Perhaps the greatest problem that is being omitted, or is not being thoroughly discussed, is the future of fantasy fiction. It seems that whenever I pick up a fantasy novel, by an author I am unfamiliar with, I almost always find that nearly 10% of those books I pick up to read their summaries, I find it to not be real fantasy. And what I mean bby that is that they contain no traditional qualities. Newer fantasy series out today can be readily confused sometimes with science-fiction. Fantasy has lost it roots. I love to read about characters with human-like abilities (with an aspect of magic of course), who are put up to achieve and insurmountable task, which they are able to solve by their own means. And I certainly love the setting and plot that the fantasy takes place (preferably medieval times), but now it seems that every book I pick up I find a tragic surprise. Its either that the fantasy takes place too far in the future( I once read a fantasy that took place in the year 3000), or the land that the setting is set is not really from the authors own imagination, but some alternate land or continent such as Europe or Asia.
And then some fantasies actually want to take away the one true attribute that makes a fantasy a fantasy. The magic. I can not name all the books that I’ve read where magic has been omitted, and the characters are just plain -ordinary-you-and-I -kind -of -folks. That really angers me, and places a bad rep. on the many other beautifully written fantasies. Then there is the case with the over-exposure to politics, but hey, don’t get me wrong, I love it, and think its a wonderful atribute. But if its done to a hideous extreme( as L.E. Modesitt, J.r. does) then it really loses anyone’s interest. It destroys the story, and literally makes the reader throw the book down in digust and fustration. The old-fashioned, but polished theme, of the protaganist saving his kingdom or the world from distrest. while in the mean time falling in love with the most beautiful princess, has been lost and nearly forgotten by now main-stream and science-fiction-fantasy mingled generes that are on the shelves. I truly believe that if this problems is not brought to a quick remedy in the near future, then it’ll certainly be a problem for traditional fantasy readers.
You can email Antavius S. Flagg at [email protected].
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