The Deterioration of the Fantasy Genre (aka: a plea for recommendations)
November 24th, 2009 at 21:56
I started down the path of being an avid Fantasy reader and fan back in 1997. With the influence of two close internet friends I made the bridge from reading Star Wars novels straight into the Wheel of Time. From that point I explored the ins and outs of the Fantasy genre, discovered some amazing writers and uncovered what it was about Fantasy that made me fall in love with the worlds, plots and especially characters.
By the time I was old enough to start applying for work I only had one job in mind- a bookstore. In fact I had only one bookstore in mind, our local Waldenbooks; and managed to wiggle my way into a position there when I was 16. Eight years later I would joke with my former manager that I could recall the day that he, personally, had sold me the first book in the Wheel of Time. It was 2001 by that point and Fantasy still was a passion of mine.
Fantasy, back in the era of it’s prime, was brilliantly produced and published. There were authors like Jordan, Goodkind, Martin, Eddings, Lackey and many others who had delivered consistently brilliant books that defined and shaped the genre of epic fantasy. For years I moved from one author to another, revisiting my favorites in between, and made good progress through the genre that I had come to call my favorite. Following the deterioration of the Star Wars brand after 1999, I was still a big fan, though not as die-hard as before. Even so, I had thrown over Star Wars for the love of fantasy.
During Fantasy’s Golden age the authors incorporated everything into their writing and presented the package deal; there was action, drama, romance, intrigue, battles and anything else you could think of. But these authors delivered a packaged novel, one that could appeal to both female and male alike and encompassed everything we could ask for and more.
I worked on and off at Waldenbooks between 2001 and present day. During those years I watched as the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section lost it’s shelf space to the every growing Manga section and the Manga generation.
While I can appreciate good artwork I feel like graphic novels are utter fluff with no literary value. Argue, if you will, but their value is purely visual, not literary. But they were (are!) a fad that has managed to steal the thunder of the Fantasy genre. In my previous bookstore they took up an equal amount of space to Fantasy and in my current bookstore it’s only a little less space. Even so this fad has managed to steal vital attention, space and more importantly readers from the Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre that otherwise might have grasped their loyalty.
While Manga began to encroach on the shelf space for Fantasy/Sci-Fi there was an internal battle going on for that space. Epic Fantasy was losing popularity and the new comers to the shelves were primarily Paranormal novels or Militaristic novels. It felt like the male Fantasy genre writers (Cook, Fesit, Modesitt, Marco, etc.) took a path that prompted them to write books with such a strong militaristic presence and plots that lacked the flair, and feminine angle of other Fantasy series. On the other hand it felt like the female authors (Hamilton, Armstrong, Banks, Harrison, Briggs, etc.) gaining shelf space were of the Paranormal sub genre. These were the vampire lovers, the ones who wanted to live in the real world but dabble with fantasy, and they churned out books faster than I could blink.
By 2006 I had become a pessimistic fan of Fantasy. Where were the well rounded books that presented a reader with everything we could ask for? I couldn’t get past the book summary on any of the Paranormal books. I fared a little better with the heavy militaristic books, making it several books in on Modesitt and completing two books for Marco. Even some authors (Eddings, Lackey, and others) that I had loved previously were producing books that I couldn’t quite become involved with.
I came to a realization in 2007 that I had lost faith and interest in the genre.
I continued to purchase novels that I would attempt to read. Some series I made progress with (Berg’s Bridge D’Arnath, Carey’s Kushiel Series) while others I floundered before I could make it halfway into the book (Edding’s Elder Gods, Fiona McIntosh’s Myren’s Gift).
I continue to cling to a little optimism that someday I’ll discover a series I either overlooked, or one newly written, that will capture my attention, love and loyalty like many in the past. In the meantime I’ve learned to wait, with great anticipation, for continuations in series that have not yet let me down (The Wheel of Time, Bishop’s Black Jewels, Snyder’s Study Series).
And now- with some hope- I turn to any and all readers of my review blog. We created the “Request/Suggest” section for two purposes- to interact our readers and for the more selfish reason of hoping to find books that will capture our attentions again.
Request a Review: Use this function to request a review of a novel, or a series, that I’ve already read. This might make me will allow me to revisit something I might have given up on, or something I love and therefore will thank you for!
Suggest a Review: Maybe you think you’ve got a book that will re-establish my love of Fantasy? If so, let me know and suggest it as a novel to review. From this commentary you may have discovered that I’m not a fan of paranormal or militaristic fantasy, monotone writing, and many other things. So maybe you’re wondering what I do like?
- Worlds: The thing I love most about Fantasy is the creative of the worlds, the mythos, the cultures, and the magic. When a writer can truly develop a fully functional, thought out and functional world it’s a work of art.
