What do you like and dislike about Fantasy?

[keith99]

What do I dislike?

Naked women fantasy art.

What do I like?

It's as far from reality as you can get. And the good vs. evil is clear and plain.

Why do non-human races always want beautiful (virgin) women? And it seems far more so in the cover art than in the actual stories.

 

[SteelBrigade_92]

Yes, I agree. That's one thing I don't like about the Lord of the Rings - there's a little bit of God, but not enough. In the fantasy that I'm working on, there is a God, and he is a more active in the world. Also, there is a savior and a need to be saved. So in a way, it's sort of a parallel universe.

The guy who wrote Lord of the Rings was actualy a devoted Catholic and his books where heavily inlfuenced by his Catholism. He also played a factor in C.S. Lewis' conversion from athieism to Christianity.

 

[stacymay]

It depends (obviously - what a cop-out XD) but I guess I'll be referring to the fantasy section in the bookstores for my answer -

What I like is the transportation into a different world. For me, characters are the most important aspect of a story, however - unless the story itself or the writing is so genius (i.e. Lord of the Rings, Narnia) that the characters are equal devices. Sometimes fantasy characters just lack a lot of depth, though.

This brings me to what I dislike. THE COVERS! HAHA Most fantasy books have the dumbest covers! I picked up The Imager the other day and OH MAN does it have a stupid cover. The guy looks like a modern-day male model with this dumb expression and everything. Most fantasy covers also are not very true to the characters' descriptions within the book. Of course, LOTR is the exception (unless it's one of those movie tie-in type covers).

I also dislike when the sci-fi and fantasy sections in a store are combined. That makes it even HARDER to find the kind I like (fable - dragons, elves, etc.) among all of the space-odyssey and vampire stories.

As a Christian I am occasionally bothered by the references to dark magic and/or demonic things in fantasy, but only if these things are glorified. I wish I knew of more great writers but it's hard to find them because some people are not as picky as me about fantasy.

Anyway, I hope that made sense. haha

 

[darkfell]

I'd say the overwhelmingly obvious racism... in most traditional epic fantasy, the 'evil' races are nearly always dark-skinned. In Tolkien, for example, it was only the 'swarthy' and 'dark' Men who were swayed to Sauron's service...

Not surprisingly, at fantasy/sci fi conventions, you get to run into a LOT of white supremacists...

 

[Paladin Dave]

Not entirely true. Read the Silmarillion, the best and most noble/master-racey humans of all, ancestors of Gondor, were swayed to worship Melkor and conduct human sacrifices in his name. The "Black Numenoreans" are their remnants, and they're not black in skin color so much as 'black hearted.' Granted, the Easterlings were worshipping Melkor the longest, but that was before any of the human nations recognizable in LOTR had formed. The Nazghul were also of pretty mixed origins.

Although, I suppose in general the point is valid in the case of orcs. Doesn't quite carry over to most other fantasy settings, like in Warhammer where nordic barbarians and pretty pale elves can be more wretchedly evil than even Tolkien's orcs.

 

[WisdomTree]

For me, the like and dislike is one and the same for the genre; everything is stretched to the impossible limits of our imagination.

 

[JessicaJ]

some times fantasies and science tend to say that there is no god and stuff. i do not like it

 

[Hishandmaiden]

I love fantasy more than science fiction.
I like the fact that it transports me to a different world, where I can meet cultures that are quite unique.
I like to escape into such worlds during reading.

Sadly, though, most fantasy portrays God in a not honorable light. Or they don't portray God at all. This is due to perhaps the fact that most writers of fantasy are not christians.

 

[keith99]

I love fantasy more than science fiction.
I like the fact that it transports me to a different world, where I can meet cultures that are quite unique.
I like to escape into such worlds during reading.

Sadly, though, most fantasy portrays God in a not honorable light. Or they don't portray God at all. This is due to perhaps the fact that most writers of fantasy are not christians.

Or perhaps is is that most writers write at least in part to make a living.

See the earlier post where someone complained about LOTR not being Christian enough. Seems that poster wants a very heavy handed Christianity. And if Christianity gets heavy handed it almsot always results in a poor read, and one where doctrinal differences come out. The result is a work where the Christian aspects are a plus ONLY for a subset of Christians who fall in line exactly with the sect of the author.

 

[Hishandmaiden]

Or perhaps is is that most writers write at least in part to make a living.

See the earlier post where someone complained about LOTR not being Christian enough. Seems that poster wants a very heavy handed Christianity. And if Christianity gets heavy handed it almsot always results in a poor read, and one where doctrinal differences come out. The result is a work where the Christian aspects are a plus ONLY for a subset of Christians who fall in line exactly with the sect of the author.

I suppose so.
Still, I will think that if an author is a christian, his or her worldviews will influence his or her writings in some ways or another.
For instance, if the author is a staunch christian, there will be less vulgarities, incests, sex in his or her writings.
And he or she will be more likely to create a God in his or her story, and more likely to portray God in a positive light. This is due to the fact that he or she personally feel God's presence in his or her life.

Take C.S Lewis and Philip Pullman.
They are both writing children's stories. Yet one portrayed God in a positive light, while the other didn't.

