Are there any new ideas for fantasy writers?
The Apostate
I've more or less stopped buying fantasy novels by new authors mainly
because there seems to be little novelty about them. (ALthough a trip to the
local library can find me some new ones.) Is this because there is a finite
set of ideas that can be used? Is it that my local bookshop only sells what
will sell? Or is it that authors only write what will sell?
What new ideas could be developed? (Blue stones are banned.)
--
The Apostate
Out on Parole from RL
Joanne
You could try having a browse on Amazon - I've found some
intriguing new authors on there - mostly female, mostly American,
without British publishing contracts.
Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy has found it's way right to
the top of my loved books list, but there are plenty of others such as
Deborah Chester and Patricia Briggs. I've also just started Trudi
Canavan's Black Magicians trilogy. She's an Aussie.
Welcome back, BTW, nice to read you again.
--
Aglaranna
Commit acts of random kindness and senseless beauty.
William Marnoch
<apos...@goodstadt.co.uk> wrote:
>Okay lets start a new thread.
>
>I've more or less stopped buying fantasy novels by new authors mainly
>because there seems to be little novelty about them. (ALthough a trip to the
>local library can find me some new ones.) Is this because there is a finite
>set of ideas that can be used? Is it that my local bookshop only sells what
>will sell? Or is it that authors only write what will sell?
There are some very original fantasy books out there, they just happen
to be in the minority. I think in most genres the majority of books
published will be fairly generic and with little new to say, Fantasy
in particular suffers a bit (in terms of originality) from the
perception many people have that Fantasy books inevitably have to be
Tolkienesque Epic Fantasy Quest Series set in a quasi-Medieval
European landscape. A lot of the biggest selling Fantasy novels
conform to that stereotype to some extent so they tend to take up a
lot of shelf space in bookshops. It is slightly unfortunate that the
more original authors (say, Tim Powers or Steph Swainston or M John
Harrison) get a bit lost in the mountain of Epic Fantasys. There's
nothing wrong with a well-executed Epic Fantasy, even one that doesn't
really bring anything original to the genre, but I'd rather it didn't
take over the whole genre in the way that it has.
>What new ideas could be developed? (Blue stones are banned.)
>--
>The Apostate
--
William Marnoch
wil...@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk
ICQ:77848483
Jehanneton
say...
> What new ideas could be developed? (Blue stones are banned.)
OK, if I had any new ideas I'd be a fantasy writer :-> As far as new
authors go, I can thoroughly recommend Jennifer Fallon. Her first series,
The Harshini trilogy starts out seeming pretty reminiscent of Eddings,
but develops into something different. She's just published a prequel
trilogy which is great, too (starts with Wolfblade, I think). Her other
series, the Second Sons trilogy (starts with The Lion of Senet) is
terrific, and is much darker and Machivellian in nature. It has more
convolutions than a bowl of spaghetti and is really interesting in that
you begin to doubt the intentions of all sides of the struggle and wonder
with whom your alleigance as the reader should lie. It's excellent- and
pretty original, really. I know the Harshini trilogy has been published
in the UK- not sure about the rest. She's an Aussie author.
I have to say that I've really turned right away from fantasy
lately,limiting my purchases to the few tried and tested authors. I'm
reading more non-fiction and more crime- I've jumped on the forensics
bandwagon, I'm afraid.
That said, I'm finally getting around to reading Terry Brooks' Voyage of
the Jerle Shannara trilogy because I was about to get all three for under
AU$20 in ebook for my Palm.
Jeh :-)