like just "Soon". Tsun'e is the only one with that in his name and its only becuase the Sagashitte live on the Madina Continent.

I too dont understand why some people write names with aposrtophes for no reason.

 

[Krim]

You say it's hard to move away from cliches...that's not the sign of a good writer. Perhaps my imagination is just beyond the level of every cliche writer or something, or you're just being lazy...as a matter of fact, I have spent many long days on perfecting parts of novels and doing extensive research...you will not find good vrs. evil, you will find a question about if good's evil thinks itself is good...if a crazy person knows he's crazy...things like that.

You have to slap away all you think is good fantasy...all of the influences of Tolkien and other writers (it is beyond agitating to see a Paolini fanboy go 'yeah, I wrote a story like his, its about a young orphan who discovers he has a magical past and rides a dragon. I hope to get it published.) Why is it that we constantly pump out stories about elves and dragons? We are basing what we do off other people...Take a walk in the park, look at what people are doing, be imaginative and try to think how you can do something with it...look at an interesting painting, probably a surrealistic one for fantasy, and hatch an idea from that...

It's not hard to avoid cliche...people just think it is.

What do I hate? The same thing. And a stupid fanbase.

 

[Tariel]

What annoys me the most is when people put apostrophes in their names. They are entirely superfluous and make it harder for the reader to understand. I see some of you have done this, and my question to you is "Why??"

That drives me CRAZY!!!

There are rare occasions where it seems appropriate (I can't explain why, it just does)

but usually it just makes the writer seem unexperienced and has a sense of, "I'll just stick lot's of apostrophes in my names, and then they'll seem fantasy-ish!"

I'm not saying that all you who use apostrophes have that attitude--but that's the impression I get from them

Now I'm done with my apostrophe rant...for now :o

 

[Tariel]

You say it's hard to move away from cliches...that's not the sign of a good writer. Perhaps my imagination is just beyond the level of every cliche writer or something, or you're just being lazy...as a matter of fact, I have spent many long days on perfecting parts of novels and doing extensive research...you will not find good vrs. evil, you will find a question about if good's evil thinks itself is good...if a crazy person knows he's crazy...things like that.

You have to slap away all you think is good fantasy...all of the influences of Tolkien and other writers (it is beyond agitating to see a Paolini fanboy go 'yeah, I wrote a story like his, its about a young orphan who discovers he has a magical past and rides a dragon. I hope to get it published.) Why is it that we constantly pump out stories about elves and dragons? We are basing what we do off other people...Take a walk in the park, look at what people are doing, be imaginative and try to think how you can do something with it...look at an interesting painting, probably a surrealistic one for fantasy, and hatch an idea from that...

It's not hard to avoid cliche...people just think it is.

What do I hate? The same thing. And a stupid fanbase.

to you too

I totally agree with you. What I was saying before is that when you stip my story down to it's bare bones...I admit it could seem kinda cliche. But to be honest--I don't care. Nobody has ever told me that it is cliche, and I personally don't think that the story with all the meat on it is cliche.

And who cares anyway?? It's my story, and right now I am not looking to get it published. So who really cares if it is cliche or not? (and it's NOT).

Sorry for the rant...I guess I'm in a ranting mood right now

anyway...you guys want to see the beginning of a short story I'l working on? I would love all the comments and advice you guys can give

 

[NeoScribe]

I admit, I've been lazy in my writings and put elves and dragons in simply becuase they're familiar faces. But I feel the story stops being cliche from that point 'cuase the characters quickly fall into their respective place of fighting each other instead of the real enemy. But my Second Cycle series, which is a sequel to the first eight books, takes us back into space and away from the fantasy creatures and into the world of Earth humans, mirrians, Amallah, and Seer. they cant be stereotypical! At least I hope not!

 

[Mr_Hursh]

I think I may have decided I dislike the Fantasy genre altogether. Time for the birth of a new genre...
---------------
Sure, Tariel, I'm game for your shorty

 

[Tariel]

A thin stream of blood dripped down Dragonflame's face--blood filled with memories. Hastily, she wiped the blood away, drawing her cloak closer around her raw skin to protect it from the evening wind. How long had it been since she was last here, in this spot? How long?
Dragonflame couldn't remember.
Carefully she wiped away another trickle of blood that had broken through her tattered skin.
It had been a long time.
Tears filled her eyes as she sunk down at the base of a tree; had the world always been so beautiful? Or did her new freedom cause her to see things in a way she never thought possible. Perhaps she had forgotten the simple beauty of a forest.
The forest. This forest. How many years had passed since that day? Since Tiram—Tiram. The name that seemed to rise from the forgotten depths of her memory seemed so familiar.
But why?
Who was Tiram?
Who was Dragonflame?
She was sure that the name was hers—it was all she had to hold on to.
"Dragonflame." She whispered the word, just to hear it. It sounded like such a strong name; she could hardly believe that it could belong to a battered girl stumbling through the woods in a stolen cloak.
She climbed to her feet gingerly, wincing as she pushed against the tree for support. Dragonflame knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to go on for much longer—but she had to continue; she was not going to give up her hard-earned freedom.
Her life was going to end soon—that Dragonflame was sure of—but she wasn’t going to let herself die in the clutches of those monsters.
So she had to keep going.
Feeble step by feeble step she limped, driven only by the knowedge that if she stoped she would be captured.
Dragonflame.
Tiram.
Would she ever understand the mystery?
It seemed unlikely.
This forest—it was a piece of the puzzle. So were Tiram, Dragonflame, and fire.
But how did they fit together?
Why did they fit together?
Were those voices?
She froze. Yes, those were voices. People were coming.
She wanted to hide. She didn’t want to have anything to do with these people; they could be looking for her. Maybe they wanted to take her back.
But something compelled her to stay. A forgotten memory—another piece to the puzzle? Or was it a trick?
She didn’t care. She pulled the hood of her cloak up to hide her disfigured face, and hid behind a tree.
But she was too late. A young woman found her and approached cautiously. "Are…are you hurt?"
Dragonflame shook her head and stepped back, wary of this gentle newcomer.
"Please. I want to help you."
She shook her head harder. "No."
"Let me help you—do you want to die out here?"
She didn’t respond.
"I can’t let you die."
She took another step backwards, but stumbled and fell. She didn’t notice that the hood fell back revealing not only her beaten face, but her bright red hair.
She didn’t notice, but the young woman did. The newcomer stared in disbelief, fumbling for words. "Dragon?" she finally said. "Dragonflame, is it really you?"
This girl. A kitten. A frozen lake. A castle. Dragonflame was with this new girl, the girl who now stood silent with tears in her eyes. And Tiram. Tiram was there. And then she understood: Tiram was the key. He was the one who could help her put this puzzle together.
"Where…where’s Tiram?" Dragonflame forced the words out, and then became aware that she was falling. Was she dying? She didn't know.
She was faintly aware that she was numb with fear before everything went black.


here it is--I'd LOVE comments

 

[Lessien]

Cool story, Tariel!


What I dislike about fantasy is that it's so hard to break away from cliches without confusing people. Like, I'm working on a sort of long short fantasy story. Although it's fantasy, it's set in a sort of Victorian Era world. When one person read it, they asked me if it was fantasy, saying that they were a bit confused because of the setting. It's like everyone is so used to the medieval-Europe-swords-and-sorcery setting, that it's cliched, but people can't seem to break away from that. I've had a bit of trouble with that at first, but still....

 

[NeoScribe]

Ah, dont even get me started on that subject! People are always coming to me and saying "That wasnt in the middle ages"

Its fantasy people! Not historicle fiction! Did they have green hair in the middle ages? I didnt think so!