Fantasy Book Club discussion

Fantasy Wish List

Like many people out there, I’m a huge fan of fantasy! Besides writing fantasy, I’m an avid reader. I read lots of different books by many different authors. Lately I’ve had questions popping into my mind. What do fantasy fans like best? What do you want more of, less of? Why do you read fantasy? What is it you love about the genre?

Do you want more dragons, or less dragons, more trilogies, or stand-alone books? Do you want traditional fantasy settings, like a medieval kingdom, or something new?

Let’s call it a fantasy wish list! What’s on yours?

Thanks for sharing :)

Best wishes,
James

Dragons - yes (I've read all the Temeraire books and the Age of Fire series and Pern); urban fantasy (Cal Leandros, Harry Dresden etc), elves and fairies. Pretty much anything as long as it's well-written.

James wrote: "Fantasy Wish List

Like many people out there, I’m a huge fan of fantasy! Besides writing fantasy, I’m an avid reader. I read lots of different books by many different authors. Lately I’ve had ques..."

What's on yours?

Series - lots of books one series - preferably one that gets better.. too much to ask?

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "James wrote: "Fantasy Wish List

Like many people out there, I’m a huge fan of fantasy! Besides writing fantasy, I’m an avid reader. I read lots of different books by many different authors. Lately..."

Whoops! I guess I did forget to mention my wish list!

I'd like to see more stand-alone books, or have recurring characters on new adventures. I like series, but it can get frustrating to wait years (or even decades!) for the series to end.

I do love the traditional medieval setting, but I also love to find new realms. Either a different setting altogether, or a medieval setting told in a new way :)

Dragons are cool, but new creatures can be exciting!

Finally, the reason I read fantasy is because I love escaping to a new and completely different world, or a familiar one with a cool twist :)

So I guess when you read through my answers, you'll see that while I love traditional fantasy I long for something new!

Magic, dragons, wizards, and all the usual creatures. Trilogies seem to work for me well. And definitely a medieval-feeling setting (cause dragons just wouldn't seem right otherwise). The only thing I don't like is the 20 letter long names that authors give their characters, especially if there are a lot of them, just too hard to keep track of if it is not easy to pronounce in my head :)

Good writing, fresh plots (or the old ones well-disguised) interesting characters - especially wizards. I don't care for series if you have to start at the beginning to understand them. But if the book is so good I am sorry to see it end then a sequel is called for.

I know what you mean Kim, sometimes the long names can be frustrating.

And I'm with you Barbm1020, if I'm sorry to see a book end then I definitely want a sequel!

I like series or at least trilogies. Stand alone books end too soon, and the longer the better in my opinion.

I tend to like trilogies because of the depth in them and they aren't usually slow in places like some of the really long series are. I also like stories that make me think. The elements in them are not important to me. I like both new stuff and traditional fantasy fare but it has to be well written and the beginning needs to grab me right off the start.

Fast paced, magic, wizards, witches,the odd romance,and like barb,if its good definitely a series..I am sure ill find something else to add later.

Did you edit that book, RV? 'Cause your name/initials are the same as the editor's! Fancy that! Nice & subtle, though...

^lol

I noticed it too. Funny how the post-ads always stand out.

My bad, then. It looked like a heck of a coincidence.

My favorite books are ones where a wizard/mage/magic user is the main character. I think it would be interesting to take the traditional Master wizard takes on new pupil, pupil struggles before surpassing the Master and tell it only from the Master's perspective. In general they are always busy with other things on top of teaching, how do they deal with their pupils struggles? What's it like protecting the realm from harm while teaching an impudent child the art of magic?

Nobody's ever asked me before...

I love high fantasy, feudal lords, dragon fire, pointy wizard hats, finding the sacred object in order to save the world. All tried and true, but ordinary.

