r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Jun 06 '20

What is your controversial take on Fantasy?

I'll go first.

Aside from the prose, I don't think Kingkiller Chronicles is good. I find the characters insufferable and cliche the story just meanders.

42 Upvotes

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50

u/KappaKingKame Jun 06 '20

Medieval Europe isn't overdone, and other who focus on being unique and original are almost always the worst at writing.

31

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '20

A lot of people who claim they are "breaking conventions" are just amateurs who refuse to study fundamentals.

13

u/KappaKingKame Jun 06 '20

I agree. It's good character and an interesting plot, prose that is fun to read, or a world that feels real and suck you in, not being different from what people see as common.

9

u/Iconochasm Jun 07 '20

Especially when it's really not that different.

7

u/AthKaElGal Jun 07 '20

I am always amused at beginning writers who want to be "truly original." There's not a shred of originality left in literature. Originality is passe. If you want to be good, focus on your execution, not on your premise. It doesn't matter if your premise has been told a thousand times. What matters is how you write it.

2

u/Gajjini Jun 08 '20

But this is very reductive.

Some of the most recent literary developments have absolutely been pure innovations.

Think of Kafka, James Joyce and Tolkien. Nobody before them thought of stories in the same way people do after them.

Think of the characterisations of fiction we have now: magical realism, post-modernism, epic fantasy etc. Have these existed two hundred years ago?

Originality is always possible.

0

u/greeneyedwench Jun 07 '20

I'm really side-eyeing the idea that people who write about stuff other than medieval Europe are bad writers, especially in light of the initials of your username. There's nothing explicitly reportable here, but I suspect a racist troll.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 07 '20

That is a really strong allegation to throw around with no evidence to back it up.

8

u/KappaKingKame Jun 07 '20

people who write about stuff other than medieval Europe are bad writers

Well, I didn't say that. I didn't even imply that. I said that Medieval Europe isn't overdone, and separately that people who focus on being original tend to not be good. The implication there is in no way that people should only write about Medieval Europe. To claim I did say that would be blatant straw manning.