Examples: Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Bishop’s Black Jewels, Flewelling’s Nightrunner, Lackey’s Valdemar, and several others. - Magic: We all know that the foundation of Fantasy is the magic or those little mystical things that special people can do. When an author can develop a whole new magic class I’m in for the ride. There are only two worlds which have completely blown me away with their creativity and the magic system: Wheel of Time and Black Jewels.
- Plot: I like multi-dimensional plot lines. I love the intricacy of the Fantasy genre where authors spin a web of plots, intrigue, drama and characters. Plot, for me, is more than just the steps and path the novel takes from beginning to conclusion. It’s all those little alleys and back streets that are as compelling and gripping as the main boulevard. For me, a well balanced plot is enough of a reason to read as eries. I like a little romance, drama, intrigue, battles, and twists. The best authors have the ability to weave these all together into a single flowing story.
Examples: Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Snyder’s Study Series, Stackpole & Allston’s Star Wars X-Wing series, and Lackey’s Valdemar. - Characters: Give me a character who I can love to hate or hate to love. Mary Sue’s bore me to tears and any sense of perfection makes me cringe. I like human characters who have faults just like me, and lord knows I have plenty! In short: give me depth and character development.
Examples: Bishop’s Black Jewels, Stackpole & Allston’s Star Wars X-Wing series, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Carey’s Kushiel Series, and Jordan’s Wheel of Time.
Tags: Commentary, Fantasy, Rant
November 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Such a fan of Carey’s Kushiel series, and so thankful you introduced me to Bishop’s works way back in the day – my favorites! Some nice, fluffy but not lousy writing can be found in McCaffrey’s Rowan series. Goes a little more on the sci-fi side but is still lovely. Also there are two books by Joanne Bertin you might like (her only two), but you kinda get left hanging and there’s no finisher third book in sight – but to me, the two are worth it.
I’m grateful there’s a lot in fantasy I haven’t read yet – always leaned more towards sci-fi, so there’s still a lot out there on the fantasy side for me to explore. Though the flow of good fantasy has dwindled, I have faith that we will continue to discover old works that we’ll love, and that new ones will sporadically catch our fancy as well.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Emmi- I agree totally. And I think the Fantasy fan’s biggest asset are other Fantasy fans who have insight to series that may no longer be on the shelves or jumping off of them. We’ll talk more in depth about the books you suggested but I’m definitely willing to add to my ‘to-read’ pile (even if it’s more of a trunk at the foot of my bed by now, haha). Thanks for the feedback <3
December 1st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I agree…I stopped reading true (classic) Fantasy a long time ago. Lloyd Alexander was probably the last I read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Prydain
I was pretty young then, lol… I have been hoping some fantasy would come grab me at some point. Been reading a few of the Desden Files…and though they keep me coming back, I really hate the main character- go figure =/.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
If you’re looking for some suggestions Lynda, let me know. I can provide quite a few that I think will hold your attention. The problem I’m experiencing is expanding from the group I’ve come to love. I’d much rather sit down and re-read the Wheel of Time, the Black Jewels or any of my other beloved series rather than gamble on a new series I know little or nothing about.
I’ve gotten some great feedback based on this blog post- and have purchased and queued several books based on those feedback. I’m hoping that someone just presented me with a brand new series to love.
Thanks everyone!
Ps. Prize goes to James for suggesting a series I’d been waffling on. I picked up the “Prince of Nothing” by R. Scott Bakker a few days ago and hope to start it this weekend.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Bakker will kick your ass. A word of warning: it’s harsh
December 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I’m curious but I can handle harsh and I love a touch of dark to my stories. I read somewhere that he has the kind of atmosphere that Martin does in ASOIF. And that (until Martin decided he wasn’t interested in writing it full time anymore) was one of my more favorite Fantasy series.
December 11th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Fantasy as a genre has been a very bumpy road for me. I am very picky about the “speculative fiction” books I read. Not is an elitist sort of way, I just know what I like. Some of it is quite pulpy, and sort of cheesy, but the overall themes are what grab me.
I think it was probably because of my childhood desire to go to Narnia, but I love portal fiction. Pull some sap out of the Wawa, and thrust him into a Psuedo-medieval land and I will give it a shot. I enjoy the “what the f*** is going on” element to it, and experiencing a mythological land through the eyes of someone I can relate to on some sociological level.
Yet, I am not huge into sword and sorcery, or elves and fairies, unless there is some underlining theme to it I can grasp. I love Martin’s ASOIF series which is full of magic, yet A Game of Thrones had very little and by the time I got to the end a pot smoking unicorn could have appeared to save the day, and I probably still would have read it.
Slowly, I have begun trying to expand the fantasy I read. I love SK’s Dark Tower series, and Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series, but other that that Martin was the first BFF series I have really jumped into.
Some recent Fantasy books I’ve liked:
Scott Lynche’s Locke Lamora Series
Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind
The Dresden Files Books, which are more Urban Fantasy, so not so much world building, but still enjoyable.
