[Rupert Avery]

A lot of times authors use their books to convey there own beleifs on god,life or whatever.I just wanted to know if anyone out there has ever changed the way they looked at something after reading a Fantasy book.I Know I have question a few things about our real world religions after reading a few books.

[Liselle]

Definitely yes. Usually, when I finish a really good book, or a series, it is like waking up from a long and wonderful dream, an I see everything in a different light.

[drakon]

you might find this stupid but when I was younger ( not that I'm that old) I read Douglas Adams The Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy series.After the first time I read it I was in such a great mood for so long that I have made it a habbit to re-read it once a year after that (I have stoped doing that for quite some time now but I might just read it since you brougt up the subject). It made me look on things with much more humor and relaxation and I seriously think that it has changed something in me, or maybe it just brought out something that was always in me but had a fear of fresh air so it decided to stay inside for a long time. In anycase I don't claim it's a serious phylosophical book but I highly recomend it even if just for the luaghes in it, and there are plenty of those.

[This message has been edited by drakon (edited December 19, 2000).]

[Pluvious]

Oh yes, definately.

Once, there was this time I learned a valuable lesson about women from a book. I recognized that being understanding and a generally good guy isn't enough. So, after this girl was nagging at me and treating me like I was dirt I took my heron-marked blade and stabbed her clean through her black heart. It was funny because nobody around at the time seemed to care.

Hmm...should I have told everyone about this?

[Cadfael]

Oh boy... gonna leave myself wide open here...

In one of the Narnia books, a mouse called Rippercheep, sails into the sunset, never to be seen again, I was upset for ages about this... okay I was only 10 at the time, but it sticks in my mind

[pooh]

I would hope that the best books always challenge us--and that it's possible for writing to reach us even through genre work.

As Shakespearean scholars know, even the Bard wrote for the mainstream. And he used traditional forms to do it.

Don't get me started on how Mozart chose his topics from those interesting to the masses.

On the other hand, though we've seen interesting stories and concepts in fantasy, I'd submit we haven't seen the great writers yet. Whether it's a limitation of the form or of its age, most fantasy seems to focus more on place than on character.

Character is what makes stories interesting to me. I want to know about what people do--not just about where they live. It's the choices they make, their moral codes, that speak to me. And how far sometimes from their codes they fall.

As we fall far too often in life.

[Lani]

I think that every good book is supposed to get some new thought out of its reader. I don't mean that book supposed to be a philosophia(sp?) one, but the idea in a book should be more than killing evil tyrant over there http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif
Well, I believe I read some very good books and they did change the way, maybe in a minor way, the way I look at things. So, what happens after you read 30 good books?

[Thoughtcriminal84]

I don't know that my core beliefs have ever been seriously challenged by a "Fantasy" book...but they have certainly been shaped. For example, the first time I read 1984, (which is just as much fantasy as science fiction in my opinion) I was scared spitless. The idea of how a fantastic system of control such as was presented there sent me to the library to study up on some things: psychology (B.F. skinner and others need no introduction here, i suppose) philosophy (Nietzche, what can you say? most fantasy is based somewhat on some of his ideas of the "superman"...what is Rand al'thor, Richard Rahl, or even Gandalf?) and politics (I love Hunter S. Thompson).
I guess one thing that I pick up from works such as that is the desire to know more...and that, more than anything, is what makes a person believe one way or the other about a given topic.

As far as pure fantasy, I am an avid reader of it, but I believe that it needs to "grow up" in many ways before it starts challenging folks in such a way. There are already pokes in that direction already...George R. R. marten and his recent works present often times morally ambigious characters, and in the thinking of "what would I do if I were there" you might be more inclined to actually question your beliefs in these "more mature" situations.

However, I don't think that even the work of marten or say, robin hobb, comes close to the level of presenting you with truly thought provoking questions...maybe the genre as a whole can't, by it's very nature. The entire "good vs. evil" thing is a elegant and wonderful literary device, but in the context of fantasy, it's been left too shallow...

Once again operating on only coffee and ramon, the guy writing this may not be making any sense, and that's A-okay. a mentat i'm not...

[Metosblat]

After reading Eddings' belgariad series i started to talk like Prince Kheldar (silk). It seemed like a fun thing to do at the time.
you'll be releived to know that i no longer do this.

[Pluvious]

Pooh, I tend to agree with you that fantasy deals too often with place at the expense of character. Although George Martin does have some characters, as thoughtcriminal points out. One of the things I attribute this too is that fantasy is such a difficult field to write well in, even without considering character depth or development.

To be a fantasy writer you really have to focus on creating a world, which is quite an undertaking in itself. To do this well, and to have an original world is a solid accomplishment. And I think that because authors spend much of their time on a world, it is VERY easy to gloss over the importance of strong characters.

Look at most novels which discuss real world situations, including relationships, happiness, tragedy, or whatever. Often these works are totally devoted to character and how character dictates plot. Many simply start with a character and develop the plot from a simple situation or idea. This to me seems to make things much easier for the non-fantasy writer to acheive character depth.

Not that I am excusing the fantasy writer from what he should be doing. But I believe this has much to do with the kind of fantasy we have seen to this point. I for one can only hope that it improves, and that readers continue to demand more from the genre.