1 of 19

Write now Article Tools

I have mixed feelings about the fantasy genre as a whole, in all honesty. Some of it represents fine writing and some of it, not so much. It's not as though I dislike the genre either. I write and read within the genre myself. It's just that I get frustrated with it a lot of the time and for the same reasons the genre is a laughing stock and looked down upon. I believe many of those tired of the cliches and recycled ideas from other books can relate to this. Actually, should I take it a step further and say recycled ideas from the genre?

No, because that would be unfair. It would be unfair to those who have written and are writing good books within the genre. They surely do not copy the age-old formula of young farm boy is prophesised, fights the dark lord and saves the world while not getting one scratch throughout the entirety of the book.

As an example of what I mean: how many can say George R.R Martin's, Scott Bakker's, Steven Erikson's, and Greg Keyes' books follow the path set by other books? I wager there isn't many, if any at all.

Actually, Greg Keyes' work has one cliche element in the sense that there is a young princess seemingly destined to fight the gathering evil. But, even that is not negative enough to warrant a strike against it. The world is unique, the language of the characters has unique phrases and the creatures inhabiting the world are all his own. The series is also more human dominated.

Their works are breathtaking in scope and completely adult in nature. There is none of this kiddie quest to defeat the dark lord stuff present in them. They are also intelligent books and have meaning. They make you think about philosophy, the characters, the world and the messages they try to convey.

What's more, the races are also unique. You get a fresh feel from reading them. No elves in sight. How many can say they pick up a book with elves in and get a fresh feel? When I pick up a book with them in, I already feel as though I've read the book despite not even opening the book to glance at the first page.

What the fantasy genre needs:

It needs to get out of this mentality that elves/dwarves/dragons and all the rest = money. A winning formula.

It also needs to stop publishing the rubbish that gives the genre a bad name, so the children and teenagers grow up wanting to write stories without them. Young writers in my view use them mainly because they've grown up with them.

At the very least if we can't stop the cliches from appearing; we need more authors

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Reflections on Fantasy writing?
We want to hear your view. Write now!