For some reason, I have been reading much more scifi, but I just picked up The first book of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series, and will probably start reading that soon.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Hey Bob- thanks for the great contribution and feedback.
I’ve found that “portal” fantasy has had very little impact on me beyond the young adult and children’s fantasy of Narnia or Harry Potter. Perhaps I need to give it a better chance but for me the experience of Fantasy is to be taken away from any bit of the real world. If you have any good portal style fantasy suggestions let me know though, I’d love to read up on them and perhaps add them to my ever growing ‘to-read’ pile.
I definitely enjoyed ASOIF for it’s ease of entrance into the world of magic. However, my standing opinion of ASOIF is that I will not continue to read it until Martin finishes the series. With more than 5 years between books I can’t justify the waiting period and subjecting myself to that.
I don’t know if you’ve read the Wheel of Time, but it would be one of my top suggestions based on what you appreciate about Fantasy.
As for Lynch, Abercrombie and Rothfuss- both of those books are on my to-read pile. In fact my Rothfuss copy is an “Advanced Reader’s Copy” that they send to bookstores to drum up interest with clerks before the book is released.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Stumbled upon your somewhat puzzling entry here late.
So if I read you right Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Murder Mysteries, Watchmn, Blankets, and Maus have no literary value, and are “fluff” except for pretty pictures, while Terry Goodkind, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan produce high art?
Really, Terry Goodkind?
I would suggest that either your just prejudiced against graphic storytelling or just ill-informed.
January 15th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Trey- first of all, welcome to the site, and thanks for joining in the discussion.
In response to your concerns over my dislike, bias or simply ignorance towards Graphic Novels- I would correct you and say that the feelings I have towards that medium is akin to apathy.
My primary complaint against what has become modern Fantasy is that it has become a polarized genre with little value to the storylines and structure presented. Modern was a term I was using loosely to describe for the 21st century, but mostly the latter half of the first decade. So your examples don’t exactly fit. Watchmen was published in 1986 and Sandman was 1989.
I think I mistyped, as it were, when I called upon graphic novels as having no literary value. In my mind I was not referencing the likes of Watchmen or Sandman, but more of the Manga oriented works- that have been massproduced and overstocked. And yes, I am severely prejudiced against Manga as a genre.
That being said.. when it comes to pure graphic novels, and using the examples in your reply.. I would be willing to subtract the term ‘fluff’ from them. I’m still not sold that these have any literary value, as there is very little literary aspect to them, but the storylines are powerful and empowering. Of course that may just be my bias in favor of Gaiman, who is the author of one of my favorite novels (Neverwhere), that has motivated me to change my mind. And while you can compare storylines between Graphic Novels and Fantasy Literature, there is no doubt that the literary value of the writing in Fantasy is above what you could find in Graphic Novels. By this I mean the vocabulary, the phrasing, the descriptions.. and so on and so forth.
Ps. For the record I am not a fan of Goodkind, but that’s neither here nor there.
January 15th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I think liking or disliking graphic novels is more a personal preference than anything else. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but if it’s not your thing, then you aren’t going to enjoy them at all.
I personally like the occasional graphic novel, but I have to agree that their purely literary value is lower than that of a regular novel of equal quality.
January 15th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I could write a book on the comparing fantasy to comics (I don’t call them graphic novels. I’m old school like that.), but that would be completely off topic. I’ll simply say that the two can’t really be compared because the approaches to story telling are, by and large, completely different.
As for the deterioration of fantasy as a genre, I think it could be argued with some success that it’s been going downhill since Lord of the Rings. However, I think it’s easier argued that we’re going through a transitional phase. The recent epics have either ended already or the end is in sight, and there’s nothing yet to fill the void. I blame this on Harry Potter. I’m not judging the Potter books, I’ve read them repeatedly and enjoy them tremendously, but it changed the focus. After Potter, it became about expanding the brand.
Look at the average young adult shelf in your average book store. You’ll see more fantasy there than you will in the fantasy section. Why? Because kids books sell more. There’s the books, the toys, the clothes, and of course, the Holy Grail: the movie. You’ll never see a Wheel of Time movie, it’s too big. They’d neuter it in translation. The only way to tell a story of that magnitude is as a TV show, but Legend of the Seeker shows us how well that works. Hopefully HBO will have better luck with Martin, but seriously, who thought Sword of Truth would work for ABC? But I digress. A book in a young adult section is considerably shorter and has bigger lettering. Much easier to turn into a movie.
I won’t get into the quality of those sorts of books, because, well, I could easily point to a certain series about vampires, call it the worst thing to happen to books since the burning of the library of Alexandria, and then the flame war would begin. Lines would be drawn, villages would be burned, and it would get ugly fast. I guess my point is, money makes the world go round, and right now, there’s more to be made marketing books to tweens than adults. So, that’s where the talent is going.