[Bardos]

So he doesn't have symbolism. Just uses mythology. I'm glad we agree http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[yurisverdlov]

RE: "So he doesn't have symbolism. Just uses mythology. I'm glad we agree"

Right. But my previous "Winkie" suggested that the author's view may not always be correct, especially with symbolism. When any author writes, s/he draws content from within. Novels and screenplays are, in a sense, "the stuff that dreams are made of," and this stuff can be highly symbolic, regardless of the author's intent.

-- John Morrison

[Habeed]

The best Fantasy I have ever seen, by a LONG margin, is the "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin.

Anyway, his style is very concise. He only gives details when they are relevant to the plot. For instance, he only describes all the ice and snow in the Northern scenes when the characters are freezing their rears off. He only describes the elaborate feasting in a wedding scene where one of the characters will be poisoned.

Look at Martin if you want to see how things are done : you can't go wrong there.

Jordan does the opposite, however he does quite well because he doesn't let the story lag unlike certain other fantasy authors I know of.

[Bardos]

Yep --I like Martin's style too!
And the way his dialogue goes; there are no endless (3-4 paragraph) thoughts in between, so you never get bored.
I do the same in my writing, so perhaps this is why I like it...! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Strange Angel]

In my opinion, it cuts both ways, but description to an SFF story is as important to a writer as throwing up when you drink too much. I do a lot of critiquing through Critters and iPublish, and the first knock I'll give a story is if there's no description of characters or setting. Granted, infodumps are boring, but no description at all, IMHO, is almost as bad and sometimes worse. The good writers strike a balance by being both evocative and economical, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are very good at setting scenes without long passages.

-PonyBoy- www.fool-cola.com (http://www.fool-cola.com)