What do you like to see in fantasy novels

[Lux]

Hello fellow fantasy writers and readers.

What do you like to see in fantasy novels?

A certain race like elves or dwarves?

A certain creature like a pgasus or dragon?

A certain setting like a castle or a desert?

Any interesting plot?

Let the discussion commence!

[Volt]

Accurate sarcastic degenerations of reality and its elements. I always admired reading, in both fantasy and sci-fi, about various, unimaginable things in different worlds, which actually are nothing more but parodies of current world.

Example? T. Pratchett and his sophisticated definition of democracy. "The political system of Ankh-Morpork is described as "One Man, One Vote," in which Vetinari alone is the Man, and he has the Vote."

But, heading a bit more towards the essence of questions. You've mentioned dragons. I always felt that fantasy lacks dragons heavily. But I'm not talking here about pets, cooperating with their masters or even with humans at all, like in "Eragon". I'm not talking about bloodthirsty monsters who ravage the skies only searching for victims either, always being seen as worst. Possible. THING.

I really regret there's so little written fantasy where you can find them as mighty and powerful race, that remains more or less neutral for Christ sake. The wisdom and knowledge is an arguable matter, depending on the type of fantasy. If the dragons were to play a significant role in story, they shall possess those features. So what that they'd be nearly godly creatures? Wisdom and knowledge. Thank you. But otherwise, they'd be mentioned as creatures powerful, yet careful/territorial for example.

I assume you're just searching for some ideas, but that issue is just stuck in my heart .-.

[Tempest Rime]

Personally, I like it when a fantasy book is able to create a setting that actually differs a lot from the standard fare. When they can create something with a rich and fantastic setting without resorting to the same old elves, humans, dwarves, wizards, kings, and dragons. The His Dark Materials books are a brilliant example of this, though I'd advise avoiding the movie, as it was rather disappointing.

I also love it when they take some of the overused ideas and try to actually show how those can affect the setting. The Vlad Taltos books, for example, have fairly easy to come by resurrection magic, and it drastically changes how many people feel about hiring the main character, an assassin. It actually looks at the oft-overlooked social implications of being able to bring back the dead and applies them to the setting.

And then there are books that take the traditional pulp fantasy elements and poke fun at them. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, for instance, is an absolutely hilarious twist on the standard knights and dragons and wizards, and of as mentioned above, the Discworld books offer a wonderful deconstruction of nearly any fantastic story element you can think of, from fairies to vampires to the phantom of the opera to eldritch horrors to religion itself.

And of course, there's always room for a grand, epic tale that doesn't stray too far from the standard. Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire, for example, are fairly standard settings (though in the case of LotR, that's because the setting Tolkien created actually BECAME the standard), but they are so vibrant and detailed that they really come alive and feel unique in spite of the familiar elements.

But then again, there's ALSO something to be said for the lighthearted pulp fantasy stories too. The SERRAted Edge series, or the Dresden Files are both fairly standard modern-fantasy settings without a lot of real weight behind them, but they make for fun, easy, light reading. They are self-aware enough that they can avoid taking themselves too seriously, but they don't go as far as dissolving into actual parodies of themselves either, in spite of the sheer ridiculousness of their settings. Oh, and of course I can't forget the Harry Potter books, they may be easy to read, but it takes an incredibly skilled writer to make a story that's both light and so coherent at the same time.

[weesh]

I agree that a powerful dragon should not feel the need to lord over the world or attempt to destroy everything. Does it really make sense that a creature large enough to take out an entire castle in caviler fashion would fly into a frenzy at the smallest insult? Or that a wise being would even want to rule the world?

"The Blood of a Dragon" is a short novel that explores that theme. Sure there are young dragons that are too weak to fight back, but the older ones answer to nobody. Neither do they feel compelled to destroy.

The other stories by Lawrence Watt-Evans are interesting as well.

First and foremost, the plot (must offer redemption) and characters (must grow) should be strong. But if you have that, then I am looking for one unique aspect of the world that shapes how everything is done. I don't want a lot of such things, since it would get distracting, but one or two can really push a novel up to the top tier for me.

