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| Yes | 43% | 106 votes | Total: 244 votes | |
| No | 57% | 138 votes |
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Add to FavoritesSadly I would have to answer, yes.
Firstly, I must state that I am a fan of the fantasy genre. It is almost unrivalled in its ability to transport the reader to different worlds of imagination, to inspire a little magic into the mundane humdrum of everyday life, to explore the best and the worst of the human character.
Secondly, it must be noted that I am refering only to the fantasy genre in literature, since that is the topic under discussion. Fantasy may well be growing in popularity in other mediums such as television and film, but that is another discussion altogether.
This is why I believe the current state of the fantasy genre is such a cause for concern. For many years fantasy was an expanding and ever inventive genre, filled with novels whose imaginative breadth was staggering. One need only think of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Tad Williams, C. S. Lewis, David Gemmell, Robert Jordan, and Ursula le Guin and there are whole worlds, whole universes, populated by fantastical creatures and peoples which can open up to the reader.
And yet, sadly, the majority of these great writers and their best works are now part of the history of the fantasy genre. They form the solid backbone of the genre, a context against which new writers can frame themselves, but sadly cannot be counted part of the current genre scene.
Make no mistake there are still plenty of talented writers of fantasy, but at the moment the genre seems to be becoming bogged down in its own tropes and conventions. Heroes, magic, quests, Dark Lords. These are the staples of the fantasy writer, but also their downfall.
There are currently many writers, such as James Clemens, who can effectively use such themes and conventions in their works, but as a whole these well worn elements of fantasy are becoming tired and unexciting to readers.
Even well loved writers who take the fantasy genre and add a unique twist to it, such as Terry Pratchett and his humourous Discworld novels, are beginning to flag, as the same old format is constantly reworked again and again. That these books continue to remain popular is due more to reader loyalty than the author offering anything new.
There are also new writers, such as Christopher Paolini, who despite having recently coming to the genre continue to regurgitate, rework, and reproduce existing fantasy clichs without offering those well versed in previous fantasy literature anything new.
One exception to the stagnation of the fantasy genre is the sub genre of children's fantasy.
As J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books have proven, fantasy still has the potential to have a vast appeal. With her books catering to both young and old Rowling brought fantasy to a whole new generation. Taking clichs and conventions but light heartedly reworking them she offered those with little experience of fantasy a light and easy introduction to fantasy literature that didn't intimidate or threaten younger readers with the weighty tomes that a more detailed and intricate fantasy world can create. Instead she opted to work the modern world into her stories rather than the alternative medieval setting of so many fantasy worlds; a decision which appealed to those new readers with little knowledge of such time periods. And yet Rowling has now finished her Harry Potter series, leaving a void in children's fantasy that has yet to be filled.
There are, however, a few rays of light for the adult fantasy genre, a few authors who are contributing new and exciting literature. Two of the foremost of these have to be Neil Gaiman, whose writing is ever increasing in popularity and continues to be evolve into other media formats, and Gene Wolfe, who for many years has written remarkable fiction but whose latest work 'The Wizard Knight' could spell a turn around in the stagnation of fantasy literature.
What differentiates both these writers from those who continue to write from within the well worn rut of their predecessors is that they are willing to take risks.
Gaiman reworks the traditions of the genre, particularly in his recent filmic take on 'Beowulf', ignoring the supposed sanctity of tropes such as the quest and the hero in favour of adapting them to better fit the modern world we live in. One need only think of 'Neverwhere' to find a modern fairytale, or 'Stardust' to see how traditional tales can effectively be turned on their head.
Wolfe, in 'The Wizard Knight', tells a very traditional story, but what is unique is the manner in which he tells it. Unlike most fantasy writers he does not spell everything out to the reader in order to get them to accept the fantastical world he writes of. Instead Wolfe leaves much half explained, or mysterious, to be explained later, if at all, so that the reader actively has to work at creating and imagining what Wolfe portrays; resulting in one of the most remarkable fantasy books for at least a decade.