 

[keith99]

I suppose so.
Still, I will think that if an author is a christian, his or her worldviews will influence his or her writings in some ways or another.
For instance, if the author is a staunch christian, there will be less vulgarities, incests, sex in his or her writings.
And he or she will be more likely to create a God in his or her story, and more likely to portray God in a positive light. This is due to the fact that he or she personally feel God's presence in his or her life.

Take C.S Lewis and Philip Pullman.
They are both writing children's stories. Yet one portrayed God in a positive light, while the other didn't.

I agree.

I take it you are fine with LOTR and can see that just as magic is built into the very earth of the story so is Tolkiens Catholic viewpoint. Problem is many who are loking for Christian themes see the magic and miss the Christian.

 

[walkingxshadow]

For me a good fantasy has to have a well fleshed out and elaborate world. Lotr would have been afwul if it was set in say utah. The bigger the world the better in my opinion. Some of my favorite books have worlds so big there are glossaries and maps included.

And I like might and magic. Not a real scifi fan. I really liked the rangers apprentice series and there's no magic. And the game of thrones series is great and the magic there is a bit understated. Its mostly about the political intrigue and backstabbing(sometimes literally!). And then there's wheel of time. Its magic system is unigue and original. And it plays a huge part in the story. Same with the abhorsen trilogy. The magic is unique, original and a big deal.

And as for what I don't like: I don't like it when authors give up. Case in point- the last eragon book. Paolini just gave up and upchucked an 800 page tragedy(not a shakespearian tragedy just a bad book). Plot points were dropped. Massive amounts of questions left unanswered and more raised. He tried to add a tragic element at the end and it failed utterly. If you are not shakespeare please don't try to be. His world got too big and got away from him so he just rushed to the end to get it over with. Finish what you start. While I'm not saying that you should pander to your readers you shouldn't completely ignore them either and make them universally hate your last book.

 

[Hishandmaiden]

I agree.

I take it you are fine with LOTR and can see that just as magic is built into the very earth of the story so is Tolkiens Catholic viewpoint. Problem is many who are loking for Christian themes see the magic and miss the Christian.

I am fine with LOTR. I am also not one of those christians, who will read only 'christian' themed books. I do read some christian-themed books, but I like to read non-christian themed books as well.

Agree with you that many christians just miss the point when they read LOTR. They are so against magic that even the slightest mention of it in a book makes the book a 'demonic' book.

 

[keith99]

For me a good fantasy has to have a well fleshed out and elaborate world. Lotr would have been afwul if it was set in say utah. The bigger the world the better in my opinion. Some of my favorite books have worlds so big there are glossaries and maps included.

And I like might and magic. Not a real scifi fan. I really liked the rangers apprentice series and there's no magic. And the game of thrones series is great and the magic there is a bit understated. Its mostly about the political intrigue and backstabbing(sometimes literally!). And then there's wheel of time. Its magic system is unigue and original. And it plays a huge part in the story. Same with the abhorsen trilogy. The magic is unique, original and a big deal.

And as for what I don't like: I don't like it when authors give up. Case in point- the last eragon book. Paolini just gave up and upchucked an 800 page tragedy(not a shakespearian tragedy just a bad book). Plot points were dropped. Massive amounts of questions left unanswered and more raised. He tried to add a tragic element at the end and it failed utterly. If you are not shakespeare please don't try to be. His world got too big and got away from him so he just rushed to the end to get it over with. Finish what you start. While I'm not saying that you should pander to your readers you shouldn't completely ignore them either and make them universally hate your last book.

Bolding mine.

Some authors make the opposite mistake, trying to answer all the possible questions raised.

Since LOTR has been mentioned I'll use it. Tons of unanswered questions, at least a dozen on the origins of different races.

BUT those were not central to the story, they need not be answered. But if a question is raised center stage it usually needs to be addressed.

 

[walkingxshadow]

Bolding mine.

Some authors make the opposite mistake, trying to answer all the possible questions raised.

Since LOTR has been mentioned I'll use it. Tons of unanswered questions, at least a dozen on the origins of different races.

BUT those were not central to the story, they need not be answered. But if a question is raised center stage it usually needs to be addressed.

That's what I'm talking about. Eragon would raise central questions then side step them. Like who/what the heck is angela!?

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

What I like about fantasy:

What I find disturbing about fantasy...

 

[Proctor]

"Kids, fiction is the truth inside the lie,
and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists.

STEPHEN KING - IT


"King is the man!" - me

@gurneyhalleck1: the babe in purple is fantabulous. Thx for posting.

 

[Solomon Kane]

The woman in purple is Caroline Munroe. I believe that photo is from one of the Sinbad films.
Her best preformance, imo, is in the film, Captian Kronos: Vampire Killer

 

[GeekWriter]

I get really tired of the quest into a dungeon storylines. I also find many fantasy authors to way overdescribe everything. I'm good with some description, but there comes a point where you don't really need to know the complete description of the next town over.

 

[cutekittycat]

names that i cannot pronounce.
ok, fine, english is not the 'universal' language... but, there is a difference between being creative and thththsseithshheiis teh maagneephissent .