"The Journeys of Mcgill Feighan" series, for instance, is a four book series that focuses on a character that has the ability to teleport beings and material across the galaxy. The thing that made it unique was the fact that doing such a thing was his tedious and repetitive job. Sure the book focused on the more exciting aspects of his story and abilities, but that unique part made him easy to relate to, and was in the background of much of the conflict.

The "Jhereg" series of novels is my favorite. It has the character, and the plot, but there is one aspect of the world created by Brust that hits it out of the park: The well fleshed out houses of nobles. Everything revolves around them, each has a clear, strong theme that is worth exploring in detail. In fact, each of his books in the series (with one exception) unpacks a different house. Amazingly, the writing flows around these important houses without letting them detract from the story.

Edit: ninja'ed! "Jhereg" is the first of the "Vlad Taltos" novels described by Tempest.

[Davroth]

I read a lot of fantasy literature, but as such, I grew really, really tired of straight fantasy, so I instead turn to fantasy novels with either an ironic twist to them, or an unusual setting.

As an example, as already mentioned, everything Terry Pratchett wrote, because he's very clever about using real world elements in his fantasy novels for comedic effect.

As a different example, there are novels like MogWorld (though I don't really know if there is a similar novel), where the idea of NSCs in a MMORPG developing consciousness is explored, told from the perspective of one of those NSCs.

Finally, I really like what novels like the Nightwatch series does, taking fantastic elements and blending them with our current world. Neil Gaiman is pretty good with that, too, for example in Neverwhere, and American Gods.

[LeafyGreene]

I've found the 'Urban Fantasy' of recent years to be one of the more interesting varieties of alternate realities to read about. The juxtaposition of modern cities and the extension of the fantastic into them is just my current fixation, as i have also found Medieval Fantasy (such as LOTR) to be extremely enjoyable, and Steampunk to be surprisingly refreshing to switch to on occasion.

The various interpretations of the Fae are sometimes amusing, and i do have certain authors whose works in that genre are a staple of my library. Alternate worlds (aka change of historical events) are also a nice break. Perhaps that's why i enjoy so much of the fanfic of MLP:FIM...

[SuperWriter]

I quite enjoy it when a fantasy story is able to take an interesting approach to the genre. It can play into cliches, as long as it's fun and creative enough to keep me interested. For example, dwarves mining for ore, is a common cliche, but perhaps explaining further that a certain kind of ore can power a machine capable of bringing rain to a desert will help make the world more emersive.

Another pet peeve of mine is deconstructing a genre and forgetting the part where it's supposed to be fun. This is most prevalent in comic books, where they just portray the heroes as punching bags, jerks or both, I'm looking at you Kick-Ass. Though on the opposite end, are those stories that play it so safe it feels like everything is covered in bubble wrap and the characters are nothing more than sock puppets played by some overly conservative soccer mom forcing there morals down my throat, I'm looking at you every movie I was forced to watch in Elementary School. What I'm trying to say is, characters and worlds need to be flawed to be interesting, but also have enough redeeming qualities to make me root for them.

One of my favorite aspects though, are what is not explained. Star Wars episodes 4-6 established the force as this mysterious power used by the Jedi, Darth Vader was once a good guy but turned towards the dark side because unexplained drama, and the Storm Troopers where just a neat design for a mook that needs some practice at a shooting range. I don't know about you guys, but for me the whole thing with the medichlorites (or whatever they were called/spelled), Vader's boring and annoying back story, and the Storm Troopers all being clones of the same guy just took so much of the wonder and mythos away from it, that I have trouble watching the original when all I notice is the the Storm Troopers are now lower than mooks, they by story telling aspect don't even have faces.

After typing this out, I have realized that this is why I love FiM. Cliches are given interesting twists while new concepts are constantly being presented. It deconstructed the girly merchandise driven show genre and then reconstructed it into a fantastic series with a world matching it's fleshed out characters, and most of all, it leaves a LOT to the imagination, hence 99% of the fan-made material.