What both these writers share is a willingness to incorporate the best of the traditions of the fantasy genre into their writings, but reworked so that they are fresh and new, applicable to the modern world and appealing to veteran fantasy readers and new comers alike. They take the mythology that inspired the greats of the genre such as Jordan and Tolkien, and they reinvent it for their own purposes, recycling it from the literary rut fantasy had begun to inhabit and making it edgy and inspiring once more.
Ultimately although the majority of the fantasy genre is currently undergoing a period of stagnation there is hope. If exciting and talented authors are willing to break free from the staid chains of tradition and liberally reinvent the genre for a new audience while keeping die hard fans content, then there is still a chance that the fantasy genre can continue to inspire and excite readers for decades to come.
Learn more about this author, Nicholas Cockayne.
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No
The fantasy genre is characterized by such elements as magic and mythological or invented creatures. Any story involving such elements can be labeled fantasy. Hence, while the overused devices and gimmicks of the genre may get old, the genre itself will always be as fresh as authors choose to make it.
Terry Pratchett has used a wildly imaginative fantasy world satirize the telecommunications industry, the relationship between Britain and the Middle East, and the Israel/Palestine conflict. While neither fantasy nor satire is new, Pratchett's synthesis of the two is clever and unexpected. Because he uses his fantasy realm as a venue for real world commentary, he has to create fantasy analogs for things like cell phone towers. In this particular example, he invoked the concept of a "semaphore tower". Each tower had a shudder painted black on one side and white on the other. By flipping the shudders on the tower, the operator could communicate a Morse code signal to the next tower and so on. It sounds plausible and fits the level of technology used in his books. Reading the book "Going Postal", I thought Pratchett a genius for his clever analog of telecommunications. I later learned that such towers were built at one time, although the invention of the telegraph made them obsolete before the first set of towers was even finished. Still, though the concept is from history, Pratchett certainly made good use of it.
Author Holly Lisle makes no attempt at real world commentary but still managed to keep her Sacred Texts series from being just another mindless quest story. The prophecy that the characters are trying to fulfill fails, truly and genuinely fails. There is no backtracking, no reinterpreting the prophecy, no finding another way to fulfill it. Lisle then takes the opportunity to point out the obvious fallacy in most fantasy works. A prophecy that says "If the quest is completed, you can defeat the enemy" does not say anything about what happens if the quest is not completed. The fact that the prophecy failed does not doom the heroes to defeat- it merely means they aren't guaranteed victory.
Even if a work of fantasy fiction does not include any special conceptual innovations, it can still be interesting. The characters' quirks and foibles, the author's sense of humor, and the details of the plot all provide opportunities to catch the reader's imagination. A story that happens to take place in a "fantasy" setting need not have a typical fantasy plot. Some writers like George R. R. Martin focus more on character interactions and intrigue. Martin's work is more reminiscent of V.C. Andrews than it is of other fantasy writers. Even within the confines of the fantasy genre, Martin manages to develop a wide variety of interesting characters. While Martin's soap opera-like drama reminds me of V.C. Andrews, he is a much more skillful and creative writer with a broader understanding of human behavior and relationships. While Andrews endlessly recycles the same meek, tortured girls and weak, self-absorbed men over and over, Martin invents people with realistic strengths and weaknesses. Tomboyish Araya, bitter, deformed Tyrion, and the gentle outcast Jon Snow all remain clear in mind years after reading "A Clash of Kings".
Whatever setting an author chooses, be it a spaceship, a fantasy world, the wild west, or modern day reality, he will be challenged to come up with a story that will interest jaded readers who are saturated with entertainment. With so many books, movies, TV shows, and games, we've "see it all", "heard it all", and "read it all". At this particular instant in time, people are perhaps weary of the fantasy genre, having glutted on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. However, in a few years that sense of ennui will fade, and people will once again be able to enjoy a book that happens to fall in the fantasy genre.
Learn more about this author, Raven Lebeau.
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