I want new settings, and I want characters that have new lives adapted to those settings. Whether it's space, or post-armageddon, or the future, or the past, or a city in the sky, or a city underwater, or a civilization spawned in the bowels of a creature that lives in a civilization in the bowels of another creature, I want different, thoughtful, meaningful. I want foes that represent things real people fight, and I want conflicts that represent real challenges, and I want allegories and metaphors and allusions to great literature.

I want more great fantasy literature.

I want more stand-alone novels that speak for themselves. I can't hate on series. I am very glad some of my favorite stories lasted book after book after thick thick book so the escapism never needed end. But when packaged neatly in one book a story can be a vehicle for an idea, and it can end, and it can be great.

And it can still have dragons.

dragons, sorcery, dark castles, swords and magical items and a world of true fantasy

I would like to see something based in reality that would use some of the magic of quantum physics and chemistry to make a novel system of magic, only more fantasy based than science fiction. Or perhaps using psychedelic substances as a magic system , Like Timothy Leary and Terrence McKenna are proven right there really are self transforming machine elves from hyperspace trying to talk to me in my brain and they have things to teach. Guns and other technology would have to be cleverly removed from the equation. Not much of a battle when you can just shoot the bad guys. ( no offence Roland ;)). Maybe I should just write it myself, but as you can probably tell from this post my writing sucks ass. Oh well I'll just keep imagining.

Dude fractal machine elves needs to be written.

Mostly I don't care so much about the specifics anymore. I want a author who can write characters, can make an interesting setting, and can write drama. A touch of philosophy and poetry as well, and that to me is a masterpiece. Sadly much of what is written fail on some if not all of these things... But maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy, who knows.

I wish there were more stand-alones. Everything is a trilogy these days.

Jon Snow wrote: "I wish there were more stand-alones. Everything is a trilogy these days."

You can thank Lord of the Rings ending up being a trilogy.

Kevin wrote: "You can thank Lord of the Rings ending up being a trilogy."

Technically, I don't think it was LotR so much as the first wave of Tolkien emulators that established the trilogy as the form -- Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. Tolkien wrote a single story that was just too long to be bound in a single volume at the time; it was the later waves that really formalized the trilogy as a thing.

I also like to see a mix of emotions in fantasy stories: some drama, maybe some angst or romance and DEFINITELY humour... I think that gets left out far too often.

For me, the important thing about reading fantasy books (and what makes me want to keep reading) is their ability to transport me. It might be characters that I can particularly relate to, or a world that it is really well and consistently described. When all these elements come together I want to read more and more by the same author, set in the same world, so I love great series.

Having said that, I think every book should work on its own - there's nothing more guaranteed to put me off a series than getting to the end of the first book and finding that I will have to buy another before any of the main unresolved plot points will be addressed.

In my opinion, a great fantasy story can have all sorts of tropes in it, or it can have tons of new ideas; but the tale must be told in a way that is internally consistant. Essentially, if a fantasy world is presented where X is the main fantastic element, how do people who live in this world react to X? How does it affect their lives? Does X have a spill-over effect on the major philosophies of the world, the education system, the class system, the economic systems, ect? Basically, what I want to see is that the fantastic elements of the story be treated in as realistic a manner as possible, no matter how unrealistic the fantastic elements themselves may be.

S.J. wrote: "I also like to see a mix of emotions in fantasy stories: some drama, maybe some angst or romance and DEFINITELY humour... I think that gets left out far too often."

Yes, humor would be nice - but intelligent humor, not slapstick comedy.
BTW, did any of you read the Locus speculative fiction reading list for 2012: http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2013...

More angst and drama, yes.

And thieves.

Lots and lots of thievery.

I don't like stand alones. You don't get any time with the character to know exactly where he is coming from and his motivations.
But I don't like long running series either. 3-5 books max before the over arcing storyline is complete (ASoIaF was supposed to be a trilogy).

