SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm dating myself but as I peer across the cover art of all the fantasy novels that I have read I can't stop but think of all the wonderful adventures they have provided me. On the flip side, there have been very few modern fantasy novels that have entrapped me in the same way.

So offer up this question, the genre of fantasy has evolved what's your take on its evolution?

Tolkein set the model for so much fantasy to follow, Rothfuss came out with a unique take. How do you see its evolution in storytelling?

Hmm...I'm not sure I see those as the touchstones. Tolkien for sure, I think he started a wave of fantasy that lasted for 30 years, but other than that I think there's a few things at work though. I think we do have fads--there was antihero for a bit and contemporary romance fantasy for awhile then grimdark and now it's very militant/dystopic--and I think we have nostalgia. When we are young, we have no basis of comparison, and therefore suspension of disbelief and willingness to follow a story that moves us is easier. As we age and get more cynical/well-read, we start analyzing more and analysis is the death of joy. I have found lots to love, but young me was like "she talks to horses, this is the best book in the world!" While now-me wants to discuss what it is that makes us yearn to speak to innocent animals lol.

So, I think there are phases built around marketing, (Even what I have is an oversimplification--there were lots and lots of trends with very few rulebreakers in between) due to publishing trends and the fact that most writers in a genre know of other popular authors in that genre, and then I think the rest is us growing as readers.

I agree, I have gone back and re-read some stories I loved as young me and realized the wonderfull memories of the story should remain as youthful ones as my mature brain didn't enjoy it the same way.

Your statement: "...young...suspend disbelief..." is true however, I still can re-read many of the fantasy stories that have captured my love for the genre and they hold true with me today. The Hobbit, Magician (apprentice/master), The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and more recent publication by Rothfuss which I literally couldn't put down but much of the fantasy genre I've read recently has fallen short to entrap me. The Black Prism, Gardens of the Moon. The Gray Knight has promise I'm reading it now.

I might agree with you in regards to high fantasy but IMO urban, portal, magical realism, have all been far more creative and thought provoking than 30 years ago.

Well-said, Allison. When I think of what I enjoyed so much when I was a teenager and young adult, for example, I know I probably would not like them nearly as much now. But I'm really, really glad they're in my history. They were good for me then, and built a foundation (or added to the even earlier foundation from younger childhood) that has enabled me to both find and appreciate the things I read now.

Trends definitely guide what's available, because publishers must pay attention to them and filter what they ask for and accept; also what people even think to write. Trends are also hugely influenced by the public mind. Politics, environmental concerns (particularly of disaster), race relations, equality, sexual identity, etc., loom large in public commentary & conversation, so a lot of new books are focused on these. It becomes harder to find books *not* following current trends, regardless of how popular they recently were or how much you like that style.

So the evolution of books/fantasy is more moving around in circles or from side to side, than a wholesale movement upwards or into more interesting territory. There is a lot more variety available now, despite that though, overall - including everything that has already been published - so we are benefited by that.

The fantasy genre seems to be massively popular nowadays, probably more so than ever before, which has to be a considerable factor.