Has the fantasy genre become stagnant?

Yes

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by Nathaniel Whitley

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I love walking down the endless isles of book stores and libraries, engulfed in silence and the smell of paper that causes my brain to swim in whimsy and nostalgia. As a child, I could never get enough of it. I would go through reading all the titles, occasionally pulling something off the shelf to take a closer look. My favorite was always the Fantasy isle. Back then the Fantasy section was the largest in the store, containing more titles than I'd ever be able to read in a lifetime. Which isn't to say I didn't try.

As I grew, my thirst for reading only increased. I spent countless hours immersed in the words of Michael Moorcock, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.K. Rowling, and so many others. But as time has gone on, those volumes for which once I possessed such a voracious hunger have begun to taste bittersweet. These days, as I go out expecting to find something new and wildly imaginative, I more often than not find myself reading the same, recycled words on newer paper. All the originality in modern writers' minds seems to have dried up. Has the Fantasy genre begun to stagnate? Tragically, yes.

I remember the first time I ever read The Hobbit. J.R. Tolkien was required reading in grade school, and then again in middle school. The first time around, even at my above average reading level, I'll admit that it was probably a bit too advanced for me to understand. Fortunately, when I had my second go at it, I was far better prepared. Most people rave over Tolkien's mastery of descriptive storytelling. They say he was a genius. And at the time he wrote it, it might have been true. Instead, as I labored through it once more, I found myself cringing at each new excessively long chapter where story was sacrificed to endless descriptions of flora and fauna and the only action seemed to be a bunch of walking. Occasionally a fight broke out, but let's just say I wasn't holding my breath.

Unfortunately for me, Tolkien has become the blueprint for virtually every modern Fantasy story out there. I am constantly exhausted by writers who merely refer back to Tolkien's interpretation of literary fantasy, never once seeking to challenge the paradigms it placed upon the genre. Elves, it seems, will always be the tall, beautiful, otherworldly creatures of Middle Earth while dwarves will continue to be the stocky, bearded metalworkers.

Dragons are another issue. Like how Tolkien crafted the model for elves, dwarves, and goblins, the long running Pern series penned by Anne McCaffrey ossified our notion of this most revered of all magical creatures. These days, the archetypical dragon must breathe fire, live in caves, and have a coarse, leathery hide. They're almost always either being ridden or slain by valiant knights. Mythologically, dragons are the most diverse of magical creatures. Their legends spread through every culture, each portraying them possessed of different abilities and physical features. There is a wealth of dragon lore out there. So why do we stick to the same old stereotype?

It almost seems as if the Fantasy loving community just has nothing new left in it. Occasionally a writer comes up with some new gimmick to put a slight spin on things, but that can only pique so much interest before it becomes the same old story being retold.

Some cite Harry Potter as the fall of modern Fiction, which I think is silly. I thoroughly enjoyed Rowling's famed series. Not only does she have a gift for stringing along a web of mysteries simultaneously, keeping a reader forever anticipating the next page, her method of writing is truly unique. Unlike Tolkien who overemphasizes detail, Rowling was able to pretty much force her readers to envision details for themselves rather than spell it all out, which thus allowed her to apply the bulk of her considerable ability to the characters instead.

Also in Harry Potter's defense, many of the ideas we have grown familiar with in Fantasy stories were heavily satirized here, while others were changed outright. In no other story, for example, have I seen the elves subjugated to humans as slaves, nor has anyone ever so thoroughly explored the rift between wizards and other magical beings caused by humanity's arrogance.

I recently read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and I must admit I found the notion of Daemons, souls living outside the body, a fantastically creative idea. For a long time I had anticipated reading this series for all the hype that surrounded it. Its Gaspians and Panzer Bjourn were a nice break from the typical mythological creatures, though of course angels and witches still swelled the ranks. Admittedly, I did not enjoy the series as much, though not for its lack of innovation.

All in all, no matter how stagnant the genre has become, Fantasy still has a few surprises to offer (if, of course, we are willing to wade through the mountains of trash novels.) To aid those looking for something a little different, there are a few titles to remember. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay avoids the precarious archetypes set forth by Kay's own mentor (Tolkien himself) by depicting a tale of conflict amongst magical lands where the battle between two sorcerer kings is offset by a small band of guerilla terrorists playing both sides against one another.

For those that love satire, John Moore's Heroics for Beginners is an utterly hilarious outtake on what the genre of Fiction has become over the years. In this tale a prince, with the aid of his trusty Heroics manual, must fight his way through an evil villain's castle, bypassing dastardly traps, a sadomasochistic, leather-clad henchwoman, and an inescapable gift shop to rescue his tomboy girlfriend (who's also a princess) and save the world from an object so evil that no one really knows what it does.

So don't give up on Fiction just yet. There are still a few gems to be seen. Just remember that the quality of any genre is in the caliber of its authors. All it needs is fresh ideas and a willingness to break away from tradition. Enough of refurbishing what we've already seen. Enough Tolkien knockoffs. It's time we, as writers, step up to the challenge placed on us by our forefathers and contribute something to the genre that no one has ever seen before.

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