But as for my wish list: Gay main characters that aren't stereotypes, the bad guy or almost insane. And I would prefer if they made it to the end of the series alive and have some kind of relationship other than "I love the main character so i am going to stand by him even though he doesnt love me back!"
Less angst would be good.
Oh and another Furies of Calderon but without the Zerg. the Zerg just wrecked it for me.
Cool, complex magic systems! I love reading about magic systems especially when the character is learning about it at the same time you are!
oh and cool cultures. Ones that make sense but don't mirror any of the major, known societies.
but Mostly gay main characters. yea, i'd be easy to please but no one writes them.

Bryek wrote: "I don't like stand alones. You don't get any time with the character to know exactly where he is coming from and his motivations.
But I don't like long running series either. 3-5 books max before ..."

You should check out Iron Council by China Mieville. A couple of the main characters are gay and in my opinion are not stereotypical.

Hmm Dragons, wizards/magic, intrigue, murder, and sometimes romance.

New twists are good but sometimes the familiar is great as well.

Believable characters:)

Wish list:
- More well-written heroes who are actually good people who you root for...err...for whom you root...(More like Tolkien and less like Martin)
- Stories that do not repeat the same tired cliche over and over again (Please, no more elves unless you can truly make them different. This means you, Paolini and Brooks!)
- Consistent and fantastical worldbuilding (like in The Way of Kings or really any of Sanderson's books)
- Strong female characters (Why aren't there more of these? Seriously, fantasy, get with the program)

Other than that, just generally an emphasis on credibility. Don't have the stormtroopers never hit anything, and don't make your villain an idiot. Do the little things right. Don't count on the ignorance of your fans to float you through BS-ing your way out of research.

I love noble characters ... dragons... damsels that can fight for themselves when needed but still enjoy being rescured, and lots of awesome battle scenes.

Wow. This is really encouraging, you guys. Just finished an MS, and have been wondering where to submit it, since it crosses two genres. Some of you've given me hope that there are fantasy fans out there to whom it might appeal. More agents to submit to is always a good thing... Thanks.

I love unique magic systems as well. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed the Mistborn and Lightbringer series. Anyone know of any other original systems like these?

Other books by the same authors (Brandon Sanderson and Brent Weeks, respectively) are pretty good with their magic systems. Also the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss has a pretty cool magic system. Those are the main ones I can think of.

What I rellly want in my fantasy is consistency. I can't stand authors who clearly haven't read their own book. The magic should be logical, you shouldn't be able to whip something up that violates the laws of the universe, the backstory should be consistent, I really hate this one how can someone not remember the history of the characters?

I suppose I want a world I can lose myself in, and every time I see inconsistancy I am thrown out of the world. Sometimes I want to help edit books so I can stop authors from it. To me it is shoody writing that is more interested in money than telling a story (I'm looking at you, Lackey).

But my wife also tells me I'm weird this way.

Ben wrote: "Wish list:
- More well-written heroes who are actually good people who you root for...err...for whom you root...(More like Tolkien and less like Martin)
- Stories that do not repeat the same tired ..."

Have you read Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage series? First gay character in a fantasy novel that I had read, personally. Although the whole living to the end . . . *cringes* Not everybody does.

And in general, I find it heartening that people want to see more standalones. I think writers should offer both to their readers. Sometimes I just want a standalone. Once I know I like a writer, then I'm more ready to jump into a series.

I'm still mad at Robert Jordan.

eck, I havent read it and really don't want to. A hero who is interested in clothes... I get dressed in the dark by grabbing whatever is on top of the pile...
I know there is more to this character but he is really stereotypical and I wanna see something more... human.

I want something that wasn´t created before.
Dragons, witches and warlocks, elves and whatever not... I want something you haven´t included in fantasy book yet. Can you give it?

How about a stand alone non medieval fantasy with characters so uniqe that you have a hard time follow it? Fantasy with previously not created dimension, with characters that don´t give a glimpse to sex, eating/drinking/death?

Lára wrote: "I want something that wasn´t created before.
Dragons, witches and warlocks, elves and whatever not... I want something you haven´t included in fantasy book yet. Can you give it?

How about a stand ..."

What do you mean about "don't give a glimpse"?

lol I think I wrote a book that fits this description.